Back now to some Bristol street art after my brief excursion to Shoreditch in London with this fine writing by Ugar. I haven’t seen too much of his work of late, but this is a wonderful piece painted alongside a Laic217 piece back in November 2018.
Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2018
His style is highly distinctive with asymmetric lettering and wonderfully creative fills and decorations, the letters spelling out UGAR. I like his rather organic and unconventional approach to writing.
Back to some more incredible work from Shoreditch. I am still only a fraction of the way through posting some great pieces from my November trip to the ‘Big Smoke’ – I love the Bristol scene, but it is great to get out and see what else is out there. This is a beautiful character and writing combo from the highly respected and accomplished artist Tizer. Although I have heard of him and seen a few of his pieces, I know little about him, until I read this spectacular interview on the Bombing Science website. If you do nothing else today, you really ought to dig this out and give it a quick read, he is an amazing guy.
Tizer, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
This vibrant piece is so full of class and is clearly the work of a highly experienced writer. The lettering is quite organic but beautifully proportioned and the character looks like a throwback to the ’70s or ’80s. A tidy piece. Now go and read that interview.
A few weeks ago Fiva painted a fabulous piece in St Werburghs tunnel, and you know what? he’s only gone and done it again pretty much directly opposite the first. The piece is similar in that it uses the clever layering of two different scripts, saying FIVA/Fiver, superimposed on one another. The lettering has a rather crafty 3D thing going on too.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2019
It is always a great pleasure seeing work by this occasional (compared to some of the others) street artist, especially as his work is so clean and tidy. I’m not too sure who the character on the left is, but the grayscale tones contrast really well with the blue and purple writing. Another great work from Fiva.
There is something about Cheo’s work that oozes class. I think it stems from his great compositions and characters, but most of all his incredibly clean lines. The whole thing looks like it has been painted with fat felt tips rather than spray cans.
Cheo, Norfolk Place, Bristol, April 2017
I love the smoking cat character with his gold chain in the centre of the piece, and I’m not too sure what the white creature on the left is, but he is clearly animated about something.
Cheo, Norfolk Place, Bristol, April 2017
I struggle to read Cheo’s writing, mainly because he doesn’t simply write ‘CHEO’ which would of course make things much easier. Crazy that I’ve only just posted this one.
When I saw this back in 2016 I was still at the early stages of learning about the street art scene in Bristol (in fact I am still learning every day) and I knew little about the RAW crew and the artists constituting it. While it is obvious that the character on the right is by Jaksta (the medallion gives this away) the writing is less obvious.
Jaksta and Ware?, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
It looks like the letters say WARE to me, but here I am showing my ignorance because I don’t know the artist at all. The writing is beautifully executed and I love the musical notes sitting on the midway line on the blue letters. A really nice piece of street art for the festival.
On sitting down to write a post about this Elvs piece from the M32 roundabout I have come to realise that I know virtually nothing about the artist. I know about his work and love the intricate lettering which usually has a vanishing point somewhere behind the piece, but I have never met him nor do I even know where he comes from. This secrecy is quite common amongst some street artists and is completely understandable… however it does lead to an awful lot of waffle filling the column inches.
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2019
This particular piece includes some pixels which might be a little nod of recognition to Aspire, but then again it might not. It also looks a little bit like there is a tide line on it, where the bottom third looks a little washed out. This effect is heightened with the wet pathway below the piece. Great work from this DBK artist.
A couple of days back I posted a great piece by the lovely artist Cros, and said that I had seen some of his work before – this is that work. Back in September Cros and his friend Lorris took over two-thirds of the long wall at Dean Lane to produce this wonderful collaboration.
Cros, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
The letters Cros creates tend to be quite angular, but have a soft touch to them. His fills are really neat too with all sorts of nice patterns and shapes in green, orange and black. Everything is neat and tidy and I like his rings and arrows, both classic writing motifs.
Lorris, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
This is the first piece (I hope of many) by Lorris that I have posted and it is a really charming piece. Now, I wonder if I would have said it has a feminine touch if I hadn’t known that Lorris was a woman. Difficult to know really – the lettering in soft and curvy, but the clincher is the hair bow on the ‘O’ of Lorris…I can’t imagine a male artist ever spraying a hair bow in anything other than a photorealistic portrait. All my unconscious bias being laid bare there. Anyhow I really like her style and can’t wait to see more.
Somehow this Deamze piece passed me by. Probably because this spot always seems to have one of his pieces in it…he owns the space. It is not a street with much other street art, so trips there are infrequent and therefore any refresh of this wall can be easily missed.
Deamze, King Square Avenue, Bristol, August 2018
The work is not unlike his previous one here (see below) in so much as it is in his sharp and jagged style and has a hog character. So crisp and clean, just another example of the brilliance of this artist. Although I took the picture in August last year, I have only just got round to posting it. Worth the wait.
I got lucky recently on a lunchtime walk to Dean Lane to find Cros painting this fine writing and character along with Cort and Laic217 who had unfortunately left before I arrived. Together with Cros was his friend Lorris, and together they had collaborated in Dean Lane some weeks before. I have pictures of that collaboration, but didn’t know who they were, so didn’t post them at the time…watch this space.
Cros, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2019
Cros is a really nice guy, originally from Spain but now living in Bristol who said he plans to be much more active painting on the streets when the weather gets a bit better. I can’t wait. When I first saw this piece I was getting a bit confused, because the lettering is quite similar to Cort’s lettering, but Cort was working on another piece next to it, also the letters themselves are quite similar…CROS and CORT. The character is what separates them, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen one from Cort.
Cros, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019
Cros has a lovely touch and this is a nice clean piece. Unfortunately he hadn’t finished when I had to go, and indeed didn’t finish until the following day. I managed to get out a couple of days ago to take a picture of the finished piece, but the light was all wrong. This is also a difficult wall to photograph and these pictures really don’t do the piece justice. A great sign of respect that the piece is still there completely untagged.
Between Mr Draws and Object… The Bearpit is just about keeping alive, although I did notice some Panskaribas pieces on my way into work earlier this week (to follow). This is a quick one from Mr Draws and draws (no pun intended) on his staple decorated lettering.
Mr Draws, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2019
The colours and patterns make this writing easy on the eye, but it is not to everyone’s taste, and sometimes those who like to sit in judgement on such things can be a bit rude about his work. I’ll have none of it. He brightens up our streets and has no pretensions at all. Perhaps some would prefer clinical fine art, commissioned and safe, but that does not pick up on the diversity and full spectrum of the discipline.