Urban – Page 133 – Natural adventures

6177. St Werburghs tunnel (433)

There are many pieces I see every day, and I look at them and I am left wondering who painted them. These tend to remain in my archive folders and get left behind… until some time later, it may be months or sometimes years, after I have established the identity of the artist, I will take a quick scan of an old folder and drag out the piece for posting. This is one of those pieces by 3GV from March this year.

The combination piece features a flat combination piece of the letters 3GV bookended by a couple of street characters. 3GV has an unusual style, that suggests he is a self-taught artist, but I have no evidence for that, just my intuition. There is not a lot of depth to the piece, but it is nicely filled and bordered with a thin yellow line. I think I may have several more 3GV pieces lurking in my archive somewhere.

6176. M32 roundabout J3 (595)

Grimes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

At the end of each month I tend to dig out a few pieces that have managed to get trapped in my vast archive, which is organised into monthly files, and this is a piece by Grimes that I photographed back in March, but never quite got round to posting.

I think it is fair to say that Grimes has now fully bedded down as a Bristol graffiti writer, and his lively style is appearing reasonably frequently in most of the main graffiti spots in town. This yellow piece is full of energy, which is created by the shapes of his letters, highlights, and in this instance a dynamic background of cartoon pink flames. Two or three starbursts also create a sense of movement and dazzle. It won’t be too long before I have enough Grimes pieces to create a gallery.

6175. M32 Cycle path (272)

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

This year, we haven’t really had to wait too long before being treated to a Laic217 piece on a reasonably regular basis, and this is one of his most recent works on the M32 cycle path. What Laic217 has presented us with here is a rather trippy, and slightly menacing (those black fingernails like talons) piece that plays into his penchant for face distortion.

Although the piece is nicely executed, I personally find it a little unsettling, which I am sure is the point. Laic217 will push the boundaries in a way that his art can. His solid, tight, block letters contrast really well with the unconventional character portrait. Not my favourite piece by Laic217, but a great example of the way he challenges us to see things.

6174. M32 roundabout J3 (594)

Face 1st and Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Although it didn’t last a very long time, this is a nice collaboration from PWA’s Face 1st and Zake. I think that I would be the first to say that it is an unusual collaboration, but in the same breath a really interesting one too.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Face 1st has been experimenting a lot lately, especially with his 3D block writing, and this piece demonstrated perfectly the kind of writing he is producing at the moment. The writing appears to be cut in to a long block of machinery or a device, indicated by the numerous red filament bulbs along the length. The letters spell out FACE, of course, and although a little rough at the edges, the concept is a great one. I love the light bulbs.

Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Zake has painted one of his cartoon character faces, full of depth and relief. I don’t feel that the two pieces work terribly well together, but they don’t need to, because each stands alone perfectly well. I do enjoy the constant creativity and unrelenting effort from the PWA crew – and ever-present heart-beat of the Bristol scene.

6173. Sparke Evans Park (100)

Raid, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2024

What a fine way to mark a century of posts from Sparke Evans Park, with this immaculate piece of graffiti writing from Raid. Since his arrival in Bristol, about 18 months ago, Raid has consistently turned out great pieces, with an emphasis on the intricate and colourful letter fills, and he has produced another cracker here.

In addition to the writing, which is set on a purple, diamond-shaped background and some flames, Raid has included a ‘Screw’ character from Vaughn Bode’s imagined universe. I am wondering if the character is an artefact of a piece that was there before (I should know this), and Raid has incorporated it into his work. The edges and sharpness are not consistent with his tight style. Another fine piece from Raid – I’ll have to update his gallery, as they just keep rolling in.

6172. M32 roundabout J3 (593)

Mind 49 and SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

A couple of weeks back, there was a superb paint jam on the M32 roundabout. I am not sure if it was to celebrate something specific, or simply a whole bunch of artists enjoying a sunny day (what are those?), but whatever it was all about, it resulted in some cracking pieces, including this meeting of styles collaboration between Mind 49 and SPZero76.

Mind 49, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Mind 49 has been smashing it with each new piece he produces. His portrait work, often from unusual angles and with faces partially obscured is painted in a soft photorealistic style, if that makes sense. The character in this particular piece is looking away, but immediately catching the eye is the addition of a large swallow flying by, utterly unexpected, and quite brilliant. This is a wonderfully conceived piece which segues nicely to something completely different via a multicoloured strip.

SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

The two pieces have nothing in common at all, and SPZero76’s animated comic style is not something I would expect to see adjacent to Mind 49 soft-portrait style. The multicoloured strip is the only thing that unites them. The piece entitled ‘after the robot apocalypse’ features a dog? character and a feline robot toting large weapons, in some dystopian future setting. A wonderful and lively animation piece from a truly gifted artist.

6171. River Avon (63)

My rather loose description of this spot, which I call River Avon, is actually a cycle/foot path that runs alongside the river from Sparke Evans Park to Temple Meads Station, where light industrial units back on to the pathway for most of its length. This piece by j9449j (or dr3amc0re94) is at the Eastern end of the pathway, and quite easily overlooked… I only spotted it on my return leg of my walk.

The joy of j9449j’s work is in its organic simplicity. I suppose you could class it as kind of anti-style graffiti writing, but it is perhaps a little bit more designed than that. As ever, I struggle to read the letters in this piece, so shall have to remain content with the fills and suggested vegetation. j9449j is an artist I am keen to meet – I have so many questions!

6170. Dean Lane skate park (729)

I think that one of the under-rated walls and indeed partially unseen by many is the swimming pool wall at Dean Lane skate park, that lies behind a fence and a hedge for much of its length. If you can be bothered, and historically I am guilty of not bothering, you can access the space between the wall and the hedge/wrought iron railings and see quite a few pieces, and the turnover here is reasonably high. At the right-hand end of the wall, the hedge stops and there is a stretch which can be seen and photographed easily from the ‘wrong’ side of the fence. This piece by Zaneone is in that visible stretch.

Even without his customary book-end characters, Zaenone’s pieces have a certain symmetry to them. The letters spell ZAEN1, with a reversed E. He has chosen some nice red, orange and yellow colours, and there is depth provided by the 3D drop shadow, and the blue shading around the outside frames the graffiti writing nicely.

6169. M32 Cycle path (271)

Bogat, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

Although Bogat doesn’t paint as frequently as I might like, he does just enough to keep the interest out there, and I am sure that he probably intends to paint more than he does, but as it is for all of us, other stuff gets in the way. This one was painted last month on the wall behind the Black Swan.

Bogat has created a colourful cartoon character using the two-tone light and dark technique for his base colours. Many artists use this method and probably the best example of this is Bean, who uses it to great effect. I particularly like the eyes of this character, which look like they have flat reflections, almost as if they were glasses. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for more from Bogat.

6168. M32 roundabout J3 (592)

Pekoe and Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Of course, it is a terrible cliché, but when I see pieces like this that are both pretty and pink, I like to describe them as ‘pretty in pink’ stealing from the celebrated 1986 teen film, and then I get the earworm of the Psychedelic Furs and the song that the film was named after. This PIP collaboration is a peach from Pekoe and Bnie.

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Pekoe has been mixing up her portraits and her writing recently, but I have to express my slight preference for her portraits, because, well, I just love them. The figurative piece is nice and clean, with solid fills and strong black lines, and there is something a little more stylised about the face, especially around the eyes. A classy piece of work.

Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Bnie is so consistent in the quality of her work, and all the elements of these letters come together perfectly. The pink background provides a great canvass for the writing to stand out. The golden drop shadow adds depth to the beautifully designed and filled letters. A clever touch is the subtlest dark shading at the base of the letters, creating a bit of shadow and lifting the writing further. What a fine collaboration.

	hitandrun1964 on Mont Blanc
	paulh121 on 7430. Frome Side (68)
	paulh121 on Mont Blanc
	beth on Mont Blanc
	scooj on Cocoon

	hitandrun1964 on Mont Blanc
	paulh121 on 7430. Frome Side (68)
	paulh121 on Mont Blanc
	beth on Mont Blanc
	scooj on Cocoon

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