Tag: Wildstyle

6521. River Avon (67)

Grimes River Avon, Bristol, November 2024
Grimes River Avon, Bristol, November 2024

One of the highlights of 2024 has been the appearance and constant presence of the brilliant wildstyle graffiti writer Grimes. I am fascinated and excited by his writing that contains so much energy that it looks likely to burst in an explosion of coloured paint at any moment.. he has a very special talent.

Grimes River Avon, Bristol, November 2024
Grimes River Avon, Bristol, November 2024

This stunner spells GRIMES, which if you look hard is actually quite easy to see, once you have your eye in. The colour selection is, as ever, spot on, but the magic is in the way that all the components come together to create a coherent whole. This is outstanding writing at its best.

6489. L Dub (60)

Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024

To find the best wildstyle graffiti writing, you really don’t have to go any further than finding a piece by Dibz, and in Bristol, you are never too far away from one of those. This one was painted during a paint jam in October in Lawrence Weston (L Dub).

Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024

This beauty is on fire, almost literally, because a close look at the fill uncovers flames beautifully woven into the letters. Everything is crisp and clean, all the lines, borders, drop shadows and fills, even the background has been cleverly animated. This is a truly outstanding piece.

6197. Dean Lane skate park (731)

Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

I expect that this piece, like most of his writing, was freestyled by Sled One. What I mean by that is that he most likely painted it straight off the top of his head, without a sketch in a black book, or anything like that. To be able to do that suggests not only confidence but also incredible talent.

Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Sled One has written SLED, with each letter being defined by a different colour/pattern regime, helping to pick them out. There are so many details and points of interest, but two that stand out are the barbed wire at the base of the ‘L’ and the downward facing arrow between the ‘E’ and ‘D’. All of these details combine to create a superb piece of wildstyle graffiti writing.

6178. Dean Lane skate park (730)

Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

Another quick rifle through my archive turned up this beautiful chrome piece by Elvs in Dean Lane from March this year. There was a time not so long ago that Elvs was a regular visitor to Bristol from his native Wales, but his appearances have dwindled lately, and I guess he has other things on his plate that makes travel and painting more challenging.

Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

I like to think that this wonderfully elaborate graffiti writing is archetypal Elvs, a complex and beautifully picked out design simply delivered. Everything here is on point, a fine chrome fill, superb fine line detail, great black 3D drop shadow, tidy light blue border, white starbursts, a bubble background set on a blue buffed wall and a little yellow halo to finish with. Certainly worth waiting for.

5186. Cumberland Basin

Still, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2023
Still, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2023

It is a remarkable thing, but I continue to ‘find’ graffiti writers and street artists, only to discover that they have been around for years and that they just haven’t been on my radar at all. One such artist is Still, who I met about a week ago, and since meeting him I have found two of his recent pieces. How does that work? And how many do I have in my archive?

Still, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2023
Still, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2023

Still is obviously an accomplished writer, and when I met him, he was coaching Maes, another artist I haven’t yet featured on Natural Adventures. This is a very busy piece, spelling out STILL, with a great overall shape and dynamic fills, finished off nicely with a clean red border. Watch this space for more from Still.

5183. Norfolk Place (6)

IMG_1245_edited
IMG_1245_edited

Soker is an artist who has definitely slowed down a little bit in terms of his graffiti writing over the last couple of years, but he has certainly made up for things with this immense piece in Norfolk Place, replacing one of his own pieces there.

Soker, Norfolk Place, Bristol, April 2023
Soker, Norfolk Place, Bristol, April 2023

This is a top-notch piece of classic wildstyle graffiti writing, spelling SOKEM. The colour selection and progressions are superb, as is the 3D drop shadow in purple and lilac with its central vanishing point. The whole thing oozes class, and one can be pretty sure that the piece will remain untagged and intact until such time as Soker chooses to repaint it (probably years).

4689. Dean Lane skate park (523)

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022

This piece is a classic, classy and colourful piece of wildstyle graffiti writing from Dibz, on the end wall, home to countless brilliant pieces in the past. In my mind’s eye, this piece feels a bit like an ‘audition’ piece, technically brilliant and beautifully designed, but without a theme or backstory.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022

Dibz has set the bar so high for writers in Bristol, and would suggest that it has had a knock-on effect, where it seems that the vast majority of writers strive to improve and perfect their letters and styles. With inspiration like this to draw on, who wouldn’t want to aspire to it?

4581. Dean Lane skate park (511)

It doesn’t seem to matter what Kosc does, he always does it with class. This superb piece of writing, part of an NTS collaborative wall, spells out Kosc, and is really top notch stuff.

Kosc, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Kosc, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

This is classic wildstyle writing with a contemporary feel to it. The design is reasonably complex, but the elements perfectly clean and tidy. The horizontal colour transitions through the letters are expertly done, and the whole thing benefits from being painted on a well prepped wall. More great work from Kosc.

4246. Dean Lane skate park (463)

I don’t need to say too much about how good this piece is. The quality, confidence, detail and finishing of this wildstyle graffiti writing by Dibz is of the highest order and the artist just keeps setting the bar higher and higher. This one was painted while I was out of the country, but thankfully it was respected and left un-tagged and I was able to photograph it.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022

In common with many of the artists I have met, Dibz is so modest about his work, and just gets on with it in a very matter of fact kind of way. If I could produce something like this, I’d be leaping about like a mad man telling everyone about it. The letters are bisected with two perfect straight lines that divide the whole piece cleverly into three totally different colour schemes. I can’t imagine how hard this is to do, and would have loved to witness Dibz at work on this one. Another stunner from the man.

3697. M32 Cycle path (126)

Here is another fine piece from the slightly unloveable Turoe. This wall is in my view one of the best in Bristol, but it rarely fulfils its potential. I would love to see it fully buffed and some large-scale collaborations painted on it because these days it tends to look a bit messy.

Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021

This ‘shyte’ piece was painted back in April and stands out in chrome on a hot yellow, orange and red background. This is a classic wildstyle burner and another in the vast collection of pieces from Turoe.