We have discovered lately that Smut is not a one-trick pony, far from it, and his last few pieces have demonstrated that he has great versatility and has managed to be consistently tidy with his writing (sounds a bit like a school report – perhaps I should have been a teacher).
Smut, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2022
This piece on the M32 roundabout is a long way from his curvy, thin script writing that we have become accustomed to seeing from Smut. I don’t know how he does it, but Smut has the cleanest, sharpest lines imaginable and really knows how to turn out a supremely classy piece. The letter shapes are good, the colour selections fantastic and the shading/details of the green and yellow brilliant. This is an excellent, high-quality piece from Smut.
You will know by now, that I consider John D’oh to be a fabulous stencil artist whose astute observations and commentaries record a snapshot of life in Britain, often observed through a political lens. While John D’oh speaks for many, particularly in Bristol, someone took exception to this piece and buffed all but Johnson’s face and scrawled ‘Support Boris Johnson’ next to it… there is still much work to do. If there are Johnson supporters in the poorer districts of Bristol, then there are still some messages that simply aren’t landing.
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2022
I really am so sick and tired of the worst Prime Minister we have ever had. He depresses me, because I am embarrassed and ashamed to think that people from other countries might believe Johnson to be representative of the UK’s views and aspirations. He is not. He is like Trump, bolstered by the far right of the Conservative party, pushing only their views and dressing it up as ‘what people want is…’. I loathe him and everything he stands for.
John D’oh writes “Fuel poverty… I can assure the British people that having burned £50 notes in front of homeless people I can relate and understand their suffering and see the pain in their eyes – Boris”, referencing some historical despicable behaviours of this odious man.
Keep up the great work, John D’oh, our nation needs reminding just how low Johnson will stoop to retain power.
Last October I wrote my first post about a piece by Typo on the pages of Natural Adventures, fully meaning to post his artwork reasonably regularly. My bad… I have only just got round to posting some more, and to make up for it, here are three of his column pieces for the price of one.
Typo, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2022
I have only seen Typo’s work on these square column under the M32 and nowhere else. He has a unique and colourful style, and one that seems to use the spray can more as a brush than a fill or solid line tool, with the result that his pieces look like elaborate sketches. This first one seems to be of a character wearing a wizard hat with green hair, an a hidden caption ‘Rain’. What it all means, I simply don’t know.
Typo, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2022
The second piece in this selection appears to be a flying toadstool, accompanied with a very colourful signature at the bottom. Typo’s work seems to be well thought out and telling a story of sorts. His artwork is developing, and he appears to be using these columns as a place to practice his craft.
Typo, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2022
The third piece in this collection is quite different. A figure with a sword slung over his shoulder painted before a red sun is accompanied with some Japanese writing and ‘#bemoremelling’ and ‘see you space cowboy’. All rather cryptic and mysterious, but intriguing and compelling too. Typo is creating a style and range all of his own, and is quite unlike anything else in Bristol. Lots more to come from this enigmatic artist.
Erviti has done it again by landing a beautiful piece of artwork on the streets of Bristol. This stunner was painted as part of a Bristol Womxn Mural Collective paint jam in the old alleyway of Leonard Lane.
Erviti, Leonard Lane, Bristol, May 2022
The portrait of a woman wearing a hooded cloak is so unusual, and a real breath of fresh air on the streets of Bristol. The collective as a whole add another dimension to the street art scene, with studio artists going feral with their creative designs and different techniques. The end result adds to the huge diversity of art on the city’s streets. Erviti is leading the way with this welcome addition.
You can rely on Mr Draws to come up with something light and cheerful, and this recent piece at the far end of the tunnel does just the trick. In this piece he has diverged from his usual DRAWS letters and written, in thin lettering, Kunst, which in German means arts.
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2022
Mr Draws had flirted with the idea of living in Germany a few years back, but it all fell through. Germany’s loss was Bristol’s gain, but this might be harking back to a desire to go there still. The letters are characteristically colourful and the whole thing very tidily painted. This blog would not be what it is without the likes of Mr Draws.
Kosc appears to have made himself very much at home in Picton Lane and the surrounding area in Montpelier. If you visit Bristol and want to see some sensational street art, then you could do a lot worse than head down to Picton Lane for a quick gander. This piece is from a little while ago, but I photographed it along with two others on a recent visit.
Kosc, Picton Lane, Bristol, April 2022
The whole thing reminds me of a Canadian Mountie, which may or may not be the intention. Knowing Kosc, there is probably a whole story behind this piece, but I don’t know what that might be. Kosc is experimenting with distortion, a common theme for street artists, and carries it off with some style.
Kosc, Picton Lane, Bristol, April 2022
The portrait is the O in the letters K SC to make KOSC. The whole thing is painted on a garage door (one for a future Thursday doors methinks) which is not the easiest of surfaces, but the artist has done well to make it work. There was a van parked in front of the piece when I visited, but fortunately the driver was sitting in it and very kindly moved out of the way for me to take pictures, we then struck up a conversation about the artwork – it is nice how things like that happen.
DFC1848 doesn’t really need much of an introduction on these pages, but it has been a little while since he last painted in Bristol. This rather cute column piece is a reversion to his ‘go to’ character that he has been nurturing for a few years now. However, DFC 1848 has been developing and improving so much, with each new piece and I would recommend a quick look at his Instagram account to get a sense of what I mean.
DFC1848, M32 Spot, Bristol, April 2022
The cheeky character is very nicely done with string solid fills, clean lines and a rather nice twinkle on his tooth. It is obvious that DFC1848 is very comfortable and confident with his work. Great to see.
This is my second post of amazing writing from Trafficity. What stands out with his writing is that is comes at you as a large, solid block, with few gaps. The opposite end of the spectrum, I suppose, of thin script writing, both of which are naturally welcome in this blog.
Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2022
His letters spell out ZIOM (which means GREAT in Polish), and in this piece he has gone for three horizontal colour sections and some nice little details throughout. I have a feeling that there are more letters concealed within the piece, but part of the skill of some writers is in making their work as cryptic as possible, and Trafficity certainly excels in this respect. Some lovely work here.
This hoarding is so difficult to photograph. it is a long landscape format with tons of light above and below, which interferes with the brightness of the artwork. it doesn’t seem to matter what time of day I take pictures here, I am never really satisfied. I think I might just have got away with it with this stunning sunflower piece by Farrah.
Farrah, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2022
What an amazing welcome for people arriving in Bristol Temple Meads station, as they exit from the front of the building and walk or drive out to join the main road. Farrah’s paint brush style lends itself very favourably to the textures and forms of Van Gogh, and this is a perfect example.
Farrah, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2022
Farrah is the darling of commissions in Bristol at the moment and deservedly so too I might add. This is an absolute corker and another fine example of her unique work.
On the same day that I met Asre for the first time, I also met Chill and although he wasn’t painting at the time, he had come along to watch his friends paint. There is something really nice and supportive about the graffiti/street art community. Chill, although he has been around for a year or two, has definitely upped his game in recent months, and we tend to see something new once a fortnight or so.
Chill, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2022
This character in the tunnel proved to be a bit tricky to photograph because of a car parked in front of it. I have since taken better pictures, but have left these in to demonstrate the challenges of photographing street art… I wouldn’t want you to think it was too easy. The character is nicely painted, with plenty of detail on the cartoon-style features. The inclusion of spray cans is common in character street art, and balances the piece out nicely. More great work from Chill.
Natural adventures 