Urban – Page 49 – Natural adventures

6969. Peel Street Green (43)

Bloem, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2025

There is an unwritten rule in street/graffiti art that suggests that you shouldn’t paint over a piece that is better than the one you are covering it with. Of course, this is unenforced (it is a jungle out there) and also is subjective. The logical conclusion is that you end up with every wall having high-end pieces that remain forever. This is where taggers and bombers come in – they have little regard for conventions and bring every wall back to square one. The ecosystem seems to work.

I mention this in passing, because I was surprised to see this Bloem piece appear on this particular wall only a matter of days after it had been painted by 3Dom. In the grand scheme of things, there are few better artists than 3Dom in Bristol, and seeing this Bloem piece certainly raised my eyebrow. Fortunately, I don’t think 3Dom is at all precious, and Bloem is rising up the ranks of Bristol artists with each new piece she paints.

To have replaced 3Dom’s piece with this superb flower character/design certainly softens the blow. Bloem has a keen eye for design and matches it up with superb technical ability. I have to remind myself that she really only started painting walls a couple of years ago and has progressed at an alarming rate. This is a real beauty, and she has perfected chrysanthemum petals to a tee.

6968. M32 roundabout J3 (687)

Face 1st, Zake and Soak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

I cannot think of a time when I haven’t been utterly delighted to come across a PWA collaboration, and this beauty filled me with good cheer a couple of weeks back. There is a good chance that the collaboration will; remain intact for a while, as this stretch of wall tends to have quite a slow turnover.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

The three artists contributing to the collaboration are Face 1st, Zake and Soap. Face 1st needs no introduction and is probably the artist who has appeared most on Natural Adventures, and deservedly so. This is a classic theme for the artist, with a laughing girl’s face and big hair spelling out FACE, with some diamonds chucked in for good measure.

In the middle is this wonderful cartoon character piece from Zake which also fits into his archetypal style, with so much depth, the face seems like it could roll off the wall and into the pathway. Zake seems to be painting at least once a week at the moment and is smashing it.

The triptych is completed with a lovely piece of writing from soap, who doesn’t get out as much as he used to, but still manages to collaborate reasonably often with his PWA chums. His letters and fills are sublime and, as is usually the way with his work in recent years, has an Adventure Time influence with the incorporation of the Ice King. Superb collaboration with a shared inclusion of a colour scheme throughout.

6967. Dean Lane skate park (838)

I am so pleased to see that Bean is back in town and doing his stuff, which he does so well. The last piece I posted was a portrait piece that couldn’t be more of a departure from his ‘house’ style, and it was great to see. Here he returns to more familiar territory, with this wonderfully colourful character piece.

The character, like so many he creates, has no pupils in his eyes, which gives him a bit of a haunted look. Old Bluebeard here is wearing a kind of gilet over a green t-shirt, with a gold chain and cap accessories. The whole thing is beautifully painted, and tight as a nut. There is great separation from the piece (by Turoe) beneath it, with red, black and white bordering, bringing his character to the forefront. I don’t think that Bean particularly believes/enjoys wall preparation or buffing – perhaps it takes too long, or maybe detracts from the subversive nature of street art. Another great piece from an artist whose work I really like.

6966. Brunel Way (317)

Mr Draws has been a long-standing green campaigner, and every once in a while he reminds us of that, often with the help of Whales, the symbol of the global need for conservation, alongside the polar bear and panda. Indeed, whales have been something of a success story, with populations of most species recovering since the ban on hunting for whales. The success could only be achieved through a global agreement, which had a couple of unhelpful exceptions, and cooperation, which is a lesson we need to take forward for other global issues.

This piece has a wonderful sense of peace about it, and a tone of regret and remorse. The whale is set in a nicely presented sea of blue and chrome, frames in a pink box. Keep up the good work, Mr Draws… keep reminding us.

6965. Cumberland Basin

Astrea, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

Many artists in Bristol seem to have temporarily slowed or perhaps disappeared altogether, such as Fiver, Mudra, Kosc, Laic217, to name just a few, but hot on their heels are new artists who are emerging or establishing themselves as part of the mainstream, including Bloem, Sub, Bean, Lis and the featured artist of this post Astrea.

Astrea, or Astra as she signs herself these days is experimenting with both writing and characters, and has in the past played with abstract designs too. It feels like she is settling on some preferred colour combinations, in particular red and black. For an artist who is still developing her street technique, this is an accomplished piece of writing with lots of common design ideas incorporated. Interestingly, she hasn’t painted a border line, instead opting for a white outline interrupted with dots. I think borders are really tricky until you get your can control perfected. Nice to see Astrea pushing her boundaries.

6964. Dean Lane skate park (837)

OOF! This is a superb character portrait piece by Nice one, so full of movement and vibrancy. The ‘sketchy’ style that Nice One adopts for his character pieces has an impressionist quality, with what appear to be brush strokes rather than spray paint work, especially around the face and hair. This is a clever technique, and I suspect rather difficult to do.

The character is wearing enormous glasses, with a hint of reflection in them, which is incredibly effective. There is no need for a signature, when the whole piece sits over a huge ‘Nice One font’ ‘N’. A superb piece from an artist whose work is beautifully executed and always interesting.

6963. Stokes Croft

Eska is an itinerant artist who lives a houseboat lifestyle and drifts from place to place. His stays in Bristol are always very welcome and accompanied by a number of stunning graffiti writing pieces, that bring something a little different to our streets.

This gorgeous piece is one of three high-end pieces on the hoarding around what used to be the Blue Mountain nightclub. The other pieces are by Kid Krishna and Hemper and all three are beauties. There is a lot going on in this piece, which has anamorphic writing that lifts out of the wall in a superb 3D illusion. In addition to the letters, I presume spelling ESKA, there are his tiny trademark figures, with long shadows, scattered around the ‘flat’ surfaces of the piece. There are also watery surfaces with reflections too, perhaps an oblique reference to Bristol Harbour. Eska’s work is of the highest order and I look forward to his next visit to the city.

6962. Moon Street (108)

Art Tits, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2025

Although there has been an uptick in the number of Wheatpastes appearing on Natural Adventures of late, I would still assert that Bristol isn’t really a past-up city, unlike Shoreditch and Manchester northern district, for example. However, I am enjoying finding new wheatpastes, paertly because of their rarity. Wheatpastes offer something very different from spray-painted pieces, and are notable not only for their artistic content, but also their placement.

This piece by Art Tits (Lillian Shanahan), lurks in the darkest recesses of Moon Street, a spot that was once the vibrant heart of the Stokes Croft area, but has become a bit of a backwater since regeneration and gentrification began in earnest a few years ago. I know little to nothing about the artist, and the paste-up itself is a curious amalgamation of a body builder and a doll, something that I think Art Tits works on in various artistic endeavours. I like this piece, which may have been in Moon Street for some time.

6961. M32 roundabout J3 (686)

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

Although this piece is a little bleached out by the strong sun, I am so pleased to have captured it at all. So many times when Kid Crayon has painted a new piece, I get down to photograph it, and it has gone. I don’t know if this is purely coincidental, or whether there is something more sinister going on. Suffice it to say that I have missed at least two pieces by him this year.

It is fantastic to see Kid Crayon getting out more often this year, after quite a long period of low productivity – due in part to his real work being very busy. In this piece, the letters CRAYON can be seen with a little reversed out KID at the start. Each letter has an individual paint treatment, with the base colours alternating through the word. The ‘O’ is represented by a character with a blue face, donning a rather fetching Eat crew baseball cap. A floating crayon in front of the character’s mouth rounds the piece off nicely. There are so many KC trademarks in this fun and uplifting piece.

6960. St Werburghs tunnel (503)

Zake has been smashing it consistently for months and years. His cartoon-style characters peer out from walls all over the city and have become a familiar sight for anyone who chooses to open their eyes.

This is an eye-catching piece in the tunnel, painted alongside numerous other artists, during a paint jam about two or three weeks ago. In this rather sinister piece, the character is wielding a dripping syringe, looking as if there is some ill intent at work. As ever, lots of light and shade creating depth in the character, and a little bit of a story too.

	dennyho on Foksymoron
	scooj on 7414. Cumberland Basin
	scooj on 7412. BB Gallery (11)
	Cethru Cellophane on 7414. Cumberland Basin
	Cethru Cellophane on 7412. BB Gallery (11)

	scooj on Foksymoron
	dennyho on Foksymoron
	scooj on 7414. Cumberland Basin
	scooj on 7412. BB Gallery (11)
	Cethru Cellophane on 7414. Cumberland Basin

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