Tag: Writer

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.

3821. St Werburghs tunnel (246)

Inkie has been back in town, mainly, I think, to paint his contribution to Upfest 75×75, but he has also painted at least one commission and had some fun in the tunnel with this piece during Sunday Funday from mid-July.

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

Inkie is inextricably linked with everything that is good about the street art scene in Bristol, and here is another wonderful piece to add to his collection. It looks like there is a bit of a birthday celebration going on with this too. I love the contrast in writing style with the inclusion of ‘BIZ in the top left of the piece.

3812. M32 Cycle path (134)

Some might not have noticed the ‘changing of the guard’ piece on this wall as it is by the same artist and is not dissimilar to its predecessor. It is unmistakably by Claro-que-sssnoh and spells out his signature HONS letters.

Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 Cycle Path, Bristol, July 2021
Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 Cycle Path, Bristol, July 2021

His work is almost maze-like and the letters a combination of regular straight lines and curves which almost seem to compete with one another for the space. His fills are beautifully done and contain several of his favoured dots in a line, each smaller than the one before. It is always good to see new work from this Spanish artist living in Bristol.

Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2020
Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2020

3807. Brunel Way (117)

It would seem that Jee See has awoken from quite a long slumber, and is hitting walls again with his trademark SEISMIC letters, in this case with a large piece under Brunel Way.

Jee See, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2021
Jee See, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2021

Jee See’s pieces are usually quite easy to identify, in particular his seismic series, in which he tricks us with 3D shadows being cast in different directions halfway through the letters. This piece in bright red, with black shading is very nicely prepped and finished, and it would seem that he took his time crafting it. More to come from Jee See soon.

3806. New Stadium Road (34)

I met Mest for the first time the day before the Euro 20 final while he was painting an England variant of his letters (to come). We stopped for a long chat, and as with so many graffiti/street artists, he was a lovely bloke, happy to answer my rather inane questions and observations.

Mest, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2021
Mest, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2021

This piece under the M32 is a nice example of his work using three fill colours in his letters with some additional swirly decorations, but it is the red circles which have been incorporated into his letters that stand out for me. It won’t be too long before I have enough of his pieces to do a gallery.

3801. M32 Cycle path (133)

This piece, and one or two other recent ones, mark a slight change in style for Pl8o, whose large block letters might be more familiar to regular readers. This time he has gone with something more akin to script lettering and it all comes together rather well.

Pl8o, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2021
Pl8o, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2021

It is always refreshing to see artists try something different, switching things up a bit. I like this piece a lot, but I think that prepping the wall with a slightly more solid wash would have been beneficial. Other than that a fun new direction from Pl8o.

3794. Greenbank (9)

It would seem that since joining PWA, Nightwayss has been painting more frequently and seems to be enjoying his collaborations. This wonderful piece is in the middle of a Face 1st, Nightwayss and Soap triptych, and incorporates the recently devised PWA wobbly line border.

Nightwayss, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2021
Nightwayss, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2021

Nightwayss’ pieces are well known for featuring monkeys and apes and in this piece he doesn’t disappoint. A ghoulish giant ape is consuming a train (I think), and behind is a fabulously written ‘NIGHT’. With all the dots in the background, there is a feel of comic book print about the piece, and the theme adds to that feel. A great piece.