2260. Dean Lane skate park (218)

Vibrant and sharp, this is a magnbificent bit of graffiti writing from Rezwonk and the left-hand half of a collaborative wall with Rusk. What really brings this piece to life is the clean letters and striking blue trim, it’s really something special.

Rezwonk, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Rezwonk, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

Rezwonk, or Rezer as he writes, has been incredibly busy with his street work this spring/summer and he seems to enjoy painting with othert artists, often with Decay and Nightwayss. It is funny how these artists rise through the mist of anonymity. I think Rezwonk first hit my radar back in the summer of 2017, before that I can’t recall ever seeing any of his work. This is one of his best (IMHO).

2252. Dean Lane skate park (215)

What a fabulous piece this is by Rusk. I don’t tend to associate his work with character pieces, but this burner/character combo is a real winner. I never read any of the Garfield cartoons, but certainly know who he is, and this lazy cat is brilliantly suspended in the ‘U’ of Rusk.

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

The writing, as you would expect from Rusk is absolutely first class and the colour combinations absolutely perfect. That red is ‘to die for’. This piece was painted alongside an excellent Rezwonk piece (to follow) a couple of weeks back. Really great piece.

2250. New Stadium Road (13)

Decay is really doing some special work at the moment. His new form, writing his name is this style, is so very pleasing on the eye and allows him to experiment with all sorts of colour variations.

Decay, New Stadium Road, Bristol, May 2019
Decay, New Stadium Road, Bristol, May 2019

This piece was part part of a collaborative wall with Rezwonk and Nightwayss and these three painted another wall some 30 yards away at the same time. Lots more to share from these sessions. Loving this Decay renaissance.

2237. M32 Cycle path (27)

Another tremendous piece of writing from Smak along the M32 cycle path from a few weeks back. In some of his more recent pieces I have noticed that he is going for this style of blocking out letters in different ways, along similar lines to SkyHigh, and here, the M and A in particular are outstanding.

Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2019
Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2019

All the letters are blended and yet individual, clever work, but for me the jewel in the crown is the box around the A and circle around the M which make this piece extra special. I had difficulty photographing this piece, because it was very bright every time I visited, and the way the light falls in this alleyway makes photography really tricky. Yet another outstanding work from Smak.

2236. Dean Lane skate park (213)

Tight. That is the best word that I can think of to describe this amazing piece of wildstyle writing from Dibz. He is the master of executing the most complex of pieces from the sketches and drafts in his black book. This wall was painted in the very good company of Cheo (to the left) and was nicely prepped with the brick-red wash which offers a very clean finish to this work.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

With a vanishing point adopted for the shadowing, the piece stands out really nicely and the blue background adds interest and depth. I don’t think I have ever seen a piece from Dibz that isn’t technically excellent.

2231. St Werburghs tunnel (83)

It has been rather a long time since I saw anything from Eraze. There was a period when he used to do the odd piece in Dean Lane, but I can’t recall anything there for ages, so it was a nice surprise to see this in St Werburghs tunnel recently.

Eraze, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
Eraze, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

I am more familiar with his character pieces, but this is a fine bit of writing with bright colours on a black background. I rather like the white edging and the way it cuts into the letters. Altogether a rather uplifting and happy piece.

2229. The Bearpit (181)

A lovely artist who managed to stay under my radar until last year has become rather busy of late. I refer of course to Nightwayss whose pieces seem to focus around a monkey, either as the central character of a work or by reference.

Nightwayss, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019
Nightwayss, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019

In this piece Nightwayss has painted a wonderful monkey hanging by its tail and gently scooping at what looks like a large flower. The monkey is set on a black ‘NIGHT’, a great way to combine writing with a character. The modest colours and size of the whole thing emphasise its delicateness in the urban bustle of The Bearpit. I love this piece – a little oasis of peace and calm.

2227. M32 roundabout J3 (145)

This is one of my favourite Smak pieces of the year so far, and my goodness there are a lot to choose from. This is another of his ‘double vision’ pieces where he has written SMAK twice and in this instance has played around with fonts and styles reminiscent of another brilliant graffiti writer, SkyHigh.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2019
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2019

Often when photographing street art, I am confounded by parked cars or wheely bins that wind me up a treat. It is funny how I am somehow much more forgiving of a tree obscuring the art, although being a naturalist at heart it shouldn’t be a surprise. Wonderful piece by Smak on a great wall.

2225. Chapter Street (2)

Other than promotional hoardings outside the Full Moon pub in Stokes Croft, I don’t think I have seen an Inkie piece since Upfest last July, so it was great to see this one on a Construction site deep in St Pauls. As one of the godfathers of Bristol street art, it is a pity that we don’t get to see as much of his work as we would probably like to, but I suppose the old maxim ‘treat em mean to keep em keen’ might apply here.

Inkie, Chapter Street, Bristol, May 2019
Inkie, Chapter Street, Bristol, May 2019

This piece is a blaze of colour, spelling out INKIE. Interestingly there isn’t any 3D effect on the lettering, which I would usually asssociate with his writing. I don’t think that this is the best piece I have seen from Inkie, but the bar is so very high, and I imagine that this was probably a ‘quick one’. Always great to find anything by this celebrated artist.

2222. Moon Street (70)

Rezwonk is another street artist who seems to have found an extraordinary energy level this year, developing his writing in spots all over Bristol. This time he has produced a rather nice solo piece, but in recent weeks he has painted a lot in collaboration with Decay.

Rezwonk, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2019
Rezwonk, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2019

Here he spells out REZER, an obvious shortening of his ‘name’. It is an interesting moniker because the letters are quite harsh in capital form, lots of straight lines, in contrast for example with my own SCOOJ, which is much more curvy. I wonder if the names are directly or indirectly responsible for the development of a style… very probably.

This is a nice piece of writing, which sets me up nicely for a new piece of his that I photographed yesterday in Dean Lane that is outstanding, and which I will post in due course.