6282. L Dub (54)

Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024

L Dub (Lawrence Weston) is a funny old spot, really. It involves a 15-minute walk alongside the M5 motorway on a pathway which runs through a kind of brownfield site of scrub and thickets. The place is absolutely bursting with wildlife, which thrives in and around the drainage ditches, which I presume take excess water away from the motorway. It is interesting that these dilapidated ‘forgotten’ spots are often some of the most biodiverse in the country. The place is festooned with all sorts of interesting plants, dragonflies, beetles and butterflies,,, an unlikely nature hot spot.

It also plays host to a water pumping station which offers several walls for painting, and a pedestrian underpass which takes you under the motorway and some other roads and provides plenty of graffiti opportunities, for those that can be bothered to find the place. Acer One has recently painted a couple of pieces here, away from the crowds.

Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024

This is a complex piece, which demonstrates how his mind works (in his own words) and is also a little bit experimental. The letters spell out ACERONE, but are alternately coloured, so it starts with a dark blue A, followed by a gold C, then a blue E and so on. Fascinating stuff that can take a little while to work out and keeps those brain cells ticking over.

6281. Leicester

Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024
Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024

It is always great to see work by Inkie, but especially so when outside Bristol, it feels like a home from home. This is an outstanding piece of writing with some flat pink, stylised portraits and silhouetted urban landscape in the background.

Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024
Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024

The letters BTP, which form a kind of print backdrop, stand for Bring the Paint, a street art festival hosted in Leicester every now and again. This piece was painted by Inkie for this year’s festival, and accompanies others that he has painted in previous festivals here. This a really nice, tight graffiti writing, and a superb example of Inkie’s work.

6277. M32 Cycle Path (273)

Nips, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2024
Nips, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2024

What better way to start the day than with a nice, crisp chrome piece from Nips. What a pity I didn’t get there before the tagger, but that is all part of the way of life in this jungle. Everyone knows what the rules are, and whatever existing rules can be broken at any time by anyone.

Nips, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2024
Nips, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2024

There is an uncomplicatedness about this piece that speaks of an artist who is comfortable with their work. No need to embellish or over-decorate. Sometimes less is more, and I would suggest that is the case here. I haven’t yet met Nips, and look forward to the day when I might just be in the right place at the right time to do so.

6276. New Stadium Road (56)

Conrico, New Stadium Road, Bristol, July 2024
Conrico, New Stadium Road, Bristol, July 2024

Conrico has been so productively lately with commissions, painting walls and the Cheltenham Paint Festival. It is lucky really that he is so passionate about what he does and that he really enjoys it. He is currently going full tilt on his Japanese influenced pieces, including this lovely landscape/writing combo.

Conrico, New Stadium Road, Bristol, July 2024
Conrico, New Stadium Road, Bristol, July 2024

Conrico has a great story behind his moniker, which is essentially a school corruption of his name which has stuck, a bit like Scooj which I use as my pseudonym. The letters CONRICO are dominant in this piece and are influenced by the katakana alphabet, and float over a stunning landscape of a snow-clad volcano (Fuji?) and cherry blossoms in the foreground. A wonderful piece.

6275. Dean Lane skate park (740)

Awkward, Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Awkward, Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

The FUA (From Up Above) boys are at it again, although this time they are joined by Awkward, and have opted for a smaller wall for this collaboration. In this piece we see our two main protagonists getting closer and closer to fusion in their work.

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Fade on the left and Dibz on the right have opted to use the same colours, 3D drop shadow, decorations and background, and it is only their stylistic differences that separate them. Dibz’ work tends to be a little bit more angular than the smoother edges of Fade. The colour transitions in the fills are excellent in both halves.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

The central piece is book-ended by two characters by Awkward, who has painted with Dibz and Fade in Dean Lane not all that long ago. Messages contained in the speech bubbles are ‘roll the dice’, ‘Awkward’ and ‘Stop the war’. The characters look typically alarmed/animated with their exaggerated eyes and wobbly outlines. A rather nice collaboration from the three artists.

6274. St Werburghs tunnel (436)

Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2024
Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2024

This intriguing piece presented me with a bit of a riddle, until I paid proper attention to it. Sentinel 793 is the musical alter ego of Benjimagnetic, and this piece featured on his Instagram feed as a prop for his music, combining his two passions/talents.

Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2024
Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2024

It is definitely a departure from his usual work, and takes an original idea and presents it really well. The name of the track (I guess) is ‘Some things change’, which accounts for all the small writing that makes up the whole 793. I like the way the 793 numbers interlock and slightly stand out from the wall with the skilful application  of white shaded borders. Something a little unusual.

6270. Cumberland Basin

Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

One of the really enjoyable things about this summer has been the re-emergence of Kid Crayon and his painting partner, I Am Ian. They have collaborated several times recently, with their blend of colourful writing and cartoon-style characters. This piece is what I would call a ‘true’ collaboration, where it becomes difficult to determine exactly who painted which bits.

Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

I don’t know I Am Ian to be a writer, so I guess that the letters are by Kid Crayon, as is the character on the left, I think. Although both characters are very similar in style, I think that the one on the right might be by I Am Ian. The whole piece is a fantastical mickey-take of the Cabbage Patch Dolls, turning them into a drug gang, ‘the Cabbage Patch Cartel’. Both mischievous and witty and great fun. More to come soon from these two.

6269. Greenbank (131)

Whos, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
Whos, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024

Note to self… take better photographs. This piece is something of an outlier. It is by an artist called Whos, who is known for his anti-style writing, so when I first saw this it didn’t register that it might be by him. It was only after talking to Conrico at the Cheltenham Paint Festival who confirmed that it was indeed by Whos and that Conrico, while painting to the left of this piece, encouraged Whos to push the boundaries.

Whos, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
Whos, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024

This urban landscape, making up the letters WHOS, is really imaginative, and coming from an artist more used to the free from of anti-style graffiti writing, is a great effort. The dark industrial colours lend themselves very well to the piece and help to create a special atmosphere, which would not have been achieved with bright pinks and yellows etc. I really hope that Whos is encouraged by this foray into a world of opportunities is just the beginning… we’ll have to wait and see.

6268. Cumberland Basin

Dirtygypo, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, July 2024
Dirtygypo, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, July 2024

Dirtygypo is making his presence felt in Bristol, with his pieces appearing in various spots with some regularity. With this piece in the little tunnel at Cumberland Basin, he has abandoned his customary colours for monochrome letters with a black border.

Dirtygypo, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, July 2024
Dirtygypo, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, July 2024

I am still struggling to read what his letters spell out. I can see an S, a couple of Is a Z and a T perhaps, I am sure the penny will drop eventually. His playful graffiti writing has a light-hearted touch to it, and I am very much enjoying finding them on my ’rounds’ with the dog.

6263. M32 roundabout J3 (612)

Dime, Jody and Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Dime, Jody and Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

What a wonderful triptych piece on the roundabout which is what I would describe as a unique collaboration between Dime, Jody and Turoe. I am not familiar with Dime and am guessing that he was visiting Bristol and made contact with artists in the city to see who’d like to have a paint. That is how I imagine these kind of things happen.

Dime, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Dime, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

The collaboration starts with a stunning piece of graffiti writing from Dime, with nicely defined letters, beautiful fill colours and a deep 3D drop shadow. The borders are nice and thin and flawless, and the letters are lifted with contrasting orange and red blobby decorations around the outside. The way I think about decorations in a piece is to try and imagine what it would look like without them – often they enrich what might have been something a little ordinary. Decorations are part of the composition, not just an afterthought.

Jody, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Jody, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

Jody has been smashing it all over the place for a sustained period, and I understand from talking to Fade, is really enjoying himself. In this piece he provides the filling in a graffiti writing sandwich and features a cartoon style cool character striking a pose with a cloudy background. I love the sparkle on the sunglasses, a brilliant touch.

Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

Rounding off the collaboration is a piece of writing from a Bristol legend, Turoe, although I originally thought it was by Soker it is actually a tribute collaboration to Soker who had a cycling accident recently (Thanks to Jay for the background information). If ever you want to know what outstanding graffiti writing looks like, then look no further than Turoe, and this piece demonstrates why. Perfect colour selection, superb interlocking letters without being over-engineered, a deep and contrasting 3D drop shadow and tight border. All the elements are there and they are brought together by a master of his craft. All in all, this is a fabulous and quite unexpected collaboration. We are blessed, and a fabulous tribute.