This wonderful piece by Bnie was painted during an interesting paint jam honouring Wispa’s birthday, even though she wasn’t present. That’s what friends are for. The theme for the paint jam was sweets and confections, I guess because Wispa is fond of such things.
Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Bnie has gone to town with this amazing representation of a Yorkie bar, chocolate I haven’t eaten for more than twenty years, in which she has replaced the word Yorkie with her letters BNIE, in the correct brand style. I love this kind of piece, because it stretches the artist to step outside their comfort zone, and Bnie has done a cracking job with this one. The full RBF wall is shown in the photograph below:
Bnie + RBF paint jam, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Hypo has been smashing it for a while now, and not only creating some outstanding graffiti writing pieces, but also switching things up a fair bit too, in terms of style and presentation. In this piece on the M32 Cycle path, he has framed his letters within quite a tight area, and pulled it off really well.
Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
The gold and silver letters are nicely designed with a kind of post-industrial weight to them, there is chunkiness and brutalism about the letters, and the red border with big drips speaks of a kind of pain, a bloodletting that comes with industrialisation. My interpretation only of course. Something a little different and challenging but also well presented by Hypo.
Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025Hypo and Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024Minto, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024Minto, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024Minto, Cumberlan Basin, Bristol, April 2024Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2022Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2019Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020Cheo and Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, BristolMinto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol
Every year, almost like clockwork, Mr Klue springs into action and follows up with frenetic activity for a month or two before slowing down again for the autumn/winter. This piece marks an up tick in activity which has produced several gorgeous ephemeral works in his favoured spot, St Werburghs tunnel.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024
The abstract smokey writing style adopted by Mr Klue makes for difficult reading, but this piece is easier than some to read, and you should be able to make out the letters KLUE, if you look hard enough. I’m not sure that Mr Klue gets the credit he deserves for his unique style of graffiti writing, probably in part due top his modesty, so this is a big shout out from me for his consistently brilliant work.
Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024
Wowzer! A word I rarely use, but this outstanding anamorphic piece by Uncle left me breathless, and even now, looking at the photographs, it plays tricks with your mind. This kind of anamorphic art has been around for centuries, and in its more formal settings is called trompe l’oeil, which in French means ‘deceiving the eye’, and which can be seen in cathedrals, churches, palaces and streets all over Europe (and beyond I expect). Street artists have been refining the style and are now creating some utterly mind-boggling work for all to enjoy.
Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024
One of the things about anamorphic art is that it often has to be viewed from a specific point to achieve the full effect, and the first photograph just about hits the spot. Uncle has managed to create a green box that appears to be sunk into the building, and the 3D lettering in red, white and blue is sitting within the ‘recess’. Much of the illusion is created with very clever use of light and shade and shadows cast.
Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024
I am so pleased that Upfest invited Uncle, who is from Hong Kong, to paint this piece this year, and I hope that it encourages more of this kind of awe-inspiring art in the city. You can find more of Uncle’s work on his Instagram feed, that has quite a few interesting images and reels of this piece. Outstanding work.
Luke Smile, Upfest 24, West Street, Bristol, May 2024
Life in full colour! This outstanding Upfest piece, by Luke Smile in a way reflects the previous two posts (Shane O’ Malley and Paul Monsters) in its joyful use of colour and specific reference to colour in the words. Although this is not the first time I have seen Luke Smile’s work in Bristol, he is not a regular visitor, so it felt especially good to see this piece.
Luke Smile, Upfest 24, West Street, Bristol, May 2024
Luke Smile is a British artist and designer and has been concentrating on his ‘Smile sans’ font which we see here in this mural. I have lifted Luke Smile’s description of the font from his website, because I am sure his explanation is far better than anything I could write:
‘The bespoke font has a hollow-like quality where the 3D areas of the letterforms leave space for bold colour and texture whilst casting interesting shadows’
I have to say that this piece really struck me when I first saw it and it remains one of my favourites from this year’s festival.
Marckinetic has been out a fair bit this year, painting alongside his mate Kid Krishna, and he hasn’t yet appeared to run out of inspiration for his FFS designs – this one being a cracking example. There is a real sense of clarity and purpose in this piece.
Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
You have to have some insider knowledge or a great imagination to know that the letters spell FFS. There is a lovely symmetry and flow in this piece created by the curves of the letters, and the deep black shadow gives the whole thing a monolithic appearance. The fills are very nicely worked and I love the cracks in the blue fills. The piece has been nicely finished and is clean and crisp – an excellent and unusual piece of graffiti writing from Marckinetic.
Werm and Noise are no strangers to collaborating with one another and in May, painted this wonderful collaboration in Dean Lane. Both artists have a distinctive style, and although they use different colour palettes in this collaboration, they are joined together with some connecting background characters.
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
The writing from Werm is busy and electrifying, with brilliant use of contrasting colours and some highly technical skills used to spell out WERM. There is a lot of depth in the piece, with layers sitting on layers. The bright star spots on some of the letters add a twinkle – classy work.
Noise, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Noise, has been smashing it lately with a host of new pieces during the spring, and does it again with this piece and his characteristic fat letters spelling out NOISE. The two-colour fill transitions nicely using some symbols and patterns where the two colours meet . Both pieces are bookended with little grey characters painted in a cartoon style, but I am not too sure who painted them. All in all a fine collaborative wall from the pair.
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Some more jolly capers from Mr Crawls and Mote, who have been smashing it for months now, and continue to turn out some great and fun character pieces dotted all over the place. This pair of characters were painted on the warehouse wall in Cumberland Basin, and command a majestic view over the river.
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
To the left is a friendly, toothy monster by Mote whose eyes (in common with the adjacent Mr Crawls character) are simply holes in the head, creating a mask-like effect. There are some nice squiggles and doodles in the fill, something of a trademark of Mote’s work. On the right Mr Crawls has recreated one of his hatted birds, although in a stylised cartoon form that is more angular than some of his earlier work. The pair look magnificent on the white background, and are unusually large, due to the big wall they have chosen to paint.
I find myself sounding like a stuck record all too often when it comes to posting about Mr Draws’ work, in part because he has been an ever-present on Natural Adventures and continues to paint his unique style of writing and his diverse street art pieces, and I have found myself repeating myself a little, which in no way detracts from his wonderful work.
Mr Draws, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2024
There is a freedom and joy in Mr Draws’ graffiti writing in which he concentrates on his fills, usually with hard edges between colours rather than blended transitions. He has used his customary deep drop shadow, and the whole thing is bordered with a clean white line. A fine archetypal Mr Draws piece that is a key part of the continuing culture of the whole Bristol street art and graffiti writing scene.
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