Tag: Writer

3851. M32 Cycle path (135)

One of Bristol’s most prolific writers of recent years has recently moved out of the city, and don’t we know it. There was a time when hardly a week would go by without a new piece from Decay, but now they are something of a rarity. This one was painted alongside LRS crew fellow Eman a little while ago.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2021
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2021

Decay seems to reinvent his basic design every year or so, and this is his 2021 look with the letters D and K and a more prominent ‘Chuck’ character in the middle. There are some lovely design features in this writing, and I love the neon pink triangle on the K. I hope that as things return a little bit to a new normal, Decay will be able to come in to Bristol a little bit more often, his work is missed.

3850. Upfest 2021 75×75 (32)

Many of this year’s Upfest pieces have been on large, premium walls, often over-painting previous masterpieces, but not all. There are a few standard sized boards at the Tobacco Factory car park that are the perfect size for graffiti writers. One such writer is Candie Bandita from London who specialises in script and lettering, particularly on shutters, and whose name is derived from a Commodore 64 game called Candy Bandit… not one I remember, but I was an Amstrad user addicted to Elite.

Candie Bandita, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
Candie Bandita, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021

The piece is a very special piece of writing in perfect colour matches with a superb metallic look to it achieved with clever use of white fills and shiny white stars. Setting it off perfectly is the neon pink Bandita glowing across the base of the piece. This is really accomplished graffiti writing and a privilege to see in Bristol. Shame that the Tobacco Factory café have elected to place a table right in front of the wall… keeping it real I suppose.

3845. Gloucester Road

I ran past this piece from Kosc this morning, and in a curious way I felt rather proud that I live in a city where public art is embraced, albeit sometimes reluctantly embraced. When the artwork is as good as this, then surely a painted hoarding is better than a bare/tagged piece of construction infrastructure.

Kosc, Gloucester Road, Bristol, July 2021
Kosc, Gloucester Road, Bristol, July 2021

The most obvious thing about the piece is the striking contrast between the scarlet background and the grey-scale character and writing. The background is more than a simple backwash, it has been overprinted with a roller with the letters KOSC on it, giving a texture to the background.

The character and writing are absolutely exceptional. The lady in the photograph? Well it seems that she was selected by Kosc from a gallery of pictures on Instagram by @pit_lad, who was more than happy to have it used for this outstanding piece. Kosc is going from strength to strength.

3842. Dean Lane skate park (421)

Brace yourself for a flurry of Sake pieces. Sake is an old-school artist who has been painting since the 1980s in Bristol, but I haven’t ever posted any of his work. I don’t know why – maybe it is because I have never met him before, that is until last week, when I caught up with him twice in St Werburghs tunnel. I told him that I would look through my archives and see if I had any older stuff of his that I could share. He was  very pleased to hear this, and is keen to stop for a drink soon to talk about street art – I just need to find some time.

Sake, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2021
Sake, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2021

This piece is on the curved wall at Dean Lane and is a repair to a similar piece he painted on this exact wall a few weeks ago and which got badly tagged. I think I have pictures of that original. Alongside his letters ‘SAKE’ is a Vaughn Bodē lizard, which is a favourite character for graffiti artists along with Cheech Wizard. I think this is a theme that I’ll need to investigate further before writing too much about it now, but will return to in future. A very nice wall painted by a decent, if slightly intense, artist.

3840. Upfest 2021 75×75 (28)

There is real craft and ability in the work of Emily Joy Rich, and her training and work as a graphic designer certainly come to the fore when you see her work. Her letters are so clean, tidy and sharp and her designer’s eye uses the space beautifully. I have only seen a handful of her pieces and like each one of them, she seems to be, in a way, upholding the art and craft of the sign-writer.

Emily Joy Rich, The Tabacco Factory, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Emily Joy Rich, The Tabacco Factory, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

‘You are not alone’ reminds me of the Close Encounters tag line ‘We are not alone’ but the two have very different connotations. The hashtag #youarenotaloneart, seems to be a ‘thing’ and checking it out on Instagram highlights some beautifully written murals from across the world. This one is a corker from Emily Joy Rich and I particularly like the two-tone grey shading on the word ‘Alone’, which gives it loads of perspective and lifts the word out from the wall. Highly accomplished work and another triumph for Upfest 75×75.

3834. Greenbank (12)

It was most gratifying to see this lovely piece from SkyHigh at Greenbank, which he rattled off while he was in town painting his Upfest mural. I met him when he was painting the Upfest piece and he asked me where he could paint a little extra one, and so I pointed him in the direction of Greenbank and hey presto! here it is. I haven’t posted his Upfest piece yet, because none of my pictures so far are up to much.

SkyHigh, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2021
SkyHigh, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2021

SkyHigh, apart from being a really nice bloke is an immensely talented writer and wildlife artist, and we are blessed that he has visited Bristol a few times over the years, but to see his best work you need to go to London and Leake Street in particular. The niche that he has perfected is creating his SkyHigh moniker with block letters, each designed differently, giving a kind of collage effect. This is a supreme piece of graffiti writing from one of the masters of his craft.

3832. Upfest 2021 75×75 (25)

I feel another ear worm coming on. What is it with these street artists and music anyway…? Inkie has returned to his native Bristol to paint for Upfest, as he does every year and this time he was handed a nice new wall to play with.

Inkie, Argus Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Inkie, Argus Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

I have a feeling that Kylie sand this line followed with ‘na na naa, na na na na na, na na naa’ if my memory serves me well. I suspect that Inkie’s reference might be a different one. The piece itself is rather special, with the words written out in the big hair of the female character, and a lot of mystery in the air. No features on the woman’s face and a question mark medallion around her neck. I’m not sure hat the reference ’84 21′ is, although that might be the dates that Inkie started painting and today.

Inkie, Argus Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Inkie, Argus Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

Although the basic design ideas are there from Inkie, I feel like the piece is a bit of a departure from his normal style, particularly the block letters. Excellent stuff.

3831. St Werburghs tunnel (249)

Let me start with an apology. I realise that keeping up with reading blog posts can be an onerous task sometimes, and I am sorry that I have started posting three instead of the customary two street art pieces of late. This is because there is such a huge turnover of street art here in Bristol at the moment and I want to record as much of it as I am able to. I’ll not be offended if you don’t catch them all.

Dibz, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Dibz, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

This is a wonderful collaborative wall from Dibz and Shade One who have produced a succession of these remarkable duets through the year. The distinctive writing style of Dibz has been given a thoroughly vibrant makeover with a superb explosion of colours and shades. Wonderful.

Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

The framed portraits by Shade One have a very special quality about them, always hinting as much at what is beyond the circular frame as what is contained within it. His contemporary portraits fit the street scene perfectly and act as a natural foil to the graffiti writing of Dibz. A stand-out collaboration, alongside many other great pieces from a Funday Sunday paint jam a couple of weeks back.

3826. Upfest 2021 75×75 (22)

Ain’t no stoppin us now is a fabulous piece by Upfest favourite Oli T And if ever there was an ear worm in the making, this is it – McFadden and Whitehead have a lot to answer for. Oli T uses his big bright and precise lettering style to create these memorable images and somehow seems to capture the mood of Upfest events so well.

Oli T, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Oli T, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

This was another piece that was vandalised before I had a chance to photograph it, and to say I was miffed was a bit of an understatement. However, it had been repaired the day after it was tagged and I had had nothing to worry about. Somehow Upfest wouldn’t feel like Upfest without one of these pieces appearing somewhere.

3823. St Werburghs tunnel (247)

This is a rather nice little three-way collaboration from Mr Sleven, The cat came back and Pekoe, down in the tunnel, which I think was a celebration of Mr Sleven’s birthday. I love it that in the street/graffiti art world it is common to mark people’s birthdays with a paint jam – what a great way to celebrate.

Mr Sleven, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Mr Sleven, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

On the left is a rather tidy little chrome throwie by Mr Sleven spelling out SLEV. While I like hie writing, I think I prefer his rather weird and wonderful character pieces, which makes me wonder whether I have enough to do a gallery of his work… I might just have.

The cat came back and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
The cat came back and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

To the right is yet another lovely portrait from the queen of portraits, Pekoe. The yellow face is perfectly offset by the red cheeks, lips and hair. A real stunner. Hitching a ride on the big hair is a little cat protesting for peace from The cat came back. All in all a lovely little celebratory collaboration.