It is probably about time for another piece from Face 1st, and this one, like so many of his other pieces, is so full of joy and happiness. I think that Face 1st should be employed as a ‘happiness tzar’ for Bristol, and be allowed to spray his happy faces to improve morale in a time when good news is hard to come by.
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
This particular piece in Dean Lane is in one of his preferred forms in which he has written FACE as the hair of a girl’s smiling face. For added effect, he has included a second face as the ‘A’ of FACE. It is always great to see anything by this artist, and the Bristol graffiti/street art scene simply wouldn’t be the same without him.
This epic collaboration between Conrico, Acer and Zake, an unlikely trio of collaborators, appeared on the Greenbank hoardings about two weeks ago and is truly eye catching in its boldness and presence.
Conrico and Acer, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2022
I know that pairings of these three artists have happened in the past, but I don’t think I can recall that the three have collaborated together before. Starting at the left hand side, Conrico has provided a landscape backdrop, that actually runs to either side of the whole collaboration. Conrico definitely seems to enjoy painting these landscapes, and they have that paintbrush appearance that he achieves, I think by using banana caps. The mountain range and greenery is in stark contrast to the outstanding ACER writing in the prism colouring and superb letter design that Acer is painting with at the moment.
Acer, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2022
It has been fun observing Acer, whose central theme is geometric design, change his ‘look’ several times over the years. This latest rainbow lettering is such a strong statement, and demands to be looked at and enjoyed.
Zake and Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2022
To the right hand side of the collaboration is the painting of Zake and Conrico, with the latter rounding off his mountainous landscape which incorporates a rather cheesy full moon in a blue sky scape.
Zake, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2022
The Zake portrait is as good as any I have seen from him, and is a reminder of just how far the artist has come over the last two or three years, especially if you look back at his column pieces at the M32 Spot. The features and shadows are outstanding in this face, and there is a movement from Zake’s figurative style towards a more realistic style… watch this space to see what direction his work goes in. What an eclectic and amazing collaboration from these three artists.
I do love my walks to the L Dub spot and although it only happens occasionally, both my dog and I love the remoteness of this curious brownfield site, brimming with wildlife, that runs alongside the M5 motorway. These occasional visits are always worthwhile because at the end of the walk is a water treatment pumping station and a pedestrian underpass with plenty of wall space for graffiti/street artists to play with. On my last trip a week or so ago, it would appear that some members of the LRS crew had been having fun.
3F fino, L Dub, Bristol, April 2022
This piece is by 3F fino and creates a scene from Fineas and Ferb, a cartoon TV series that my children used to love, and which features Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirt, the villain of the piece. The bubble fill for the lettering is absolutely outstanding and has a sense of evil chemistry about it, and the character has been faithfully recreated. All in all a fabulous piece from 3F fino, one of his best in my opinion, and worth the long walk alone.
After a very quiet lockdown period, there seems to have been no stopping Biers, who now writes WD40, from decorating walls all over the city. This piece from a couple of weeks back is on one of the best known walls in Bristol, and a particular favourite of mine – I have even done a special gallery of it, that needs updating.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
In this lively piece, Biers takes something of a self-deprecatory look and critique of his own work that is not entirely complimentary. I would beg to differ with his analysis, as I think it is a rather tidy piece with loads of activity and movement, and the character with the speech bubble is nicely done too. Don’t be so hard on yourself Biers.
The last time I met these two, Benjimagnetic and Acer, they were painting this exact spot with an epic piece that regrettably had been painted over by the time I went back to photograph it. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again, and having seen it on Instagram, made the tunnel my first port of call.
Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022
The left hand of this collaborative wall is a superbly clean and light piece of wildstyle writing from Benjimagnetic, spelling out BEN. The colours and shapes are inspiring, and the little grey shaded areas provide a little bit of solidity to the frame. Lovely work.
Acer, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022
On the right, Acer continues to dazzle us with his highly stylised rainbow lettering, spelling out CHAOS. Is this a random word, or a description of the mad, mad world we live in? This is a thing of beauty and great skill, I love the grey shadows of the black shadows. An absolutely fabulous collaborative wall.
Benjimagnetic and Acer, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022
This is definitely one of those occasions when you get more for your money, to loosely use an expression, because as we already know, street/graffiti art is completely free… imagine that, completely free art for all to enjoy, no entrance fee required. A double helping from Klashwhensober, which is surely a treat to savour. In this double act, we have two of his monikers, ‘Klash’ and ‘Sober’.
Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022
To the left is Klash written in his long slim lettering and a gorgeous transition fill from blue to pink, with some lovely patterns spanning the letters. The whole thing is coated in a kind of green goo, that Face 1st would approve of.
Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022
To the right of the pair of the work is the word Sober which again has lovely slim curvy letters and a superb red/orange 3D shadow shared across both words – with regard to the 3D shadow, Klashwhensober has a vanishing point somewhere behind the piece and the shadows work in both directions. The imaginative patterns and fills are a joy to behold, and a specialism that Klashwhensober works really hard on.
Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022
I met Klashwhensober again yesterday on the M32 cycle path, and it was another pleasurable experience. We chewed the fat for a little while, and discussed different pieces and styles, amongst other things. I think that we must have similar body clocks, as we keep meeting – three times now in just over a week.
Dopes is an artist who appears to like spraying in tight little spots tucked away on the margins of popular graffiti spots, or maybe I just happen to find his pieces in such places. This one is underneath the bridge in Sparke Evans Park, alongside a Maesyhook piece that until a week ago had been there forever (to make an appearance on Natural Adventures soon).
Dopes, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022
Set out in chrome on a turquoise background, Dopes spells out his name, with a rather curious character figure making up the ‘O’. A subtle splash of pink decoration and border gives the piece a little bit of zing and lifts it up above other chrome throw ups.
I think that I could quite easily fill up all my posts with work from about four or five artists in Bristol who seem to be unstoppable in their quest to brighten our streets and practice their art. One of those artists is Face 1st, who has been a constant drumbeat through the development and progress of Natural Adventures. Always there, always painting.
Face 1st, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2022
This piece is in my favourite street, for sentimental reasons really, in Bristol, Moon Street. Definitely a quick one from Fac 1st, as so many of his pieces are, but even though it probably only took an hour or so to paint, there is a lot to like about it. The change of pink to orange as you read left to right, and the blending of the colours, works really well. Of course, no Face 1st piece is complete without a girl’s face somewhere, and in this one, she is lurking in the letter C.
A serendipitous meeting with Paul H at Greenbank on my last visit there afforded him the opportunity to show me a spot I hadn’t been aware of before, and something a little different from the usual kind of graffiti/street art spots in Bristol. Greenbank is on the Bristol to Bath cycle path, and a short walk in the direction of Bath takes you to the Bristol to Bath gallery.
Conrico, BB Gallery, Bristol, April 2022
The gallery is a wall and fence, about twenty metres in length, which is festooned with pieces of art on paper, boards, canvass or in frames, all attached to the fence – a truly public gallery that anyone can contribute to. This particular section has been painted by Conrico, and would appear to have been quite a challenge to paint, given the different textures and materials. The scene is a very typically Conrico piece, with plenty of atmosphere and a style that looks more like paint brush strokes rather than spray can work. Some nice writing accompanies the portrait.
‘Milk’ seems to be such an unusual word to choose for a writer, but I guess there is plenty of scope for playing with letters, and it is certainly memorable; I would be interested to know why Wxttsart chose it. Whatever the reason, he has made it his own and Bristol is becoming a bit of a Milk city.
Wxttsart, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2022
Wxttsart creates these script letters that feel quite organic in both the wobbliness of the letters and the fills, in contrast to some writers where it is all about straight lines or solid fills or angles etc, this somehow feels much more free and expressive. Some lovely blue drips to finish the piece off. Nice work from this LRS crew member.
Natural adventures 