I don’t know this artist’s street name, but I call him Taboo because I use the convention of naming him after the letters he writes. His Instagram account is @forbidden_association which doesn’t tell us much more about him.
Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
This new piece in Dean Lane is really nicely done and incorporates Tom Cat from Tom and Jerry. The letters, which spell out TABOO, are nicely done and have a chunky heavy look about them which is typical of the artist. If you are looking for a light touch, fine detail and finesse, you are unlikely to find it here, and yet the character element of the piece has a much softer touch. A really nice and rather unusual piece.
Although I somehow inexplicably managed to omit this outstanding piece by Elvs first time round, I think it might well be my favourite of his. Painted in Dean Lane in May 2017, the form and colours come together in something close to perfection.
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2017
In the nicely balanced piece, the artist has used three shades of pink and three shades of blue to give the blended effect of moving from light to dark to light horizontally. Added to that, he has split the piece into vertical thirds swapping the the colours to create a harlequin effect. Clean lines, beautiful fills, incredible details. Tight.
This is something of a rarity, an unpublished piece by Laic217. All I can guess is that May/June 2017 must have been a very, very busy time on Natural Adventures, because I tend to prioritise Laic217 pieces, because he is one of my favourite artists in Bristol and I love to share his work.
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2017
This piece is typical of his work at that time, featuring some graffiti writing combined with a character. The character is a skull, of course, with a bucket hat, of course and some brickwork glasses… . In my view this is a really classy piece and is beautifully executed and it is with not a small amount of happiness that I am sharing it on Natural Adventures.
I managed to get out yesterday and found a few new pieces around the place, and it would seem that with some social distancing rules being relaxed artists are beginning to slowly return to walls. In the meantime, I still have a few archive pieces lined up for publication, including this fine collaboration fron Dasco and Wiflywin.
Dasco, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
On the left is a nice piece of writing from Dasco. Confident and assured the fills are great and the stripy barcode effect on the 3D lettering has worked well in this instance, which is not always an easy thing to do. Set on an orange brick wall, the piece segues nicely into the wiflywin piece to the right.
Wiflywin, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
Wiflywin continues the writing using a similar colour palette and the barcoded 3D letter shading, but perhaps with just a little less confidence. I am not quite sure what the letters spell out, and I will have to get to know more about the artist.
Dasco and Wiflywin, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
On the right is a smashed up police car and I am uncertain whether one or the other or both artists painted it. Perhaps there was another artist involved, I am not sure, but I rather like it, and it works really well as a ‘character’ bookend to the graffiti writing. I’m not sure why I never posted this in November last year when I first photographed it.
UPDATE – On 30 May I met Wiflywin for the first time and asked him about this, he told me that he painted the police car… problem solved.
Decay rarely disappoints, and this rather modest chrome piece at the M32 roundabout is a very nicely worked DECAY without too much fuss and frills. Sometimes it is really good to see a ‘basic model’ that reminds us of how good some to the technical decoration adopted actually is.
Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019
Of course, the piece has superb 3D shading, beautiful white highlights around the curves and some nice drips too. Chuck , the E character, looks a little bit grumpy to me in this piece, and I have seen him happier. A nice sold piece from Decay.
On the long wall at Dean Lane back in September of last year was this rather unusual piece by Logoe. It seems that at the back end of last year, Logoe was quite productive and painted a few pieces like this with his central writing overwritten with smaller messages, The whiole thing looks like it has been tagged, but it is in fact all his own work.
Logoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
I’m not quite sure what all the smaller script says but I thik it goes like this:
‘Baby we living in the moment, been a menace for the longest, but I ain’t finnished I’m devoted, and you know it and you know it.’
Possibly the lyrics from a song or a message to a loved one, I just don’t know. Just Googled it. The lyrics are from a song by Kanye West called Black Skinhead. So there we have it. Enjoy.
This is an older TES from Slim Pickings (TES) painted back in July 2018, before I had properly registered how many different versions of his ‘super-tag’ he had produced. I post his pieces rather sparingly, because to some they might seem a bit repetitive, but for others the joy is in scrutinising the subtle differences between the designs of each one and the use of different colours and fill patterns.
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
One thing that remains consistent with Slim Pickings is that his work is always immaculately presented. The lines are always clean and the fills solid without thin bits that you see on a lot of throw ups for example. The red and green work well and the yellow outline sets the piece off nicely.
Conrico came on to my radar a little bit late, even though I had been photographing his work for a while without knowing who he was or anything about him. This was one of those earlier unattributed pieces that I had seen but placed in my files, where it has lingered until today.
Conrico, New Stadium Road, Bristol, July 2018
This burner from July 2018 is an accomplished piece of writing in one of Conrico’s favoured spots. The cartoon writing style is beautifully filled and given a double shadow in black and brown to push the letters out from the wall. A very nice piece indeed.
It seems somewhat remarkable that so many Soker pieces have been left behind in my archive over the last few years, but on the upside, it means I can share them with you now, while there is something of a slowdown with the appearance of new work in Bristol at the moment. I feel that things might be about to change however, with a slight relaxation of lock down.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2018
This is a stunninng, crisp, clean and very easy on the eye piece of writing from Soker on a hoarding that sadly no longer exists. A beautiful design, great colour selection and fabulous 3D shadow that lifts the piece from the background all add up to piece of the highest quality from this master graffiti writer.
This is the last piece for the time being from St Mark’s Avenue, although I still have several in the archive to share at another time. It is yet another masterful piece from Deamze whose work still occupies the dark recesses of various folders on my computer.
Deamze, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
I am not overly fond of the Smurfs. I was just a little too old for them, when they first emerged onto our screens and so I sneered at the show considering it to be babyish. Furthermore, I just don’t like gnome type things. Deamze however has managed to create a rather special Smurfs piece in St Mark’s Avenue, probably some time ago.
Deamze, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
The pink and blue shapes spell out DEAMZ although it is difficult to see from the tight angles of the pictures, and the cheeky little Smurf, like so many of Deamze’s characters is painting the wall with a spray can. Great work once again.
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