Writer – Page 123 – Natural adventures

5436. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

A couple of weeks back it was Werm’s birthday, and there was a fabulous turnout of friends and LRS crew to celebrate with a large paint jam. Werm, as usual, turned out an exceptional piece to mark the occasion, in the blue and pink theme colours.

Werm is continuing with his current form of writing a small WERM at the centre of the piece with elaborate extensions to the letters creating a complex wildstyle burst of terminal arrows. His work is always beautifully designed and turned out, and has come on such a long way since his early character pieces under his Eman moniker. Happy belated birthday.

5435. Greenbank (88)

I got lucky with this piece while walking on my little circuit, taking in the long hoardings at Greenbank. This shorter hoarding is at the entrance to the development site, opposite the cemetary, and has only recently been ‘decorated’ with graffiti. There was an artist painting a small character piece when I passed, so of course I introduced myself and struck up a conversation. It turns out that the artist was Dator, who paints with the Sunday Lovers, and the character he was painting was next to this piece of writing he had painted the day before.

Dator told me that he likes to vary his style from piece to piece, so it can be difficult to identify his work, especially as he doesn’t sign it. The letters here say S LOVERS, and is beautifully crafted. The letters have a hint of Claro_que_SSSNOH style about them, which is perhaps not a surprise, as adjacent to this is a piece by him too. The fills are skilfully worked and the whole thing is neat and tidy. Dator is a really nice man and was happy to chat for a while, long enough for the dog to get bored! Now I need to go through my archives and see if I can dig out any unattributed pieces that might have been painted by Dator.

5432. M32 roundabout J3 (503)

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018

You’d need to go back to 2018 to remember this beauty from Soker. I don’t know how, but this piece got stranded and forgotten deep within my archive, and a quick delve has unearthed it for me to post today. Soker is one of the very best writers in Bristol, which is why it is a little surprising that I never posted this one.

The first thing to grab the attention is the classy colour palette. The fills in the seamlessly intertwined letters are of the very highest class, drifting from which, through yellow to oranges with consummate ease. The letters spelling SOKEM are pretty much perfect, and so cleanly finished. The buffed wall helps the piece to stand out and the pink and purple spots the cherry on the top. As close to perfect wildstyle writing as you will see.

5430. M32 Cycle path (224)

Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

It feels a little bit repetitive banging on about how good Bnie’s work is, given that I say so every time that I post her work, but it is pretty much impossible not to do so. Bnie has been pretty busy this summer, not only on the streets of Bristol, but on the festival circuit too.

Bnie has played with her font a little in this piece, with a slight relaxation on the form with some arrows and pointy bits at the base of the letters. The letter fills are clever, looking almost reflective, as though dappled sunlight is bouncing off the piece. The letters are lifted with tidy 3D drop shadows and yellow and orange borders. Painted as part of an RBF paint jam.

5425. Sparke Evans Park (78)

Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023

Solar is definitely an artist I would like to know more about, as he is something of an enigma to me, and I have never had the fortune to meet him, or indeed most of his elusive PLB friends. His work is quite unique and touches on the anti-style, but not in a way that is similar to others who paint that way. Although he changes his fonts from piece to piece, there is a consistency about his letters within a piece.

The most striking thing about this work is the colour combination and contrast between the blue and black letters and the red and orange surround, set on a blue buffed background. I can’t really describe the letter forms, but can say that somehow they are typically Solar, and the gentle way he has of almost disguising his name. I will soon be able to pull together a gallery of his work which will be a great showcase of his individual style.

5423. Greenbank (86)

Haka rarely disappoints, and although he seems to have slowed down a little this summer, his work just seems to be always out there. This is a fun piece on the not-so-long hoarding on the Bristol to Bath cycle path, a hoarding that will before too long be entirely absent, as the new housing development nears completion.

Haka has an unrestrained vibe in his work and doesn’t seem to get hung up on convention, which affords him a freedom that comes across as very happy pieces. Here he has written his name alongside a ghost character from Ghostbusters (a movie that I can only think of as the original, as the glimpses I have had of the add-on films have left me cold). Always a great pleasure to see Hakka’s work.

5422. Dean Lane skate park (629)

There is such a vast spectrum of types, methods and styles of street and graffiti art in Bristol, and there is room for everyone, which makes it one of the most exciting venues in the world for urban art. All artists are welcome and nobody is overlooked. Enn Kay (NAK) burst onto the scene from nowhere about two to three years ago and has been improving along the way with each piece.

This is a lovely character/letters piece featuring Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants, beautifully recreated by Enn Kay, alongside the letters NAK. The whole thing is beautifully clean and tight – a top quality artwork from an artist on the up.

5418. St Werburghs tunnel (377)

Finding this piece in the tunnel was one of the happiest street art moments of my year so far. Fiva (Fiver) has been absent from the Bristol street art scene for a long time (last seen in 2020), and I feared that he might have moved away or given up on painting altogether, so seeing this filled me with pure joy, as I am particularly fond of his work.

In classic Fiva style, he has painted a huge piece with large block letters that have plenty of depth and stand out from the brilliant pink buffed wall. As is customary, Fiva has painted a character looking on from the left in wonderful cartoon style. The whole thing is so refreshing after the long absence. Welcome back Fiva, I hope that this isn’t a flash in the pan.

5417. Dean Lane skate park (628)

This wall, although part of the Dean Lane ‘furniture’ was only bricked up and made into one solid wall earlier this year, so in its current form it is a fairly new wall which was first painted by Haka (if my memory serves me correctly). It has now become a popular wall for large pieces of graffiti writing, and this is the turn of Mr Draws.

Mr Draws has been and will always be one of the foundations of Natural Adventures, along with other artists like Face 1st, whose work is consistent, regular and enduring – the heartbeats of Bristol street art. In this tidy piece, the letters are beautifully painted, each one merging into the next, and the fills, with horizontal layers work nicely through the letters. The little white accent lines create a 3D effect, which along with the black drop shadow lift the writing off the wall. Set on a blue patterned background, the piece is another fine contribution from Mr Draws.

Kosc

A gallery of outstanding graffiti writing and portrait pieces by Bristol artist Kosc.

Crew: NTS

Instagram: @_kosc_

All photographs by Scooj

	paulh121 on 7468. Dean Lane skate park…
	scooj on 7468. Dean Lane skate park…
	scooj on Dirtygypo
	hitandrun1964 on Dirtygypo
	I. J. Khanewala on Thursday doors – 12 Febr…

	paulh121 on 7468. Dean Lane skate park…
	scooj on 7468. Dean Lane skate park…
	scooj on Dirtygypo
	hitandrun1964 on Dirtygypo
	I. J. Khanewala on Thursday doors – 12 Febr…

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