Tag: Urban

3297. Brunel Way Bridge (69)

I am reliably informed (Thank you, Paul) it was Face 1st’s birthday last week and this piece was part of a birthday/Halloween paint jam with friends to celebrate. The whole wall was a creative smorgasbord of delights and this horror Face 1st face was right up there.

Face 1st, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2020
Face 1st, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2020

The face character appears to be holding bits of a skeleton in one hand and a rather nasty looking ball and chain in the other and her head is split open with what looks like molten lava instead of a brain. It is certainly a vibrant piece, full of movement and action and I would say appropriate for Halloween. Happy Birthday.

Thursday doors – 12 November 2020

Doors 128 – a return to some street art and graffiti doors

As the country is once again locked down (although it somehow doesn’t feel as severe as the last time) photographing new doors continues to be something of a challenge. I long for a visit to a National Trust property or something similar, but I fer that such a trip is still a while off. In the meantime it is another dip into my archives to bring you some more graffiti doors from last year.

Thisone, Shoreditch, London, April 2019
Thisone, Shoreditch, London, April 2019
Kin Dose, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2019
Kin Dose, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2019
Ryder, Stokes Croft, Bristol, September 2019
Ryder, Stokes Croft, Bristol, September 2019
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019
qWeRT, Ashley Road, Bristol, November 2019
qWeRT, Ashley Road, Bristol, November 2019
Zoe Power and Dave Bain, Redland Station, Bristol, November 2019
Zoe Power and Dave Bain, Redland Station, Bristol, November 2019

Short and sweet this week.

Have a great weekend and keep safe in this crazy world.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

by Scooj

3295. Brunel Way bridge (68)

I am catching up a little on Halloween pieces, so forgive me for the delay. This is a magnificent work from Nightwayss which I’m afraid the photographs fail to capture adequately, so you just have to imagine how much better this looks in the flesh.

Nightwayss, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2020
Nightwayss, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2020

The piece is nicely framed in a portrait orientation and he would have needed a decent ladder to get to the higher parts of the wall. There is quite a lot of glare on this piece which is unfortunate, but putting that to one side, the scene that unfolds is crazy and nightmarish. There is a zombie monkey (of course), holding a bunch of keys and sitting immediately below a large eye.

Nightwayss, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2020
Nightwayss, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2020

An elaborate decoration surrounds the piece but look out, a snake lurks within the swirls. This is an unusual and intriguing Halloween piece from Nightwayss and is rather special in my eyes.

3294. Dean Lane skate park (362)

Within street art circles, the digital social media network is a fairly crowded place, and a fair proportion of the pieces I photograph I have already seen on Instagram and I make a deliberate decision to go and find them. A smaller proportion of pieces I ‘discover’ all on my own and in a strange way this gives me rather more personal satisfaction. I suppose one solution would be to stop using social media (would probably be a good thing in the long run), but somehow these platforms lend themselves so well to the ephemeral nature of the art I love. I found this one without knowing of its existence and what a lovely surprise it was.

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2020
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2020

Soker has knocked it out of the park with this tight colourful and beautifully designed piece of graffiti writing in Dean Lane. The colours used with the letters complement each other so well whilst contrasting too – how does he achieve that? The whole thing simply oozes class, something I have said so many times when writing about Soker’s work. Classy work, classy artist.

3293. Cheltenham 2020 (15)

The Celtenham Paint Festival was a bit of an unusual affair this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Slightly last minute and slightly reduced in ambition there wasn’t quite the atmosphere one would expect at a paint festival, but the quality of the art and variety of artists was nonetheless up to its usual standard.

Fark, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020
Fark, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020

Fark is not an artist I am familiar with, but am very much drawn to this piece. The strong lines, uncomplicated scenes and bold colours are reminiscent of Dick Bruna’s work, a Dutch artist and author whose ‘Miffy’ books were a cornerstone of my early childhood. There is a lot to like in this simple painting of a songbird and who can argue with the central message of love? We need to get this artist to Bristol!

3292. Cheltenham 2020 (14)

There were so many Bristol artists at the Cheltenham Paint Festival, which should have come as no surprise really as it is only a short distance away. One of those artists was Pekoe with this rather nice portrait piece.

Pekoe, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020
Pekoe, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020

Pekoe’s portraits are easy to identify, usually by the fabulous styling of big hair filled and decorated, and this piece certainly doesn’t disappoint on that score. I stupidly haven’t met Pekoe yet, but I guess it is just a matter of time, being in the right place at the right time, although with a new lock down in place that might be a little while away.

3291. Cheltenham 2020 (13)

Mr Draws really came up with something of a surprise at this year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival with this environmental piece of an elephant and the slogan ‘ system change not climate change’.

Mr Draws, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020
Mr Draws, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020

I caught up with Mr Draws in the centre of town and he told me that he had used a technique for the first time which is used by many artists called a doodle grid. He reported that he enjoyed it and that it had worked really well. There seems to be a bit of a mixture of techniques and styles within the piece, for example the rather abstract foliage, the well proportioned elephant and the twigs with leaves. A strange combination but one with a clear strong message.

3290. Cheltenham 2020 (12)

Kingfishers are a favourite subject for street artists and it is amazing how these little bird can give such inspiration, I wonder what it is about them that makes our hearts sing, is it the colours? The fleeting glimpses? The fishing? Who knows, but they are certainly a very popular.

Graffoflarge, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020
Graffoflarge, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020

I don’t know anything about the artist Graffoflarge, but he clearly has a sense of humour by fusing a kingfisher and duck in this piece. The artwork is really interesting, being made up largely of lines and the background is beautifully done to provide the perfect backdrop for the subject. Vibrant and fun, a classy piece.

3289. Cheltenham 2020 (11)

It is time for another short series of posts on this year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival back in September, starting with this lovely collaboration from Bristol artists Inkie and Soker. This is one of those collaborations where the artists share a wall and colour scheme, but each piece is otherwise independent.

Inkie, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020
Inkie, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020

On the left is a stunner from Inkie full of intricate detail. This is a piece which the artist obviously spent a lot of time on and that time has paid off because in my eyes this is a near-perfect piece of graffiti writing.

Soker, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020
Soker, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020

On the right of the wall Soker has similarly smashed it. To anyone seeing this and thinking this is just another piece of graffiti, think again… this is world-class writing from two of the very best, and how lucky are we that they both come from Bristol. The more I look at this piece, the more I enjoy it. Bravo!

Inkie and Soker, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020
Inkie and Soker, Paint festival, Cheltenham, September 2020

3288. Cumberland Basin

It took me a little while to solve the mystery of these faces that started to appear all  over Bristol from about September time. Of course the answer was staring me in the face (almost literally) all the time, but I simply didn’t make the connection. It wasn’t until I saw an Instagram post by the artist that the penny dropped. It is of course by Slakarts.

Slakarts, Cumberland Basin, Bristtol, October 2020
Slakarts, Cumberland Basin, Bristtol, October 2020

Slakarts is another artist who has been fairly quiet for most of the year, but suddenly a rash of pieces very similar to this one started appearinng a few weeks ago. It is strange that an artist who is known for using a certain style changes the basic shape of his pieces and then repeats them all over the place in the form of a mega-tag, but that is what Slakarts has done. I like this piece with strong lines and fills, and it certainly catches the eye. Look out for more on Natural Adventures before too long.