7874. M32 Cycle path (321)

Roma, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2026
Roma, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2026

Roma has had a strong year so far, and her letters can be seen liberally sprinkled at most of the hot spots around the city. Roma sits firmly in the stable of four-letter writers who build and practice and improve with each new piece; others in this group would include Desi (Veil), Mage, Luna and Lupa, all of whom are on an upward trajecory.

Roma, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2026
Roma, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2026

I love the selection of her letters – ROMA, so she starts in a good place as far as I am concerned. In this piece, her letters overlap slightly from left to right and are contained within a black border. It is interesting to note that she hasn’t delineated between the fill and the white drop shadow, which is quite a risky thing to do, but she has done it well. The fills of orange and blue feel free and ephemeral, and I wonder if the lines and squiggles actually added anything. I’ll soon have enough of Roma’s pieces for a gallery.

7873. Purdown (104)

The Cat Came Back, Purdown, Bristol, August 2026
The Cat Came Back, Purdown, Bristol, August 2026

One of the genuine pleasures of cataloguing street art over a long period of time is that you get to witness the comings and goings of certain artists as their lives take twists and turns. The Cat Came Back is a great example of an artist who made an appearance a few years ago and then all but disappeared until a month or so ago with a significant and welcome return.

The Cat Came Back, Purdown, Bristol, August 2026
The Cat Came Back, Purdown, Bristol, August 2026

The Cat Comes Back has come back rejuvinated and with great ambition. This is a clean piece and quite a statement, in so much as it is difficult to ignore. The cat fits the square concrete slab perfectly, and has all the attributes of a great cartoon character piece. Looking forward to more cats on our streets.

7872. Stapleton Road

Kid Crayon, Stapleton Road, Bristol, August 2026
Kid Crayon, Stapleton Road, Bristol, August 2026

This particular spot at the very top end of Stapleton Road is fast becoming a favourite haunt of the three-way collaborations from Kid Crayon, Tera and SPZero76 (the UZI crew). Sometimes I present them as a trio and sometimes individually, it depends on how the mood takes me. This post is the individual contrubuition by Kid Crayon to a recent production piece.

Kid Crayon, Stapleton Road, Bristol, August 2026
Kid Crayon, Stapleton Road, Bristol, August 2026

The theme for the wall was the comic book 20000AD, a British weekly science fiction comic that included the most famous character Judge Dredd. This piece celebrates another character, Rogue Trooper. The block letters are in keeping with the larger-than-life style of the comic, and the barren apocalyptic background an added bonus. I never read the comics myself, although I now rather wish I had. A superb example of illustrative graffiti writing.

7871. Cumberland basin

Mr Sleven, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
Mr Sleven, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Well this was something I was not expecting to find. More of a poster than a wheatpaste, Mr Sleven has been at work with a sketch and then decided to stick it to a column on the north side of Cumberland Basin.

Mr Sleven, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
Mr Sleven, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

This is a rather nice creation, emphasising peace and love, but the face itself has a glimmer of menace about it that is slightly unsettling. Great to see that Mr Sleven is active though. I realise that I have several of his recent pieces in my archive and shall strive to dig them out and post them.

 

Drink

.

Parched landscape, hard rain

oh! to hear the ground groaning

drinking a long drink

.

by Scooj

  • Yesterday my area (one of the last in the country) fell into a Temporary Use Ban (TUB), more commonly known as Hosepipe Ban. This is an administrative stage in the drought management process and is designed to slow the demand on water resources. Although the groundwater situation is generally good after a very wet winter, rivers and reservoirs are very low, and it will take a long period of persistent rain to recover them. All the while people are still using water in high volumes, hence the ban.

7870. Cumberland Basin

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

The sun and shade are once again my enemy in these pictures of a wonderful piece by j9449j – AKA All 4 Nothing. The colour tones are beautifully selected and matched through the whole piece, and while I have no idea what the letters spell, if there even are any, it matters not, the composition is fabulous.

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

J9449j (the name of his Instagram account when I first started writing about his work) has a wonderful abstract organic life in his work, with plenty of tufts of grass or plants and the odd flower making an appearance. The piece is enigmatic and intriguing – I’ve yet to meet the elusive artist. This is a classy work.

7869. Brunel Way (367)

Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026
Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026

After a slow start in the spring, Dibz and Fade have run off an impressive catalogue of collaborations this summer of which this one on the side of the newish skate ramp at Dave Side is a great example.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026

The hot colours used in the writing are perhaps designed to conjour up the warm Mexican environment to link up with the Speedy Gonzales character Slowpoke Rodriguez. I imagine both artists had a hand in painting the character which is a brilliantly faithful representation. Some great flat lettering from Fade on the left, which is mirrored on the right by Dibz.

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026

I have exhausted superlatives desribing Dibz’ and Fade’s work this year, and perhaps it is just better for me to let their wildstyle writing do the talking for me. And still they keep turning out more and more pieces – I struggle to keep up.

 

Zinso

A gallery of characters and sharp graffiti writing from Bristol artist Zinso

Instagram: @zinso.1

All photographs by Scooj

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026
Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026
Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2026
Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2026

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026
Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, February, 2026
Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, February, 2026

Zinso, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2025
Zinso, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025
Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025
Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025
Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2025
Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2025

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2025
Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2025

Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2025
Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2025

Zinso, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2025
Zinso, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2025

Zinso, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2025
Zinso, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2025

Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025
Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025

Zinso, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2025
Zinso, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2025

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025
Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025

Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

Zinso, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, January 2020
Zinso, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, January 2020

Zinso, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2019
Zinso, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2019

7868. Dean Lane skate park (937)

Roma and Luxe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026
Roma and Luxe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026

This curved wall on the back side of a ramp in Dean Lane skate park is one of my favourite walls in Bristol. I even have a gallery of some of the pieces painted on this wall going back to April 2017, which is worth a look, just to see how a wall changes over time. The latest occupiers of the wall are Roma and Luxe (Bbygwya).

Roma and Luxe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026
Roma and Luxe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026

These two graffiti ladies have been super-busy this summer and I haver been finding their writings cropping up all over the place. In this collaboration they have gone for a shared colour scheme and similar designs, with a light brown occupying the middle space between them and darker brown at the top and bottom. This is a nice way to collaborate. The green bubble background works well but might have expanded outweards and upwards a little further in my view. Nice work.

7867. Elton Street (31)

Esme Lower, Elton Street, Bristol, August 2026
Esme Lower, Elton Street, Bristol, August 2026

Straight off the back of her hugely successful stint as the featured artist/designer for this year’s Upfest, Esme Lower (Melo) continues to go from strength to strength. Her rise has been relatively meteoric and richly deserved. Her unique cartoon character style is popular and she is learning and developing all the while.

Esme Lower, Elton Street, Bristol, August 2026
Esme Lower, Elton Street, Bristol, August 2026

This symmetrical piece on framed board on the wall of Lost Horizons has an amusing twist running through it. A green cable/stalk runs through from left ear, with an electrical plug, to the right with a flower (resembling a fan?). Meanwhile the two characters appear to be having something of a face-off. A striking piece with strong colours – perfect for this particular spot.