A gallery of unusual graffiti writing by an artist with very possibly the best name ever, Dog Bless the Band.
All photographs by Scooj
Dog Bless the Band
Tag: Writer
7063. Cumberland Basin
Although this piece is unsigned (which in itself is a clue), I have made the pretty safe assumption based on the letter font that it is by Nice One. The piece is a protest piece about the war in Gaza and says ‘Smash Elbit’. Elbit is an international military technology company and defence contractor based in Israel, and clearly central to the annihilation of Gaza and its people.
The bleak piece, which appears like a smashed window, is a reminder that we are all witnesses to a genocide that western democracies have failed to stop, and indeed appear to support. It cannot be that hard to get tough on the Israeli government, can it? Street art once again providing a running commentary of contemporary issues with impact.
7062. Dean Lane skate park (852)
I was lucky enough to come across Dibz and Fade while they were painting this beautiful collaboration and was given a small insight into some of their colour choices over the last year. It turns out that they are only now finishing off the paint that they were given by Goldie for his wall of fame at Ikea last year. Amazing really that he gave them so much and that it has lasted this long.
This stacked collaboration required quite a lot of ladder work, and seeing the work in progress gives some sense of scale. Fade is working on his letters, bottom left and Dibz is up the latter. I guess I’ll have top forgive them for the brown background, which works well with the flame colours used in the letters, although an extra coat might have helped in one or two spots.
Overall, the twin collaboration is yet another demonstration of their extraordinary talent. I particularly like the green splats, giving the whole thing a bit of vibrancy and movement.
7060. St Werburghs tunnel (517)
There seems to be a direct correlation between the days and locations that Kid Crayon paints, and the longevity of his pieces. More than any other artist I can think of, his work gets painted over really quickly, and I have missed several of his pieces this year, arriving a day late.
Most recently, a piece in Cumberland Basin lasted a day maybe, and worse still it was only half painted over, which is rude, and not in the spirit of the unwritten graffiti code of etiquette. I rushed to photograph this one, and of course, it has bucked the trend and lasted a while, and was still intact yesterday.
This is a superb example of Kid Crayon’s playful style, with a great combination of letters and characters throughout the piece. The piece formed a part of a Frazzled Magazine paint jam, which included the artists Mind 49, Ejits, and Smak amongst others. There is so much to enjoy in this piece with so many little details to admire, for example, the munching maggot carving pieces out of the letter ‘C’at the start of the piece. Fabulous work.
7059. Brunel Way (322)
This is the middle piece of a Zinso-fest from earlier in the month underneath Brunel Way. The white buffed wall was the perfect opportunity for Zinso to practice his writing, and practice he did, turning out six pieces, three large and three small.
The bubble writing in the larger piece is beautifully decorated, each letter having its own colour scheme and one or two with spots as well. The ‘O’ at the end has a cheeky face for good measure. Similarly, the smaller signature piece in red also has a cheeky face, but appears to have a letter (S) missing. The full wall is shown below.
7058. Cumberland Basin
Mr Draws has had a very good spell of painting, both in terms of productivity and quality of his work. I have always admired his unpretentious approach to finding the joy in his graffiti writing.
This colourful piece is notable perhaps for its enormous black drop shadow, which gets a little lost without reference lines to the protruding points of the letters DRAWS. The fills have great colours and are nicely sone, and he has added a smily face, which he seems to be rather fond of at the moment. An uplifting piece.
7055. Cumberland Basin
Every once in a while I take a trip through my archives and spot pieces that I failed to post first time round, and give them a second chance. This is a piece by Totosoapcity from a year ago, July 2024, before I knew his name, which is why I probably didn’t post it then.
All of Totosoapcity’s pieces are instantly recognisable, because of the shape of his letters, which is quite unique, and doesn’t seem to deviate too much from piece to piece. I think the letters spell ARSA, with the ‘S’ reversed. In this piece he has gone form the trusty pink and blue combination with a cream and red striped drop shadow and red border with decorations. Decent, unusual and distinctive writing. Watch this space for more of his work from my archives.
7054. Dean Lane skate park (851)
I can’t think how many times Dibz and Fade have teamed up in the last couple of years, but it must be into dozens, and this piece shows the true nature of total collaboration, where both artists created this incredible work together, and it isn’t possible to know who painted what. Lots of crew shout-outs are scattered around the outside of the piece in pink. Wildstyle writing at its best.
The piece spells out, rather appropriately, ‘Wild Style Addicts’ which probably sums up these two rather well. The gold and purple colours complement one another well, and it all looks very neat and tidy on the black wall.
7053. Dean Lane skate park (850)
I will have mentioned that Zinso has been rather busy of late, and also that he appears to be relatively new to Bristol. How wrong am I? I was looking through archives and noticed that I have posted pieces by the artist way back in 2019 and 2020, but those were character pieces and not writing. I can’t believe that in the intervening years I haven’t noticed his work, so have to assume that he has found a new burst of energy and time recently
This is a rather neat piece of bubble writing with a really deep 3D drop shadow, lifting the piece nicely off the wall. The piece is really nicely finished and greatly superior to most bubble writing that I see, that is usually associated with quick throw ups. Loads more to come soon, and below are a couple of his pieces from a few years ago.
7051. Narrow Quay
These are three small boards outside a café on Narrow Quay, which I assume are commissions, or at the very least, permitted by the establishment. The artist is #DFTE and illustrate perfectly his philosophical musings delivered in his singular letter style with plenty of drips.
The first declares “love you too” presumably in response to a statement. The second is s little more challenging, and is perhaps a great reflective motto, “Don’t believe everything you think.
The third board in this trio, “Your anxiety is lying to you” is, I think trying to be helpful, but to anyone who suffers from anxiety, it probably just confuses and upsets – I can imagine tying oneself in knots over that statement. These original pieces represent a great way of integrating street art into our everyday lives. Nice work from #DFTE.
Natural adventures 