Calligraffiti – Natural adventures

7191. M32 roundabout J3 (717)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2025

At around the time Face 1st left Bristol about a year or so ago, he had been doing quite a lot of experimentation around his writing and different font ideas. On his visits back to Bristol, he has switched between his writing and his character combination pieces. This one is writing only.

The letters spell out FACE 1ST in a rather unusual typeface that looks like a first step towards calligraffiti, but has too many soft edges and freedom to be considered as that. I am a huge fan of Face 1st’s work and would like to see him painting more of his character pieces, and concentrating less on his writing, but I think that he might feel differently. A nice collaboration with PWA fellow Soap.

7090. Sparke Evans Park (138)

Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2025

It looks like Stivs will once again be dividing opinion with this combination piece on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park. Although it was painted alongside the countless Paroe tribute pieces, it is not clear that this is one of them, and even if it were, it would seem a little inappropriate.

This is not the first time Stivs has painted a topless woman, but I worry that he might have missed the mark with this one, accompanying it with the words ‘Equal opportunities’. I’m not too sure what point he is trying to make, but it doesn’t sit all that comfortably with me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a prude and am all for nudity in street art (as in all art), it is the messaging that worries me. The artwork is good, and the calligraffiti spelling out DSC – 25 – Stivs is totally in keeping with his style and talent.

6935. Cumberland Basin

Todoaciem, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

I believe that Todoaciem has moved back to his native Spain, which would explain the absence of his outstanding calligraffiti on Bristol’s streets in recent months. I think he makes the journey back from time to time, probably to see his Bristol friends, and when he does he drops a piece, and this was a recent one from Cumberland Basin.

As ever, the writing is inch-perfect, spelling out CIEM, with incredible precision and discipline. The horizontal depressions in the wall make it a little easier to gain the uniformity of the letters, but that doesn’t take away from the skill needed to paint with this level of accuracy. Todoaciem’s fills transition beautifully in horizontal layers, and create a kind of metallic sheen for the piece. It is always great to find a piece by Todoaciem, especially as they are fairly infrequent these days.

6872. M32 roundabout J3 (674)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

Now that Face 1st isn’t living in Bristol, and he paints less frequently, he appears to be a little more judicious in what he paints, and seems to be experimenting a lot more with his writing and his fonts.

This is a wonderful chrome combination piece with Face 1st’s trademark laughing girl character and hair made up of the word FACE. This time though the letters have more of a calligraffiti style to them, and are nicely finished. Somehow, Face 1st is, for me at least, emblematic of the Bristol scene, and I am so pleased that he comes back reasonably regularly to remind us of his talent and style.

6814. M32 roundabout J3 (667)

Stivs and Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

It was great to see this collaboration from Stivs and Pekoe recently, two artists who are knocking out some fabulous work at the moment. To the left, the calligraffiti letters are by Stivs and the character portrait on the right is by Pekoe.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

Stivs has written his familiar letters DSC, which stands for Dog Supremacy Crew (formerly Dog Shit Crew – I think). The beautiful letters are not quite as elaborate as some of his calligraffiti pieces, but are nonetheless impressive. From the size and intricacy of it, I would think that he painted this fairly quickly.

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

To the right, Pekoe, in keeping with the collaboration colour scheme, has painted this wonderful blue-faced portrait of a young woman with a fabulous hairdo. There is a symmetry in the face, and a slightly haunting stare. The piece is beautifully produced, and so very neat and tidy. I am not sure what the significance of the road cone is, but I’ll take it.

6571. Sparke Evans Park (108)

Todoaciem, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

I think that May was a really busy month for street/graffiti art, the weather was pretty nice, and we had Upfest (Europe’s largest street art festival) in Bristol and I also had a trip to Leicester, so my May archive is still bursting at the seams with unpublished photographs of stunning art. One such piece that didn’t make it into Natural Adventures is this very special piece by Todoaciem.

The calligraffiti which Todoaciem specialises in makes a refreshing change from the more stereotypical pieces that I normally encounter, where the form and precision of the letters and the drop shadow are paramount. It looks like this stunner was painted on Todoaciem’s birthday during a birthday paint jam. What a great way to celebrate.

6442. River Avon (65)

Todoaciem, River Avon, Bristol September 2024

After a short spell away from Bristol, I think in his native Spain, it would appear that Todoaciem has returned recently and started dropping pieces in his favoured haunts. Alongside Stivs and Wxttsart, Todoaciem is a wonderfully accomplished calligraffiti artist, whose work is as tight as a nut.

I would like to say that this is a particularly elaborate example of his writing, but looking back at his work, I would simply say that it is typical and no more elaborate than most of his work. The letters are beautifully filled with a blended gradation of reds. The white border is augmented with a fine 3D drop shadow drifting to the left of the letters. There is enough of a background to mark out the whole piece from the graffiti writing beneath. Great to see Todoaciem back in Bristol.

6386. M32 roundabout J3 (624)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024

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.

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.

6100. Sparke Evans Park (97)

Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

It is too easy to be seduced into expecting outstanding work from Kosc, and what I mean by that is that it isn’t easy to turn out unbelievably great from work every painting session, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Kosc works really hard, continuously improves and seems to be reaching another level these days.

This piece was painted alongside Stivs (to follow) in a collaboration that shares a colour scheme and combination theme. It would seem that the creative ideas were liberally shared, with Kosc creating some calligraffiti letters in a kind of Gothic font which have turned out really well. The eye though is drawn to the extraordinary portrait replacing the ‘O’ of Kosc. The fine detail and sheer beauty of the portrait is unbelievable, and that it is painted in two shades simply adds to the wonder of the piece. Kosc’s portrait work is magnificent, and this piece showcases it perfectly. We are blessed in Bristol.

6038. St Werburghs tunnel (426)

So here we have, in this piece from Stivs, the coming together of outstanding writing style with subversion. Every time I look at this piece, which is kind of two pieces joined together, I begin to wonder whether Stivs has issues… he certainly seems to be letting it all out in his work at the moment, and there is an almost obsessive trait appearing on this wall.

As well as his customary calligraffiti, beautifully produced here, Stivs reminds us that he is a very talented character artist as well. The demonic character is depicted in shades of purple, and contains a lot of detailing. Of course, the elephant in the room is the outrageously sweary backdrops. I would suggest that we could name this as Stivs’ ‘blue period’.

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

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