Regular readers may recall that I am not a fan of posting work that is in effect advertising, but it seems that it is becoming all too common, whether promoting music or art. I guess I am more forgiving if an artist is promoting their own work, or helping out with mates, but it it still doesn’t sit very comfortably with me. It is a fine line between advertising for mates and corporate advertising. I suppose if money doesn’t change hands then it is ok. Somehow, though, the promotional aspect seems to disrupt the freedom of the artist, because there is a different driver or purpose, and this is reflected in their style and content.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Kid Crayon manages to gain leniency from me because I love his work, and in this piece he promotes n exhibition ‘Art on wax’ that happened way back in July. I expect the delay in posting the piece was down to my prevarication. It is well painted but in my view insincere. There you have it.
Dibz, Jody, Urge, The Art of Sok and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
This is another stunning production piece, led and bookended by Dibz and Fade, incorporating work from Jody, Urge and The Art of Sok. The themed colours of orange and light blues works exceptionally well in this spot that can have a tendency to be a bit gloomy.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Starting with Dibz on the left (and rather annoyingly, capturing that shaft of light which makes an appearance in the afternoons), the collaboration gets off to a great start, with as sharp and tidy wildstyle graffiti writing as you would expect from Dibz.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
With five artists in the line-up, and three of them writers, the character pieces appear in the second and fourth slots. This astonishing Godzilla piece is by Jody, who has been on fire since joining up with Dibz and Fade over the last year or so (although, to be fair, he is always on fire, but perhaps more so recently).
Urge, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Next up is a piece by Urge, who I know nothing about, but whose writing looks completely at home with the Bristol artists. I guess that Urge was visiting, or passing by, and got invited to join in. I love it that Bristol artists are so welcoming of others from around the country.
The Art of Sok, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
The fourth slot is taken up by the Art of Sok, whose distinctive style of cartoon characters, while so utterly different from the other four pieces, somehow manages to complement them very well. His characters are always beautifully presented in as close to a perfect state as they could be.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Things are rounded off by Fade, who along with Dibz ‘owns’ this manor. His beautiful letters, immaculately filled with two shades of blue and bordered with an orange 3D drop shadow, reflect the writing that comes before it. This is a very classy production piece from these five artists. Bravo!
It is quite unusual to find a Hire piece outside the Dean Lane skate park area, but here he is joining in the fun with the World Wall Stylers ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ paint jam, and although his piece isn’t as overtly on-topic as most of the pieces, it is nonetheless a part of the whole wall.
Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
The wonderfully crafted letters spell out HIRE, but I was sorely tempted to fib and say they spelled RABBIT. A feature I haven’t noticed about his work before is the long shadows that have been cast from the tips of his letters, which seem to lift the piece a little. This is a nice reversion to his more spiky style that sets him apart from other writers.
After his slightly controversial topless piece, entitled Norks, a few weeks back, Stivs has followed it up with this fantasy piece, only this time the character has a hint of clothing in an effort to avoid the piece being scribbled over.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
Whilst this piece won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, it clearly demonstrates Stivs’ talent as a cartoon character artist as well as the best Calligraffiti artist in Bristol. I was lucky enough to catch up with him, and Corupt, as he was finishing off the piece, adding touches to the writing with such ease and complete competence. Another great piece by Stivs.
After something of an absence, it is a real pleasure to see Ceus (Javiceus), back in Bristol with this piece and the one he painted for the World Wall Stylers ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ wall. One of the trademark elements of Ceus’ work is his command of colour – he seems to make good choices that will hit home.
Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
I don’t think that this one lasted very long, I only remember seeing it once. The turnover in Dean Lane is pretty fast these days. The letters spelling CEUS are really beautiful, with scenic fills that transition really well. The red 3D drop shadow, sets the whole piece off really well. The graffiti writing is painted on a cityscape backdrop, filling up the wall space really well. Hoping for more from Ceus this autumn.
Zake, Noise and Drake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
This is another section of the incredible World Wall Stylers ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, paint jam from last month. I made a bit of a booboo with my photographs of this section, and have included the Jessica Rabbit character by Drake, on the right, and severed it from his piece of writing (to follow), But somehow I felt it worked better bookending the writing by Noise and Zake’s Baby Herman on the left. – this may have been a mistake.
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
Zake has been producing cartoon characters for as long as I have been posting his work, but this is the first time I have seen a character based on an existing artwork. Rather than being a faithful reproduction of Baby Herman, this is very much a Zake take on the little cigarette-smoking infant. Very nicely done.
Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
Noise, as I have said countless times this year, is absolutely smashing it with every piece he paints, and this characteristic writing has very much adhered to the colours of the brief.
Drake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
Finally the character of Jessica Rabbit really ought to be attached to the writing of Drake to its right, but I goofed, so it is here with the Noise and Zake pieces creating a rather nice little Triptych. This particular paint jam proved to be a fabulous showcase of talent. Big ups to Participants and to World Wall Stylers.
Goldie, Fade, Acer One, Jody and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
All year long, Dibz and Fade have been decorating this wall with alarming regularity, and they have been joined along the way in their endeavours by Andy Council, Jody and Acer One (amongst others) and this time are joined by Goldie, Acer One and Jody. A production tribute wall to honour the musician and DJ, Randall.
Goldie, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The whole production is very nicely balanced which given the configuration, which starts with a Goldie piece that embroiders the words ‘The R’. This is a really nice dedication and beautifully painted. The colour selection is reflected in the rest of the collaboration. It is always great to see Goldie visiting Bristol for a bit of a paint.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
Fade is next up and he has compressed his piece to accommodate Goldie next to him and support the balance I was talking about earlier. With the orange and turquoise letters, Fade has written the letters ‘DJ’ which are as immaculate as you might expect. Both sets of writing are adorned with flames, which extend for the entire collaboration.
Acer One and Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The centrepiece is a shared space with Acer One lettering across the top of an outstanding Jody portrait of DJ Randall. Acer One has written ‘Too hot to handle’ which I am guessing is part of a slogan rhyming with DJ Randall. Not being a music specialist myself, I am unable to shed too much light on the artist or his work.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The Portrait is a faithful and beautifully painted, and certainly a fitting tribute.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The production rounds-off on the right with a wide piece of wildstyle graffiti writing from Dibz. The Turquoise and orange letters spell Randall, so the whole production spells out:
“The R, Too hot to handle, DJ Randall”.
Wonderful stuff from this quintet of talented artists.
This is the last archive round up for the time being, and a few wonderful pieces of graffiti writing that missed the boat back in March 2020, just around the time of the first Covid lockdown in England – what strange times those were. First up is this fabulous STICK piece by Corupt, complete with ‘panels’ and ‘rivets’.
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Another piece by the same artist, this time using his KORUPT letters. In this chrome lettering, there is more than immediately meets the eye, with some patterning in the fills, with two very subtle colour variants. Nicely done.
Trafficity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
It is always great to find Trafficity pieces, but to find an unpublished picture in my archive is extra rewarding. The letters ZIOM are filled with chrome, but unlike Corupt’s piece above, the patterning in this one is created by the piece beneath coming through (I think). Unusually, Trafficity has gone with a single tone, when I am more accustomed to seeing two or three horizontal colours through the piece.
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
It is very unlike me not to post Rusk pieces as and when I find them, so this one from the archive is a rare gem. Great graded fill, nice orange border and green drop shadow… what’s not to like?
Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Rounding off this selection of ‘lost’ pieces from March 2020 is this bright and cheerful piece by Phour, whose writing is consistently neat and tidy. He has gone with some interesting colour choices in the fill, which work really well and feel quite joyful.
That’s it from the archive for a while. Back to normal with my next post.
In this last look back at 2019 (for the time being), I am posting five pieces from the wall on the M32 Cycle path, which never made it onto Natural Adventures at the time. There is some poignancy to this post and the feature piece by Mena (Menas), because I have recently heard that Mena is currently recovering from a bad accident she had while travelling in Thailand. She is back in the UK, but quite unwell. This is my small way of wishing her a full recovery, and I dedicate this retrospective post to her. I expect you’ll see a few pieces, from various artists, in the coming days and weeks that will be wishing her well.
This is a particularly fine example of her work, and although she doesn’t paint all that regularly, her pieces are always welcome. I am not certain that all of the following pieces were painted as part of a paint jam, but I suspect they were.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Ryder is most definitely a graffiti writer’s writer, if you know what I mean, he is highly respected in the community and turns out some of the best graffiti writing in the city which he has done for quite some while. This piece is rather more subtle than most of his work, and perhaps doesn’t quite have the impact we would normally expect. I’m not sure these light shades quite work (for me).
T-Rex, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finding anything by T-Rex is always a treat, and this is a classy example of her great work. the writing/character combination always works a treat. The dinosaur always adds a touch of light-heartedness to the edgy nature of graffiti writing.
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Hemper has used a similar colour palette to Ryder, and for me it all just looks a little washed out. There is no doubting the superb skills of the artists, but on this day, I think they chose a weak colour palette, and perhaps that is why I never posted these pieces back in June 2019.
Soker, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finally, and very possibly not part of the paint jam, is this bright and colourful piece from Soker, displaying his graffiti writing credentials to the max. Superb letter shapes and fills mark this piece out, I only wish my photographic skills could do it justice.
This post is a quick nostalgic trip down memory lane comprising three wonderful pieces painted in Dean Lane, photographed way back in May 2019, that inexplicably weren’t posted at the time. The first is by Dasco, whose short time in Bristol saw the production of several outstanding pieces, you can see his gallery here.
Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Taboo has long been a favourite on the pages of Natural Adventures, and here is an old one in monochrome, complete with skull and right ball. Nice stuff.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Somehow this fabulous Biers piece missed the boat back in 2019, and I guess it was in a sense it was a prediction of things to come. ‘Nigel Farage – snake oil’ it says, and it isn’t wrong. The Clacton MP still hasn’t set up office in his constituency since the election and hasn’t held a single surgery, but then I don’t think anyone in their right mind would have expected that from the uber-opportunist.
