Just when I think that Haka has gone all quiet, he pops up with another piece, and so it was with this one on the long hoarding at Greenbank. The piece is a rather nice writing character combination, where the letters HAKA occupy most of the body space, behind which is a rather cheerful-looking stegosaurus.
Haka, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
I have tried to find out who the dinosaur is, as most of Haka’s characters tend to be from children’s picture books, but there are an awful lot of them and my Google search was fruitless. The whole thing is a really nicely composed conflation of graffiti writing and children’s illustration. Charming really.
One of this summer’s pleasures has been the reasonably regular appearances by Kid Crayon and his painting pal, I am Ian. This wacky piece features a large cartoon-style character, with tears flowing from his exaggerated eyes, and the caption ‘Ain’t easy being macho’, which is really funny.
I am Ian, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Although it isn’t necessarily intended to be topical or political, this piece and the caption speaks to me about a growing and disturbing phenomenon of disenfranchised white males, often poorly educated and with limited prospects, turning to the far right of politics, encouraged by the untruths and promises of divisive and disingenuous politicians and activists. The perfect example of this was the man in a grey tracksuit at the race riot in Southport this week, who was posturing and puffing out his chest in front of a line of police with their riot gear, only to be hit on the head with a brick and another large item, thrown by other rioters at the police, and then on retreating back to the fold, got struck in the bo**ocks by another missile. ‘Ain’t easy being macho’.
I happened upon Dusce while he was painting this piece, and immediately deduced that he was not an artist I have seen before. As I always do, I gently struck up a conversation, and gathered that he was visiting from London and this was the first piece he had painted in Bristol. He was very young and despite having obvious talent appeared to be on the quiet side, not giving away very much – perhaps he thought I was going to shop him for painting an illegal wall (they are all illegal in Bristol).
Dusce, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2024
The illustrative piece with his writing front and centre tells a story of pollution, framed in a rather 1970s way – this kind of imagery was much more common when I was growing up than it is now. There is a little smattering of The Simpsons about the theme too. The writing is very nice if a little understated. I expect we’ll be seeing more of Dusce as he progresses.
A rare trip into the centre of Bristol, from his native Lawrence Weston, brought Donz to this spot in the Cumberland Basin. At first I had a little difficulty working what was going on here, because Donz has painted directly over a Mr Draws piece, without buffing the wall or masking out with a background design, in the spirit of a throwie, but this is better than your average throw up.
Donz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
Donz has a very particular style, probably governed by his letter in part, where his letter surfaces are quite flat, without midlines or accents, and the depth is provided by the 3D drop shadow. This piece reminds me very much of one he painted about a year ago in L Dub, which used the same colour combination.
More colourful fireworks from Hypo. This piece reverts to his symmetrical style of lettering, where the ‘H’ and ‘O’ are broadly similar in shape and the ‘Y’ and ‘P’ generally reflect one another. This is a design that Hypo has played with for years and tends to work really well.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
It is the fills though that grab the attention in this piece, with several horizontal layers of colour, I can count at least four, each of which is decorated with well-placed spots. There is a lot of energy piece, which is provided by the depth created and the sparkles at strategic points on the letters. Another great piece of graffiti writing for the collection.
Dibz, Jody and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
If ever you want an example of the perfect triptych graffiti writing/character portrait piece then look no further than this magnificent piece by Dibz, Jody and Fade underneath Brunel Way bridge. As always, these three have smashed it, and I just don’t know how many more ceilings they can break with their work.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
To the left, Dibz’ writing in black and pink is reflected on the right-hand side by Fade, where their writing is almost becoming indistinguishable except to the most experienced eyes. The key difference is that Fade’s letters tend to be ever so slightly softer than Dibz’. Both have created something special and finished it off with a splash of ‘liquid’ gold running behind the collaboration.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Sitting pretty between the graffiti writing is this outstanding skull painted by Jody. One of the great benefits of Jody joining these writers over the last couple of years is that we get to see so much more of his work on the streets, which I dare say we wouldn’t see so much if he was painting alone. When I see Jody’s work, I am still baffled how he manages to get such extraordinary detail and texture using a spray can. A trio at the top of their game.
Following on from the previous post, this piece by Karmone was painted during the same paint jam. Karmone is an occasional visitor to Bristol, from his home in Wales, and through his connections with Bristol artists, is invited to paint jams from time to time. As I always say on Natural Adventures, it is a constant pleasure to be able to welcome visiting artists to share their talent on our walls, adding to the mix.
Karmone, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
Karmone has, like the others, followed the convention of colours for the collaborative wall, and added a sprinkling of orange and grey to liven up the base of the piece with some interesting yin-yang spherical designs. His letters are exceptional, spelling out KARM, with tidy fills and mid lines. The arrangement of the letters and the 3D shadows cast give them a great deal of depth and dynamism. Some great work from Karmone.
Rusk is an established graffiti writer in Bristol who tends to paint in fits and starts these days. He is currently going through a rather productive phase at the moment, which is great news indeed. This piece in Cumberland Basin was created during a paint jam organised by Smak and the Art of Sok, a couple of weeks back.
Rusk, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
The general colours of the collaborative wall were light blues and yellows, and Rusk certainly stuck to the task with this tight piece. Rusk is known for his dedication and diligence and his work is always beautifully turned out. The highlight of this piece for me is the purple thread that runs horizontally through all of the letters. A fine example of on-point graffiti writing.
So, after a rush of high-end Upfest murals, I feel it is time for a switch back to some of the more grounded and authentic street pieces that are rolled out every day for those who choose to find them. This is a really nice piece of writing under Brunel Way, by Sorts.
Sorts, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Sorts presents some nice irregular letters, with a chrome base which are augmented with some really nice pink and purple fill sections decorated with red spots. The whole thing is nicely balanced and works really well. The letters are set on a creative green background with ‘cracks’ painted into it. Great honest stuff from Sorts.
I’ll let you into a small and rather unimportant secret… I wrote this post yesterday because today I am going to visit Cheltenham tomorrow for the Cheltenham Paint Festival, which this year has an extraordinary line up, so expect some rather nice posts in about 2-3 weeks time. I am so pleased for Dice67, AKA Andy Davies, who has been running the festival since its inception, which is just becoming bigger and bigger with each year.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
This is a rather nice collaboration from PWA duo Zake and Face 1st in the narrow bit between a building and a skate ramp, hence the rather odd angle in the top photograph. Zake has painted a character yelling, painted with as much relief and texture as it is possible to get.
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Face 1st has painted his name in rather fetching reds and pinks with some interesting cross-hatching in the ‘c’ and in the hair of the laughing girl. I like the way that Face 1st has been experimenting with his writing a lot lately, although I miss his full body character pieces – I guess you can’t have it all!
Natural adventures 