A gallery of awesome wildstyle graffiti writing from Bristol artist Grimes.
Instagram: @_grimesnotdead
All photographs by Scooj
Grimes
Tag: Wildstyle
7054. Dean Lane skate park (851)
I can’t think how many times Dibz and Fade have teamed up in the last couple of years, but it must be into dozens, and this piece shows the true nature of total collaboration, where both artists created this incredible work together, and it isn’t possible to know who painted what. Lots of crew shout-outs are scattered around the outside of the piece in pink. Wildstyle writing at its best.
The piece spells out, rather appropriately, ‘Wild Style Addicts’ which probably sums up these two rather well. The gold and purple colours complement one another well, and it all looks very neat and tidy on the black wall.
6815. St Werburghs tunnel (484)
When I first saw this piece, I was puzzled. The style felt familiar, but I couldn’t match it to any of the artists I am familiar with. There was a reason for that, it is a wonderful piece by visiting artist Lezaxer, and one of at least two painted during a trip to Bristol earlier this month.
The beautifully crafted writing spells out ZAXER, I think, with a perfectly complementary colour scheme, set on a cloudy background. Clearly the work of an experienced graffiti writer, and one who certainly doesn’t look out of place in Bristol. From Lezaxer’s Instagram profile, it appears that home is Sheffield, and we are privileged that the artist made the long trip south.
6709. M32 Cycle path (280)
This outstanding, colourful piece by Neddy Ned Ned was painted as part of a paint session celebrating Jaksta’s birthday. Although I was present to watch him paint some of this piece, he was a little bit too preoccupied to stop for a chat, and having never met him before, I didn’t want to interrupt him.
This really is a top-drawer piece of wildstyle graffiti writing. The letters spell out Wiska and are filled with a quite superb blended yellow, orange and red colour combination which has a marble effect, really clever. The contrasting blue and black drop shadow has a vanishing point in the centre of the piece. The letters burst out of the wall and bedazzle.
6533. Cumberland Basin
Neddy Ned Neddy is one of those artists who paints from time to time in Bristol, but never enough to grace the pages of Natural Adventures all that often. It is always a pleasure to include his work, though, because his writing style is quite special and beautifully executed.
In most of his pieces, the vanishing point for his drop shadow is located centrally behind the letters, which gives the illusion that they are hurtling towards you from the background. The flaming colour selection works well against the blue, and this is an all-round stonking burner.
6521. River Avon (67)
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.
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)
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).
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)
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 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)
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.
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
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 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.
Natural adventures 