When Inkie comes back to Bristol, he usually marks his return with a little gift or two, and this one from a recent visit home is an absolute corker. Deliciously clean and sharp, this vibrant INKIE is a classy piece.
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
It is incredible how the colours leap out and slap you in the face, an effect probably exaggerated by the gray day and flat light. It is great to see a little shout out to The Agent, who is one of the longer established street artists in Bristol. Altogether a superb piece. Thank you Inkie.
Forgive the rain spot on the feature image, it was a very wet day when I took these pictures, and no matter how hard I tried to protect the lens from the rain, I just didn’t meet with much success. Sometimes though you simply have to venture out in all kinds of weather to capture incredible pieces like this one by Decay for fear that they could be tagged or painted over at any time, especially in Dean Lane.
Decay, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
I am loving the new direction that Decay is taking with his writing this year, with the inclusion of an additional set of letters behind his familiar ‘DECAY’. In this piece on the famous curved wall, he has written the letters HTM, which I believe is a crew name, possibly his partnership with Rezwonk, which stands for Hold the Mustard (thank you Paul). I look forward to January when it comes to Decay, because he seems to reinvent himself, not too much, and then kicks off for the rest of the year with the new idea. This particular idea has a lot of mileage in it and I can’t wait to see more.
It is such an obvious thing to say, but I can’t stop myself… this is a two for the price of one wall from Slim Pickings (TES). It is not often that you get to see two pieces by the same artist side-by-side, especially painted around the same time. What is nice about these it that you can compare the subtle differences between the two designs, both of which are beautifully clean by the way.
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
I don’t know the derivation of his TES pieces, but I suspect they began as a tag and have evolved over time into these elaborate and aesthetically pleasing works. The one on the left has some excellent colour choices with a wavy separation and some nice drips on the T. Woz Yer = was here, possibly one of the oldest mottos used in graffiti.
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
On the right is a slightly older form of his TES with little accent marks to the bottom left and right of the letter sequence. There is a single solid fill, but in this one the whole thing is finished off with a red boundary line. Spotting the difference between the two is rather fun, perhaps he should do this more often.
L Dub, (Lawrence Weston) is a spot I visit infrequently, but one that always rewards the effort. It is my premium dog walking spot, because it takes ten minutes of walking through a curious wasteland to get there and is close to Kings Weston where the dog and I spend many happy hours, particularly in the excellent cafe (doggie ice creams!)
Smak, L Dub, Bristol, January 2020
On my most recent trip I was greeted by this magnificent piece of writing by Smak. He really is a brilliant writer and all round street artist and seems to be at the top of his game at the moment. The best way to try to understand just how good this piece is, take a good look at it and consider the colour transitions, the sharpness of the letters, the overall design, the shadows, the outline in blue and the decorative fills. All of these elements are brought together in a vibrant crisp clean piece… stuck out in the middle of nowhere where footfall is minimal. The joy of an artist in form.
This is something of a new style being developed by Ments, and I have to say I like it and I think it has great potential. The clever combination of colours has the appearance of molten metal, but if you look up close it just looks like streaks of paint. Really clever work.
Ments, Armada Place, Bristol, January 2020
most of his work spells out MENTS, but I have to say that I struggle to see it here, but I suspect it is there somewhere. This work reminds me a bit of Fanakapan, although it is doing something different. I saw a little sneak preview of this new style in development down under Brunel Way bridge a little while back. I am so looking forward to seeing where this will lead us.
This little lane, locally known as Crack Alley due to it being at the epicentre of the illegal drugs trade until it was cleaned up about two years ago, is always worth a little visit because every now and then some little gems turn up.
Rezwonk, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2020
Rezwonk is not exactly what you’d call shy about getting his graffiti writing out there, and there is barely a spot in Bristol that hasn’t had ‘Rezer’ emblazoned on it over the past year or two. This looks like a bit of a ‘quick one’, although even this is nicely finished. I think it is the zig-zag fills that make it look like a bit of a throw up, but it is rather more sophisticated than that.
Just to then right of the piece you can see the word Millhouse which I think refers to the piece to the left by Slakarts (posted a few days ago) which resembles Millhouse from the Simpsons. It all makes sense now.
There is something very pleasing about this piece by Turoe One… it might be the simplicity of colours, the sharpness and crispness of the lines and fills or the form of the lettering – whatever it is, I know that I like it.
Turoe One, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, January 2020
I think I have written about the arrow that appears on so much graffiti writing before, but I don’t recall coming to a conclusion. I am not sure if there is any significance to the arrow motif, or whether it is simply an aesthetically pleasing way to add interest to lettering. I know that as a kid I used to doodle block letters with arrows, but maybe it was influenced by ’70s graffiti – I simply don’t remember. Anyhow, I like a nice piiece with arrows, and Turoe One has delivered with this one.
In one of his favourite spots, Mr Klue has painted this bright and breezy piece as part of a 64 Dot Com collaboration with DNT and Mr Sleven. In this more than in other pieces you can see the letters KLUE if you look carefully, with the U and E being especially clear.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
The abstract style so unique to this artist is soft and ephemeral and like a cloud looks like it might evaporate altogether at the slightest gust of wind. In this piece there is a return of some steps, a feature I always like in his work. Capping off the whole thing is a halo in yellow, which adds a touch of humour. A lovely piece.
The turnover at Dean Lane is beginning to pick up and this wonderful piece of graffiti writing by Remer from earlier in the month has now gone. I haven’t seen anything by Remer in Bristol before and am guessing that he is a visitor to the city and in some way part of or related to the No Frills crew.
Remer, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
This writing is highly stylised and beautifully presented, combining both curved and straight lines to great effect. The fill is interesting, with a variety of shapes and blocks in complementary colours in two main shades. This is an accomplished piece nicely done, bith crisp and clean. Remer is always welcome to come back to Bristol.
It took me a while to get a clean shot of this wonderful piece by Subtle because on my first two visits there were cars parked immediately in front of it. I ask you… cars parking in the tunnel! what is the world coming to?
Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Anyhow on my third visit I managed to get some nice shots, although as always, the artificial light played havoc with my camera settings and I had to do a little bit of post-production work to try and convey the true magnificence of of the piece.
Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
I understand Subtle has had a lay-off from painting walls following an accident, but he is well now which is great news, and he appears to be painting like there was no tomorrow. Two things I particularly like about this one is the skull and the drips, both beautifully crafted and enhancing the piece enormously. More to come.
Natural adventures 