I don’t know if I have been missing work from Turoe One over the last five years or whether he has just recently started painting more, but I seem to be coming across his work more often in the last month or so.
Turoe One, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
This is a super-skilful piece of writing in Dean Lane which has been beautifully presented. Set on a black backgroung (great prep), the piece oozes class with its stunning fills and is capped off with a sharp orange outline setting the whole thing off beautifully. A really great piece. I hope that this spell of writing by Turoe One continues.
Here are two artists we don’t get to see nearly enough of. Both are established artists on the Bristol scene, but neither of them is out painting walls every week so what a pleasant surprise to come across this collaboration from Hemper and Hypo in the tunnel last week.
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hemper has been painting walls in Bristol for a long time and is highly regarded by his peers, and it is easy to understand why. Here he writes HEMP in shades of blue set on a painted brick wall from which the render has broken off. There are so many things to admire asbout this piece of work, and as if that weren’t enough he also adds in a message about the roll-out of 5G in Bristol “I never asked for 5G”.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hypo, on the left, continues with the blue theme and spells out his name with 3D block lettering emanating from two vanishing points. I have noticed that in most of his work Hypo is very keen on using vanishing points and it is a common thread that appears to be the basis of much of his work. The piece is beautifully presented and the accessories work really well, such as the stars, drips and the spotty background. Overall a very pleasing collaborative piece.
It’s a funny thing, but I have literally just come back from a walk with the dog (and camera) and bumped into Mr Draws painting down in St Werburghs tunnel – I stopped for a nice chat, delaying his work, and we chewed the fat for a few minutes. I had forgotten that I had lined up this piece to write up tonight (as you read this the day before yesterday). I tend to write my posts in batches when I have a moment or two, and as I am on holiday right now, I am trying to get a few under my belt while I have the time.
Mr Draws, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2019
Although Mr Draws is painting a little less on the streets at the moment (he is concentrating on studio work) the work he is turning out is looking really good, and this piece on the M32 kind of really works for me. Great colour selection, some interesting extras, such as the arrows, without going over the top, and nicely finished with his characteristic wobbly outline. Always a pleasure to catch up with him, and always a pleasure to post his work.
There is something a little understated about this piece by Soap on the footpath under Brunel Way. It is a fine piece of writing spelling out SOAP with nice fills and background, and something of a cosmic feel about it, but for me it just falls shy of the mark, and I can’t get my head round why.
Soap, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2019
After a very active spring and early summer, Soap seems to have slowed down a little more recently, maybe he has been away or been working hard, or equally possible I have just missed his works – I cannot be everywhere all of the time. Looking forward to seeing more of his stuff soon.
There is absolutely no stopping this guy. I hope he has a good job, because he is absolutely burning through the paint at the moment. I got really lucky with this piece and met Rezwonk for the first time when he was just finishing it off. At the same time I was also lucky enough to meet #Bristiol.graffiti, another local street art hunter and lovely lady. She has been so, so busy this summer spotting old and new art all over the city, and is a great source if you want to get a good idea of the scene in Bristol.
Rezwonk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Rezwonk takes his ideas to a different level with this piece, by rather cleverly lifting his ‘e’ off the piece and onto the railings of the roundabout. Clearly a lot of thought and preparation went into this one, and it has paid off in bucket loads. This spot is subject to incredibly different light conditions depending on the weather and time of day. These two pictures were taken on different days, and you can see how the light can affect the appearance/colours/shadings of a piece. Once again Rezwonk excells himself.
Things have been hotting up again in St Werburghs Tunnel recently, and although there hasn’t been a formal paintjam to my knowledge, there have been a steady trickle of new piece, including this rather nice 1960s retro piece from Corupt. It rather reminds me of cartoons I watched as a young child.
Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The colours are a little washed out because of the artificial light in the tunnel, but the design of the letters, the shading and accents and the face painted on to the ‘C’ come together nicely to creat a really pleasing work. We probably don’t get to see enough of Corupt’s work, but this is a real beauty.
I don’t go to the road bridge under Brunel Way nearly as often as perhaps I should, because it is a bit out of the way from my usual wanderings. It is just about dooable from my work, but I tend to work from home most of the time these days, and rarely get out that way. The point is that I got lucky on this particular trip, because this fine piece by Saik One was one of several nice art works on both sides of the wall.
Saik One, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2019
Saik One is the artist who paints large rats, but also can write a bit too! For the most part the black and yellow block shadow works quite well, but it might have been better coming off at an angle rather than being horizontal… but then who am I to make such comments, I have just spent two hours in the garden spraying a single letter and bottled out of the 3D block shading altogether! This is good work, nicely done.
The visist to Bristol by Gatoloco yielded two wonderful pieces, of which this is the second I have posted. It really is a beauty in both colour and form, and there is also a story going on with a gun being held by the hand at the end of the ‘K’ and a long string of bullets underlining the whole piece.
Gatoloco (Kasoe), Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
I was rather hoping that Gatoloco would be something of a longer-lasting fixture in Bristol, but I am guessing it was a fleeting visit. I’m not sure where the artist is from and their Instagram feed reveals very little. Nice to see things like this, and Bristol is definitely a draw for visiting artists contributing to the vast spectrum of great art in our city.
This is the second part of a four-way collaboration in the foot underpass at New Stadium Road between T-Rex, Tasha Bee, Decay and Ryder. The first half (the boy’s end) was posted here. As I always say about this location, the light was not helpful for getting good photographs, but you can still see the quality of the work.
T-Rex, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019
On the left is a beautifully colourful piece of writing from T-Rex with some wonderful and varied fills and her trademark dinosaur character rounding off the ‘X’.
Tasha Bee, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019
On the right is a very nice piece by Tasha Bee (Keep it Colourful) which reaches the very high standard I am used to seeing from her. Tasha Bee’s work never disappoints, and although she pretty much always paintsthese soulful styalised portraits, each one is an absolute beauty. All in all, it looked like these four artists had a great day out.
It is good to see that Mr Draws is getting out a bit more again after a comparatively quiet period. This rather low-key piece in St Werburghs tunnel is a nice take on his DRAW lettering, with a reversal of the letter D. This is quite a common effect used by writers but is always fun and effective.
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Rather strangely, the subtle colours used here by Mr Draws come out better in my photographs than some of the other more vibrant adjacent pieces. Usually the poor lighting in the tunnel brings out a lot of amber and orange colours, but this piece is mercifully spared from that fate. Mr Draws would seem to be enjoying his wobbly white outline, which he has used in several of his more recent pieces and is rather effective. I guess that getting a good wobbly line is probably as difficult as getting a good straight line.
Natural adventures 