5262. M32 Spot (164)

Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

I simply can’t keep up with Kid Krishna at the moment, and I think I am going to have to do a ‘sweep up’ post of pieces that I haven’t posted so far this year, because all of them deserve to be featured here on Natural Adventures. Not only is he incredibly prolific, but he manages to spread himself far and wide, although mostly north of the river, to be fair.

Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

There is nobody else like Kid Krishna, both in terms of the person and his art. His lettering, although it is often such a mash-up, spells CRIE, and you can see a little CRIE at the bottom right-hand side of the piece. The letters TPN and NKA also usually make an appearance in his work too. In recent months, the letters have been incorporating fragments of character artwork, and there is a cat incorporated here. The white letters with green and yellow accents and decorations work incredibly well on the black background. This is a magnificent work from Kid Krishna.

5261. M32 Cycle path (218)

Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023

Some artists manage to keep themselves very much to themselves, and that is true of most of the PLB crew, including Solar. I have been featuring Solar’s work for a few years, but have never met the artist and have never found out anything about them. That is fine and how some like to keep it, as anonymity is an important part of illegal graffiti and street art.

Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023

I like to post pieces by Solar because they are very different to most of the stuff you see from day to day, often writing with thick letters in a blocky style but with an organic feel to them. Solar has gone full-solar on this one, with a sizzling sun-drenched background around the strong white letters. Nice work from an artist slightly underrepresented on Natural Adventures.

5254. Greenbank (82)

Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023
Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023

This post gives you a sense of how far behind I am with my posts and how difficult it is to keep up with the sheer volume of street art and graffiti writing being painted in Bristol right now. The wonderful piece by Pekoe is from an Easter paint jam with her RBF crew friends.

Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023
Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023

Pekoe has spent this spring concentrating on her letters, and it is always great to see artists pushing and challenging themselves. I think that Pekoe may struggle a little with straight lines and that she might benefit from writing a more curvy word – there are a lot of straight lines in PEKOE. The fills are lovely and typical of her style, and the eggs a nice festive touch. More writing from Pekoe in the pipeline.

5250. Cumberland Basin

Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023

This is the third in a series of Ceus pieces that appear to be in a revised or reinvented style, largely around a colour scheme, and large bold and obvious letters. There are small references to some of his work from last year in the shape of a wing tip to the left of the letter C.

Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023

The bright blue writing set on a white background has a heavenly look and feel to it an looks very fresh – so easy on the eye. There are some lovely colour fades in the fills and the orange outline/shadow with bubbles sets the whole piece off nicely – a quality work from Ceus.

5249. Coach and Horses

Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023
Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023

Although I regularly post pieces by Face 1st, it is probably only about half of everything I photograph. He has been a consistently prolific artist in Bristol since I started writing about this stuff back in 2015 and has brought me personally a lot of joy with his constantly evolving themes and ideas, based on a face.

Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023
Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023

This is a wonderful example of Face 1st’s work, a really tidy piece with sumptuous colours that work son well together. Some of Face 1st’s throw ups can be a little untidy, but this is crisp and sharp and beautifully finished. The smiling girl with earrings has the word FACE for hair, with not a little gloop going on. This is classic Face 1st, classily painted and presented.

5248. Dean Lane skate park (600)

Vozie and Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Vozie and Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

It is fitting that my six hundredth post from Dean Lane should feature a stunning collaboration wall from Vozie and Bnie, two of my favourite writers at the moment. There is an awful lot to like about this colourful collaboration, and the colours and style remind me of the cartoon fairground scene in Mary Poppins or the Village from the TV series ‘the Prisoner’ – the psychedelic elements probably elicit those thoughts.

Vozie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Vozie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

To the left Vozie does what she does, although in this version of her name, she has written VOSE, not VOZIE which we are more accustomed to seeing. Beautiful letters, beautiful fills and a fabulous drop shadow… there is little more to say.

Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

To the right Bnie has replicated the colours, fills and shadow to make this a truly collaborative piece. As with Vozie’s half, Bnie has created beautiful letters, using beautiful fills and a fabulous drop shadow. This is an exceptional piece from the RBF girls, and a bit of a fave of mine so far this year.

5245. M32 Spot (162)

Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

Conrico organised a paint jam under the M32 a week or so back, and a great many of the columns there were given a fresh coat of paint, including this banging vertical piece of writing from Ryder. The slogan accompanying this fiery piece is “play with fire – get burnt”, an apt phrase for the graffiti community.

Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

Some artists have pure class, which is a gift that can’t be manufactured, and Ryder has class. There is a confidence and assertiveness about his work that eclipses others around him, and this is a great example of that. The fun piece (spelling out RYDER) incorporates character faces into the letters, something Ryder does a fair bit, and has a delicious colour selection with perfect fills, and a steady black outline. This is one of the best column pieces I have seen in a long while. Simply the best.

5244. St Werburghs tunnel (368)

Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023

I am enjoying the regular flow of MILK from Wxttsart, and this yellow and black number from a paint jam in the tunnel a little while back is another great example of his writing that is definitely crossing-over into calligraffiti.

Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023

His two-tone grey letters have a mid-line running through them and a yellow 3D shadow dropping off to the left, providing some depth to the writing. Adding a little bit of interest are some lightening strikes at the base of the letters and a few highlight spots, without which the piece might appear to be a little flat. Some nice work from Wxttsart.

5243. Cumberland Basin

Kosc, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
Kosc, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023

Kosc has been smashing it for a long while now, both with his arty pieces and with his writing, and this is another fabulous example of his greyscale graffiti. I managed to catch up with Kosc last week as he was painting a new piece on the M32 roundabout, unfortunately I never saw the completed piece, as the entire wall was bombed by DBK before I returned a day or two later.

Kosc, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
Kosc, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023

With clever use of light and dark shades and a midline ridge running through each of the letters, Kosc has managed to get the letters to pop out from the wall, creating a wonderful 3D effect. I would like to see Kosc experiment with anamorphic writing, because I think he would be excellent at it, and we don’t seem to have any anamorphic writers in Bristol at the moment, other than Zase. Another fine piece from Kosc.

5241. M32 Cycle path (217)

Laic217, Sako and Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Laic217, Sako and Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

Zake has been involved in a lot of collaborations already this year, but this one is a bit unusual, in that it includes Laic217 and Sako (an artist I am not familiar with). The collaboration is one in which the artists share a broad colour scheme, but each piece is discrete.

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

Starting on the left, Laic217, who is going through a bit of a purple patch, has a rather dark, masked figure suspended over the letters LAIC. There are threads connecting the head and shoulders with the letters in something reminiscent of the Borg from Star Trek.  The head is highlighted with a halo of pink, which adds an extra dimension to the piece. Lovely work from Laic217.

Sako, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Sako, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

In the middle is a warehouse landscape by Sako and a fragmented planet earth at the bottom left. I certainly don’t know what this is about, but there must be a meaning in it somewhere. The scene reminds me of the Ikea store bit before the tills… a place I dislike for so many reasons. A great scene created with some atmosphere, which is an achievement given the subject.

Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

Finally, on the right, Zake continues with his ever-expanding repertoire, giving us his version of a six-armed god – inspired by the multitude of Hindu Goddesses with this characteristic. In Zake’s version, each arm is holding a spray can, of course, getting ready for some speed painting I would think. As usual, the light and shade work is exemplary, and the figure has enormous depth. A bright and rather eclectic collaboration from the three artists.