Character – Natural adventures

7898. M32 roundabout J3 (793)

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2026

This little corner of the M32 roundabout where the footway underpass meets the outside walls has been a popular spot for Daz Cat over the years. It is the perfect size and shape for his cat characters and often left alone by graffiti writers because of the portrait dimensions.

This is a superb classic Daz Cat cat portrait piece. The sophistication that he brings to his pieces is lightyears away from his early work, and offers so much depth and detail. I love the little close-fitting hat, but the tongue hanging out wins me over completely – a great observation of cats that sometimes strike this pose. A fine piece by Daz Cat.

7895. Cumberland Basin

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Zake has come along such a long way from his early column pieces under the M32 back in 2018 when I first came across his work. This year he has turned up the dial with a variety of really different character pieces that each tell a bit of a story.

In this piece, Zake has painted a cartoonish demonic character playing some mystical pipe. Behind him is a group of hooded characters, looking a little creepy to me, with lanterns held on sticks. Perhaps out protagonist is summoning them to do their evil deeds. Something a little different from Zaake.

7889. Cumberland Basin

Nice One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Another classic piece from Nice One, who, it has to be said has generally had quite a quiet few months painting on the streets. It can be hard to know sometimes what impacts on the peaks and troughs in activity from different artists, and one can only hope it is for good reasons.

This combnination piece cleanly separates a superb portrait sketch from the beautifully picked out and typical letters ‘Nice One’. The portrait piece resembles a bust or statue and the sketch-like quality of the lined feels like this piece has been directly lifted out of an artist’s workbook. To create that greyscale pencil drawing look at this scale using spray paints is fantastically skillful and perfectly executed by Nice One. Outstanding.

7886. M32 roundabout J3 (790)

Minto has had a great summer, creating some truly memorable pieces around Bristol, and of such a high quality too. His distinctive style has been carried through all of them and this is no exception.

The heavily disguised letters, spelling, of course, MINTO, are beautifully embellished with swirls, patterns, lines and colour, but all seemingly beautifully balanced and interconnected. Midway through, there is the inclusion of a small character, wearing a helmet with goggles and smoking a cigarette. Such mini-characters often organically emerge fom Minto’s work, augmenting the busy mix. Another very nice piece from the artist.

7875. Dean Lane skate park (938)

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026

As is pretty much always the case, I am finding it difficult to keep up with the volume of graffiti and street art appearing on the streets of Bristol every day, and although I am posting this great piece by Awkward earlier this month, there are two or three that I still have in my archives from earlier in the summer, and I simply have no idea when to post them.

This is a nicely presented piece by Awkward, fesaturing a mildly creepy character with large eyes and skull-like features. The character is floating on a purple bubble background and includes a signature speech bubble with the word AWK WARD stacked inside. I’ll have to find time and space to post his other pieces.

7873. Purdown (104)

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 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.

7869. Brunel Way (367)

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.

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.

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, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2026

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, February, 2026

Zinso, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2025

Zinso, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, January 2020

7867. Elton Street (31)

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.

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.

7864. M32 Cycle path (320)

The Cat Came Back, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2026

What a fantastic way to announce your return, especially when your street name is ‘The Cat Came Back’. This is quite the best piece I have seen by the artist and I believe one that might herald a golden era for them. The last The Cat Came Back piece I photographed was way back in June 2022, and activity has been slow/absent since then.

I love this cheeky piece. A decapitated head of a cat, with a distinctive single eye and long poink tongue sits on a blue bubble cloud. A piece in the true tradition of gory cartoon style, and perfectly executed and framed on a white background. A character piece like this is always very welcome and adds to the variety of street art we see in the city. Watch this space for more from The Cat Came Back.

	hitandrun1964 on 7897. Dean Lane skate park…
	Sheree on 7897. Dean Lane skate park…
	paulh121 on 7892. Purdown (105)
	scooj on 7771. Exeter Road – Upfe…
	scooj on 7892. Purdown (105)

	hitandrun1964 on 7897. Dean Lane skate park…
	Sheree on 7897. Dean Lane skate park…
	paulh121 on 7892. Purdown (105)
	scooj on 7771. Exeter Road – Upfe…
	scooj on 7892. Purdown (105)

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