6213. Dean Lane skate park (733)

Dirtygypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Dirtygypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Over the last couple of months I have tried to post three pieces a day (upped from two a day before) to try and do justice to the sheer quantity and variety of artwork in Bristol. The harsh reality though is that about 60-70%, still, of the art I photograph never sees the light of day. I could make things easier for myself by being more selective and only posting ‘high-end’ pieces, but that is not what this blog is all about. Within these pages I strive to include, new entrants alongside established artists, stencils alongside graffiti writing and so on to reflect the diversity of the street art/graffiti scene in the city. So I shall plod along driven by my own enthusiasm and desire to share the amazing art in this Bristol.

Dirtygypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Dirtygypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

This is the second piece by Dirtygypo that I have posted and it most definitely won’t be the last. His work is bright and energetic and although different in style to Grimes, for example, it leaves one with a similar feeling of excitement and positivity. These two artists, and there are others, appear to be bringing something fresh to the mainstream that we are used to here, and I thoroughly welcome it. Great use of colour and unusual letter shapes, nicely defined with a black border combine to make this a really rather good piece.

6210. M32 roundabout J3 (603)

Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

It is a rare privilege to witness a character artist segue so seamlessly into graffiti writing, and Bloem, with this outstanding piece, proves what I already knew, that she is a natural. Not only has Bloem managed to give writing a go, but she has created a very neat and tidy piece, of a standard that many wannabe graffiti writers never reach.

Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

Her colour selections are excellent and blended expertly as they transition through the letter fills. The letters are very nicely proportioned and regular enough, without being too regimented. All the borders and lines are clean and crisp, patterns simple and well executed, and the white highlights do enough to create a 3D look to the writing. It helps that the graffiti writing is presented on a white background with some black spots, creating contrast and framing everything very nicely. I very much look forward to more experimentation from Bloem.

6208. M32 Spot (186)

Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024
Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024

I get a little bat squeak of excitement when I see a piece that is obviously by an artist new to me, tempered by mild anxiety that I don’t know who they are and may not get to post their work until I find out more. Everything happened quite quickly with this wonderful piece by Nuke, thanks to Instagram, and I am thrilled to be able to post this debut piece for Natural Adventures.

Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024
Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024

This is a very interesting and compelling graffiti writing/character combination piece that has an interesting quality to it. It has a ‘soft-focus’ appearance and yet is clearly defied and masterfully painted. The 20 years refers to the length of time that Nuke has been painting, and his experience certainly plays out in this piece. I don’t know if he was passing through or whether he is staying in Bristol, but this is one of two recent pieces painted in the city by the artist.

6207. M32 roundabout J3 (602)

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Just as I was beginning to think that Minto was going on a bit of a ‘slow-down’ he comes up trumps with several new pieces in a relatively short period of time. This is an interesting piece that was created during a paint jam at the roundabout. I have noticed that Minto has changed his style a little recently and appears to be undergoing a ‘period’ of deconstruction, where the elements of his work appear to be a little fragmented, as if several thoughts are going on all at once.

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Concealed within the piece are the letters MINTO, with the ‘INT’ being reasonably clear, but the ‘M’ and ‘O’ are more tricky to see. For clarity, he has signed it in yellow bubble writing on the left. The colourful piece is full of eclectic decorations and a couple of characters, but for me lacks a little cohesion. The blue and grey background I would guess has some kind of meaning, but it is a little lost on me. Lot more to come from Minto soon.

6206. Greenbank (126)

Omie, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
Omie, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024

In Bristol, there are dozens, literally, of writers bubbling under the surface. Many of these are not as well known as some of the more established graffiti writers, but every once in a while one of them breaks cover and rises up a level or two. This often coincides (unsurprisingly) with their appearance on Natural Adventures. Omie is one of those artists whose work I have noticed and admire.

Omie, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
Omie, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024

The refreshing thing about Omie’s work is that every piece is completely different from the last in style and composition, which keeps things very interesting. These heavy block letters spelling out OMIE in dark grey-green tones are given extra weight by a chunky 3D drop-shadow. Some orange decoration around the outside provides plenty of contrast to help the piece stand out. Nice work from Omie.

6205. Cheltenham 2023 (17)

This is the second small gallery of Cheltenham art photographed at the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023. I am posting this as the 2024 festival begins at the end of this week, and I felt it would be good to share some of last year’s pieces as a bit of a warm up.

Not all the pieces were painted last year – the Alex Lucas mural (feature image) was painted a few years ago, but I only got round to photographing it last year. I hope to be visiting Cheltenham for this year’s festival alongside Paul H, and am getting pretty excited about it all. Enjoy the gallery:

Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

This piece was actually painted in 2020 for the Cheltenham Paint Festival. Still looking magnificent.

Ajax Piper, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Ajax Piper, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

I don’t know an awful lot about Ajax Piper, but I believe he is a British artist who hasn’t been painting for too long, or so his website might suggest.

Wispa, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Wispa, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

A wonderfully colourful and vibrant piece by RBF artist Wispa (featured reasonably regularly on Natural Adventures).

3rdeye, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
3rdeye, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

3rdeye has produced this typically mysterious piece with one of his creature characters and plenty of eyes.

Curtis Hylton, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Curtis Hylton, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

One of the featured artists at the CPF 2023 was Curtis Hylton, who smashed it with this outstanding large mural on the side wall of the Holiday Inn Express hotel in the centre of town.

I will need to do a few more posts from the CPF 2023, and some more unposted pieces from Upfests passim. So much to do and so little time to do it.

6204. Cheltenham 2023 (16)

Everything is catching up with me. The Cheltenham Paint Festival begins next weekend, although I believe some pieces are already well underway. The problem for me is that I still have loads of pieces from last year’s festival that I haven’t posted, so here are a few pieces that I’d like to share by way of a warm-up act for next week. I will do this as a mini gallery, because I don’t have time to write up each individual piece.

Paul Monsters, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Paul Monsters, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

Bristol artist Paul Monsters doing what he does best.

Heat One and Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Heat One and Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

superb collaboration from Shade One and Heat One.

Joe Greenaway, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Joe Greenaway, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

An interesting piece from Joe Greenway

Philth, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Philth, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

Finally an outstanding floral piece from Philth, which was tricky to photograph because of the car parked directly in front of it.

More from the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023 in tomorrow’s post.

6202. M32 roundabout J3 (601)

Conrico, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Conrico, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

I love Conrico’s work. He has the most incredible capacity for telling stories through his art. Rarely is there a static portrait or lettering that does nothing more than look good. The other thing that I admire in his work is his spray style that looks more like brush strokes than spray – clever stuff indeed.

Conrico, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Conrico, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

This piece was painted during the paint jam to celebrate Wispa’s birthday (in absentia). I am guessing, but can’t be sure, that Conrico has painted a portrait of Wispa in honour of her birthday, which would make sense. He has included some writing, which I think might be Japanese, which I cannot read. A nice piece that is so typical of his unique style.

6201. M32 roundabout J3 (600)

Hypo and Ulow, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Hypo and Ulow, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

What a wonderful surprise it was to come across this outstanding collaboration from Hypo and Ulow. Regular readers will be familiar with Hypo, especially as he has been so productive over the last year or so, but Ulow’s appearances are rare these days, so this was a real treat.

Hypo and Ulow, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Hypo and Ulow, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

This collaboration is out of the top drawer. Hypo’s super-colourful writing is as good as I have seen from him and has a touch of Hemper in its presentation and depth… praise indeed. Ulow has an incredible talent for painting the perfect graffiti characters, and his dancer on the right hand side of the collaboration matches the energy of Hypo’s writing. This is a supremely good piece, and one of my favourite collaborations so far this year. Bravo!

6200. Dean Lane skate park (732)

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

This is the second piece (the first was by Deamze) I have seen in Bristol featuring Asterix and Obelix from the children’s comic book series written by Goscinny and illustrated by Uderzo, both, regrettably no longer with us, but their legacy lives on through apprentices who have carried on the series of books. I am something of an expert on Asterix, I was brought up on the books, and in my youth they were the only thing I would read (much to my family’s dismay), so I judge this remarkable piece by Fade and Dibz through critical lens.

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Starting with Fade, the strong and on-point letters in black with orange drop shadows, are nothing more than I would expect. For me, though the writing is eclipsed with the appearance of Dogmatix, Obelix’s dog, at the bottom left.

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

Dogmatix, obviously had a non-speaking part in the books, other than the odd growl or woof, and Fade’s rendition of the little character is perfect, picking up on his personality faithfully.

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

The centrepiece, probably painted by both Fade and Dibz features the heroes of the piece, Asterix and Obelix. The large sidekick, Obelix is 100% spot on, everything about his is brilliant. Getting on to Asterix though, my hypercritical eye isn’t quite happy with the warrior’s face, which feels slightly elongated… there is something not right about the proportions. I’ll let it go though, because they have tapped in to something that is deeply rooted in my childhood.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Dibz rounds off the production piece by mirroring Fade’s style and colours to provide balance to the whole collaboration. Remarkable stuff really and a red-letter day for me on finding it. Below is the Deamze piece from 2018 before he emigrated to Tasmania.

Deamze, Waterloo Street, Bristol, October 2018
Deamze, Waterloo Street, Bristol, October 2018