A gallery of unusual graffiti writing by an artist with very possibly the best name ever, Dog Bless the Band.
All photographs by Scooj
Dog Bless the Band
Tag: Urban
7065. Knowle West (1)
I knew that there has been a paint jam somewhere in South Bristol recently, but I had no idea where. Then along came John Bennett who occasionally reads this blog and sent me the location. Even then, it took me a while to find this treasure trove, but it was well worth persevering to locate the quiet little side street.
This collaboration from Pekoe and SPZero76 is the first of several posts from this little backwater. Pekoe’s portrait is notable for the cat perched on the woman’s head and the inclusion of shoulders and upper torso, which is so often missing in Pekoe’s work. SPZero76 has painted one of his crazy raccoons, which includes a little cat sitting on a cloud of spray paint. I love the contrast in their comments too. Pekoe’s earnest ‘fund art not war’ contrasting with SPZero76’s rather hilarious ‘read more comics’. Such is the diversity of the street art community.
7064. St Werburghs tunnel (508)
Tera has exploded onto the Bristol street art scene in a matter of only weeks. The tattooist (by trade) has only recently picked up spray cans under the watchful eye of Kid Crayon and is already creating some impressive productions, that are not only ambitious, but also really well executed. Some people are born naturals, and Tera is definitely one of them.
At the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel, this is an awesome ‘horror’ piece that has so much to admire about it. The greyscale central character and hooded figures are brought to life with the green glow, which works exceptionally on the skull’s face as part of the overall shading. Tera describes this as a toxic medieval zombie fella – well, it works for me.
7063. Cumberland Basin
Although this piece is unsigned (which in itself is a clue), I have made the pretty safe assumption based on the letter font that it is by Nice One. The piece is a protest piece about the war in Gaza and says ‘Smash Elbit’. Elbit is an international military technology company and defence contractor based in Israel, and clearly central to the annihilation of Gaza and its people.
The bleak piece, which appears like a smashed window, is a reminder that we are all witnesses to a genocide that western democracies have failed to stop, and indeed appear to support. It cannot be that hard to get tough on the Israeli government, can it? Street art once again providing a running commentary of contemporary issues with impact.
7062. Dean Lane skate park (852)
I was lucky enough to come across Dibz and Fade while they were painting this beautiful collaboration and was given a small insight into some of their colour choices over the last year. It turns out that they are only now finishing off the paint that they were given by Goldie for his wall of fame at Ikea last year. Amazing really that he gave them so much and that it has lasted this long.
This stacked collaboration required quite a lot of ladder work, and seeing the work in progress gives some sense of scale. Fade is working on his letters, bottom left and Dibz is up the latter. I guess I’ll have top forgive them for the brown background, which works well with the flame colours used in the letters, although an extra coat might have helped in one or two spots.
Overall, the twin collaboration is yet another demonstration of their extraordinary talent. I particularly like the green splats, giving the whole thing a bit of vibrancy and movement.
7061. Brunel Way (323)
On the pathway alongside the River Avon, that leads to the Brunel Way bridge and flyover, is a small wall which appears to be a relic from a small outbuilding that must have had some function (perhaps a pump station), probably related to the river. It seems odd that this ruin wasn’t completely demolished, but what remains has become quite a popular wall for graffiti artists.
The most recent visitor to this wall is Scrapyardspec, who is an expert in finding small nooks and crannies all over the city to paint his googly-eyed, goofy character pieces. This character appears to have no outline, just features, plastered on the wall. Three eyes, three noses and one long toothy mouth make up this harmless fellow, joining countless others about the place. Scrapyardspecs’ visits to Bristol seem to be getting more frequent, which is no bad thing.
7060. St Werburghs tunnel (517)
There seems to be a direct correlation between the days and locations that Kid Crayon paints, and the longevity of his pieces. More than any other artist I can think of, his work gets painted over really quickly, and I have missed several of his pieces this year, arriving a day late.
Most recently, a piece in Cumberland Basin lasted a day maybe, and worse still it was only half painted over, which is rude, and not in the spirit of the unwritten graffiti code of etiquette. I rushed to photograph this one, and of course, it has bucked the trend and lasted a while, and was still intact yesterday.
This is a superb example of Kid Crayon’s playful style, with a great combination of letters and characters throughout the piece. The piece formed a part of a Frazzled Magazine paint jam, which included the artists Mind 49, Ejits, and Smak amongst others. There is so much to enjoy in this piece with so many little details to admire, for example, the munching maggot carving pieces out of the letter ‘C’at the start of the piece. Fabulous work.
7059. Brunel Way (322)
This is the middle piece of a Zinso-fest from earlier in the month underneath Brunel Way. The white buffed wall was the perfect opportunity for Zinso to practice his writing, and practice he did, turning out six pieces, three large and three small.
The bubble writing in the larger piece is beautifully decorated, each letter having its own colour scheme and one or two with spots as well. The ‘O’ at the end has a cheeky face for good measure. Similarly, the smaller signature piece in red also has a cheeky face, but appears to have a letter (S) missing. The full wall is shown below.
7058. Cumberland Basin
Mr Draws has had a very good spell of painting, both in terms of productivity and quality of his work. I have always admired his unpretentious approach to finding the joy in his graffiti writing.
This colourful piece is notable perhaps for its enormous black drop shadow, which gets a little lost without reference lines to the protruding points of the letters DRAWS. The fills have great colours and are nicely sone, and he has added a smily face, which he seems to be rather fond of at the moment. An uplifting piece.
7057. Brunel Way (321)
One of the great pleasures of walking around town seeking out street art is that you get to find things that are remarkable and mysterious. It can be like finding treasure, and perhaps that is why I enjoy it so much. I found this magnificent frog (unfortunately a bit scuffed by bike tyre marks) under Brunel Way, just minding its own business.
I don’t know who painted the piece, and can’t think of any artist I know who would paint such a beauty and not sign it (reminds me a little of Hazard’s work). The perspective and depth that has been achieved points towards a very talented and experienced artist. Creatures of the natural world are always going to get great praise from me, and this one is an absolute peach, which left me very happy.
Natural adventures 