This is a beautiful and touching tribute piece by Bnie to her late grandfather – or so I understand. I love the way that street art can accommodate such public and overt ways of recognising one’s loved ones.
Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2019
The piece itself is beautifully painted with soft tones of green and purple, and it has a sombre feel to it. Her mastery of fading the colours acoss the letters is really improving and the 3D fill is really interesting. I am drawn to the zebra stipe decoration at the top of the piece above the A – it is a halo I think – I know that Bnie has been favouring this pattern recently and it is great to see it here.
Here we have another really decent piece by Rusk in the St Werburghs tunnel. If I am honest, I wish he’d paint somewhere else, because the photographs of anything in the tunnel just don’t convey the true natutre of the works. Whether it is deliberate or not I don’t know, but Rusk has put little shiny highlightson his letters that loook like they are reflecting from the tunnel light above. It works nicely.
Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
As always, Rusk has worked diligently on this piece, and the design works well without becoming too clever or over complicated. The piece was obviously painted during a collaborative session with the artist to the left (65ERS), because they have shared a red outline and a midway horizontal line that spans both works. Always a pleasure to find Rusk’s work.
Now a little break fom all that heady Upfest stuff and this great piece of writing from Corupt, who as well as writing ‘Corupt’ also writes ‘Stick’ – don’t ask me wht… he just does.
Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
Corupt is one of the unsung heroes of the Brisol graffiti art scene. His work is ubiquitous and he keeps a steady flow of pieces coming year-round, but he is rarely written about or mentioned in passing. I think he keeps himself to himself and paints for the sheer joy of it. This is a lovely sharp clean piece beautifully and thoughtfully constructed.
The curious thing about Upfest is that one is exposed to so many pieces in the space of such a short time that it can be overwhelming, and my coping mechanism is to take as many pictures as I can so that recall is enhanced when it comes to posting some time after the event.
Hypo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This fabulous piece from Bristol-based Hypo passed be by on the day I took this picture. I kind of remember seeing a piece by him, but I didn’t commit it to my deep memory – thank goodness for my archive. This is a clean and sharp piece with interesting and legible letter shapes and that central fill is rather special. Always great to (re)discover work by Hypo.
Another nice piece from the archive, this time from the brilliant Hire. I managed to snap this piece just as it was being overwritten, so kind of got lucky. You can see the outline of the piece that went over it.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019
I think that Hire is probably one of the overlooked heroes of the Bristol street art scene and his work is always on point. His gothic style is his trademark, and we mustn’t forget his rabbits that were being painted in Bristol before the arrival of his compatriot Nevergiveup. These letters, skilfully filled with black and yellow spell out HIRE… I think. A great Deaner piece.
This is the second piece of fine writing I have seen from Face 1st in recent weeks and once again shows the diversity of his ability. In my view, this is a very fine piece of graffiti writing indeed and unfortunately the pictures just don’t convey how good it is. I think the piece was painted during a session with Fiva (to the left and already posted on Natural Adventures) and if you look closely there is a little shout out to Fiva at the top above the C and E.
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
The piece transitions seamlessly from gold through light bronze to silver, an effect that is accentuated by the yellow lighting in the tunnel. This particular work kind of gives me a warm feeling – maybe it is nostalgia as the letters have a bit of a 1970s feel about them. A classy piece.
Yes, Fiva/Fiver has been at it again in St Werburghs Tunnel (goddam the light), with a piece full of Autumn promise. Copper tomnes and leaves leave us in no doubt about the time of year this one was created.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2019
Fiva is up to his usual creative deceptions of superimposing one style of writing over or into another. In this brilliant example a brick Fiver is covered over by a Fiver made of rather untidy wooden planks. The whole thing works really well and shows off his imaginative talent. Looking forward to more.
Down on the M32 cycle path is thisrather nice quick one from Hypo that rather cleverly brings about some symmetry to his letters HYPO. I suggest that this is a quick one because although creative and imaginative, it is not perhaps as clean and crisp as it might be. This might sound like harsh criticism, but it is not, it is an observation only. Added to that, even pieces with a few ragged edges are hugely difficult to do and I always doff my cap in the direction of these artists.
Hypo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Hypo, although not a regular on Natural Adventures does appear once in a while and as far as I can make out is one of the more established Bristol artists. I’m reasonably pleased with these pictures because with the overhang, the top half of pieces painted here are often in shade and I seem to have overcome that on this occasion. More nice work from Hypo.
More great graffiti writing from Smak on the south side of the M32 roundabout on a stretch of wall he has painted many times. As one would expect his letters are beautifully designed and presented and the colour patterning really cleverly used in each one.
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2019
Smak really sets the bar for this style of writing in Bristol and rarely drops below this exceptionally high standard. It is the care and attention to detail that raises the quality of the piece, for example the darker colours on the background are carefully worked and in synchrony with the letters where he could have just presented the whole thing on a dark plain background. Lovely piece.
It took me three visits to this wall to be able to get some decent photographs of the fine collaboration from Laic217, Ugar and Cory. The solution to my photography problems was to visit the spot on an overcast day. On Autumn sunny days, there is a high risk of shadows from the trees and shrubs being cast across the wall.
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Laic217 has once again excelled with this fabulous skeleton with a boogie box over his shoulder, a common motif for his pieces. He has once again shown his mastery of painting materials and fabrics with the skeleton’s jacket. Lovely work.
Ugar, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019beautifully filled piece of graffiti writing.
Ugar, who pretty much always paints his name, even though I have seen a couple of character pieces some time ago, has given us characteristically brilliantly filled letters, something that he excels at.
Cort, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
The third piece in this collaboration is by Cort and rather like Ugar’s piece is creatively and imaginatively filled and decorated. His letters though are a bit of a moveable feast and in this instance he has spelled out CORTOS.
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
From my perspective the Laic217 piece wins the day, it is simply so good and the artist just gets stronger and stronger.
Natural adventures 