I love finding pieces by artists that I haven’t registered before, and this piece from Zinso is one of a few that I have photographed recently. Although Zinso is new to Bristol, I would suggest that they are not new to painting walls, as this is a tidy and accomplished piece of graffiti writing
Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
The slightly cartoonish letters are bordered with a confident black outline and filled with a vibrant green with orange marginal decorations. A couple of pink symbols thrown in rounds off this tight, unfussy piece of writing set on a splash of blue. Bravo.
I recently found out, from Paul H (thank you), that Mage, who has recently emerged on the Bristol scene, is none other than Raid, who has appeared on the pages of Natural Adventures many times, including a gallery of his work. Commensurate with his name change, I will now refer to him as Mage from this point forward.
Mage, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
This is a nice piece of writing on an iconic wall that has hosted hundreds of pieces and layers of paint which chip off from time to time, as you can see from the base of the wall. The letters are nicely arranged with a fill that reads across the whole piece, with yellow spirals spanning the letters. A nice piece and a puzzle solved.
Doors 312 – Leicester, Leicestershire (part II) – May 2024
This is a second selection of doors from Leicester, a city I visited for the first time in May 2024. I was there for work, but made the most of my overnight stay to explore the city and naturally take some door photographs.
Leicester is not a ‘honey pot’ city that you would necessarily choose as a holiday destination, but it has its own distinctive history, heritage and charm, and is surrounded by some beautiful Leicestershire countryside.
These doors are the middle selection of three, I hope you enjoy them:
You have to love doors within doors like this one, Leicester, May 2024Grey door with interesting panelling, Leicester, May 2024Two fine black doors, Leicester, May 2024Ornate door and large lamp, Leicester, May 2024Sumptuous deep red doors, Leicester, May 2024Street art door, Leicester, May 2024Entrance to Royal Arcade, with doors aplenty, Leicester, May 2024Haymarket memorial clock tower with gated arches, Leicester, May 2024Haymarket memorial clock tower with gated arches, Leicester, May 2024
So that’s it for this week, with one more selection from Leicester, although that isn’t quite true, because I returned to the city a couple of months later, with my team in to visit the new Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood National Nature Reserve which had just been declared and was the purpose of my visit on this occasion, so expect a second set of doors from Leicester in due course.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
This piece by Zake is something a little different, a variation on a theme from the artist. It is rare to see Zake paint anything approximating to letters, but here we are with an unusual combination piece.
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025
Two letters and two faces, making up the vowels, are nicely designed and set on a grey background with watery bubbles. For once, I will forgive the use of brown paint, because it is subtle and in keeping with the ‘slatey’, earthy, feel of the whole composition. It is always a pleasure to see artists try something new.
There is something rather special and unique about Dun Sum’s incredible creations. He doesn’t come into the centre of Bristol often, but when he does, his work always makes an impact. Often, Dun Sum will paint approximations of real creatures, but there is usually a bit of a twist, and sometimes complete fantasy. This chameleon, however, is identifiable as such, with only a little artistic cartoon licence.
Dun Sum, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Having had a household chameleon pet ‘George’ a few years back, I am rather partial to any piece representing the charming little lizards. There is plenty of charm and humour in this piece, something Dun Sum excels at, and great to see him paint on the roundabout for Hypo’s birthday paint jam.
I feel like I ought to have posted far more pieces by Neddy Ned Neddy than I actually have, and I can’t really be too sure why that is. Anyhow, this is a superb piece painted in his unique style as part of the very well-attended birthday paint jam for Wispa.
Neddy Ned Neddy, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025
Rather confusingly, Neddy Ned Neddy writes WISKA, which is coincidental to it being a celebration for Wispa, some of the other artists involved in the paint jam have altered their letters to read Wispa, but not the most obvious candidate, and I think he probably missed a trick here. This is a wonderfully worked piece with a sumptuous blended fill, looking like a kind of swirly marbling. A distinctive and really cool piece of graffiti writing.
It barely needs repeating, but Hypo has been smashing it for at least a year now, and each of his pieces brings to the fore another aspect of his technical ability and creativity. This rhapsody in blue was one of a couple of recent pieces painted on this wall by Hypo.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
To manage to get a piece to ‘pop’ when it is painted in the same colour as the background is a skilful thing to do and Hypo has managed to do it well here with a clever use of a deep 3D grey drop shadow and some deft white highlights and starbursts. The tones are really lovely and his fills intricate with blue stars and yellow spots. A very fine piece of graffiti writing.
Fade, Acid Face with a Brace and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
One of the best pieces of the year so far (in my view), this is an outstanding production triptych by Fade, Acid Face with a Brace and Dibz. What is difficult to convey is the scale of the collaboration, because not only is it wide, but it is also tall as well.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
There is so much happening here, and it starts off with a superb piece of writing from Fade. The letters are complex and multilayered, with great fills, deep 3D drop shadows that appear to be translucent and some ‘tape’ wrapped around the ends of the word. The purple bubbly background is present through the whole piece.
Acid Face with a Brace, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Arguably the most eye-catching part of this collaboration is the central character by Acid Face with a Brace, a writer from Birmingham. The scary, hooded mummy-type character is superbly painted, with tons of movement, and brilliant folds in the fabric and bandages. The blue face and big red eyes are superbly crafted. This is simply awesome.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Rounding off the collaboration is a mirroring of Fade’s writing to a large extent, but with enough signature elements to be different and ‘Dibzy’ enough. The way these three have combined their talents to create this amazing production is a testament to their individual and combined skills. A little bird tells me that wall may get a facelift while retaining the character – you heard it here first.
Scrapyardspec has been back in town with a raft of new wacky faces, including this long piece just outside St Werburghs tunnel. Over the last week or two, I have been finding more and more of these goofy monsters, which has been rather fun, and you can expect to see more here soon.
Scrapyardspec, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025
This piece fits the size and shape of the wall perfectly, being squashed and elongated, affording space for three eyes, and a very long toothy smile. I love the way that Scrapyardspec manages to maintain an incredibly consistent style with all different shapes and sizes of characters. A creative idea/theme nicely executed.
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