Unity is smashing it out of the park these days, and to my huge joy, seems to be painting in Bristol a little bit more frequently than she has in the past… it is probably down to the sheer volume of RBF birthday celebration paint jams.
Unity, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2023
This Rugrats piece is simply brilliant, with Chuckie taking centre stage, along with an obligatory spray can. The character is wonderfully recreated, and the letters that Unity has written are outstanding. Polished off with a white flash, blue background and some building blocks, the whole thing is a visual feast, beautifully painted. It is a pity that it is painted in a spot where so few people will get to see it up close.
One of the unwritten rules of photographing street art is always take pictures when you can, even if street furniture is in the way, because if you wait the piece might not still be there at all when you return. It is annoying that there is an obstruction in front of Rusk’s piece in this collaboration with T-Rex, but that is the reality, and it is the best picture I have.
T-Rex, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2023
T-Rex has been able to get out a fair bit this autumn, which is really great to see as moments will be limited with a little one to look after. Everything that T-Rex does so well is here to feast on, great letters, fabulous fills, a funky drop shadow in pink and black and of course the Tyrannosaurus Rex character. Lovely work.
Rusk, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2023
Rusk has been so busy lately, in fact I can’t remember a time when he has been out painting so regularly. As precise as ever, this piece has a distinctive mid line running horizontally through the letters, with little flashes of white along it giving the impression of a shiny flat metallic surface, clever stuff. Great to see these two out painting together.
I did a double take when I first set eyes on this piece, because the first thought that came into my head was that this was a piece by Subtle (what has happened to him?), and although there is plenty here to support that thought it quickly became obvious that this was another chunky Cobo piece.
Cobo, Greenbank, Bristol, November 2023
The richly coloured letters spell out COBER, and are big and bold, almost like rocks. The little character looks a bit like a seal or a dog, but they can both look alike, so I am not going to fixate about it. Overall this is a strong piece from Cobo who seems to be getting into a bit of a rhythm with a series of great pieces recently.
I think I might have to revisit my archives, because I have only recently become aware of the great work of Zaenone, but am told that he has painted in Bristol before. Perhaps I photographed but didn’t post his work because I didn’t know who he was – a little job for me over the Christmas break, maybe.
Zaenone, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2023
This is a lovely crisp and clean piece of writing, superbly presented on a yellow, grey and black background. I think that sometimes backgrounds are underrated, but they can make or break a piece, so thought is needed, and it is obvious that Zaenone has thought about this one. The letter fills and transitions are beautifully done and not overcomplicated or busy. I haven’t seen enough pieces by Zaenone to know whether he always incorporates ‘bookend’ characters, but in the two pieces I have seen, he has, and they are a unique and fun contribution, which really makes his work stand out. Looking forward to more from him in Bristol.
Minto’s recent appearances in Bristol are very much appreciated, and although he has had a long association with the city, it looks like he might be painting here more regularly. There are a few artists like Minto who are graffiti writers, that incorporate artwork and a story into the letters to create a kind of fusion. In this piece, Minto has written his name, or parts of it, into the side of a camper van.
Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
This is not the first camper van piece I have seen by Minto, and I think it might be a kind of ‘thing’ for him at the moment. The piece is nicely painted, and I particularly like the ‘happy’ wheels, reflecting a mountainous wilderness at sunrise. Great stuff from Minto and I look forward to seeing a lot more.
Laic217, Soap, Zake and Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
The Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew have been a constant presence throughout 2023, adding to their ranks and adapting/growing/improving their artwork along the way. This is a lovely combination of pieces from Face 1st, Zake, Soap and the recently adopted Laic217.
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Starting on the left is a fabulous melting face piece from Laic217. The disintegration of faces is a common theme in much of his work, and in this one the purple skin is dripping off, revealing a pink skull beneath. I love the addition of arrows piercing the smiley’s eyes on the bucket hat, although the beautifully worked shadows of the shafts are not consistent… where is the light source?
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Next up is an outstanding piece of animated writing from Soap. He has incorporated characters from the cartoon show Adventure Time, namely Jake the Dog and, I am guessing, a Princess, but I don’t know which one. The letters spell SOAP in an imaginative way, and although painted in my least favourite spray paint colour are utterly awesome.
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Zake has been switching things up lately, and in this piece he has painted a three-quarter cartoon profile, and this change of aspect means he has to think about shadings for a slight profile and the side of the head. He has managed to transition pretty well and incorporated tons of depth and texture with light and dark shading.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Finally, we have Face 1st, who has written the word FACE with a deep drop shadow, giving the impression that the letters are cut from a deep block. No girl’s happy faces on this one, but he has included a nice shout out to chill. Great work, once again from the PWA crew.
I love this door in Dean Lane, it creates a nice frame for character pieces and is definitely a candidate for the occasional feature on this blog, One Wall Many Faces. This time around it is the turn of Mr Crawls to occupy this space, and he has done a very nice job of it indeed.
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
As the year has progressed, Mr Crawls has become more productive, his pieces appearing all over the place, and more recently in collaborative form with Mote. I am not entirely sure what kind of bird this is. The hooked beak would suggest it is a raptor, but the colouring and characterful expression has gull written all over it. Of course, it is fictional and not a bird we recognise, mostly on account of a fine pair of horns. Great fun from the effervescent Mr Crawls.
Sometimes she writes FLUX, but on this occasion she has written LUXE, that is how Bbygwya rolls. Although she hasn’t painted a character for her piece, her letters are very well executed in this contribution to Bnie’s birthday and Vozie’s Baby celebration paint jam underneath the M32.
Bbygwya, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2023
Bbygwya has done a great job with her fills in this piece, that I don’t quite know how to describe, magenta squiggles on a purple base I guess. The stars are very clever, giving off a kind of yellow glow or aura. A nice contribution from Bbygwya on what must have been a great, fun day.
Dibz, Fade and Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
Here we have yet another classy collaboration between Dibz and Fade only this time they are joined by Smak in this Halloween extravaganza. The wall, as I have mentioned several times in the past, might be great fun to paint, especially if it is raining a little, but it is a devil to take decent photographs of unless the light conditions are perfect.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
On the left, Dibz has painted a creepy ‘zombie’ hand clutching at a spray can, putting a finishing touch on the writing to the right of it. The letters are beautifully worked, and Dibz has adopted the traditional colours of Halloween pieces, namely, Orange, purple and black.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
In the middle section, Fade has kept things simple with sticking to writing only with what looks like FADER, but could be something else altogether. All is neat and tidy with the piece as we’ve come to expect.
Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
On the right-hand side, Smak has joined in with the festive fun with some very fancy letters and a skull character peering over the K to the right. The backdrop to the whole thing is a wonderful spooky silhouette of dead trees and towers, finished off with some autumn leaves sweeping across the entire length f the wall. A classy collaboration from three fabulous writers.
Well this one took me a little bit by surprise, because it is a piece of graffiti writing from Mind 49 who doesn’t usually major on his writing, in fact I think this is the first writing only piece I have seen from this talented artist. Some of his portrait and other pieces have included a few letters, but nothing on this scale.
Mind 49, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Everything that you’d expect to see from a good graffiti writer is here… nice letter shapes, great colours and fills. The only thing that I think he needs to work on, and I am being super-picky, might be his outer border, which can be really unforgiving if the line is very thin. All in all, great to see something different from Mind 49, although, to be fair, all of his work is different from piece to piece. The piece fits a time context, with the ‘Free Palestine’ shout out.
Natural adventures 