This is a rather unusual piece by Zake and although his characters are very much his style, they are unlike anything I have seen him paint before. They were painted as part of a World Wall Stylers paint jam in Cumberland Basin and the theme was the film Space Jam. These three fellows are Nerdluck characters… don’t ask because I don’t know.
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
The dark background and dark colours are most un-Zake-like, and show his skills in a different light, figuratively and literally. Lots of under-lighting in light blue and light shading from above bring out some great depth in the characters. Unusual piece from Zake.
Yet another debut on Natural Adventures, despite seeing the artist’s work about the place for quite some time now. This character piece is by Weas, or at least, that is what the letters say. The reason I haven’t posted any other pieces that I have photographed is that Weas hasn’t included letters before nor a signature, so I never knew how to identify the artist.
Weas, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
The character is most recognisable for the little ‘doughnut’ mouth, which is common to all Weas’ pieces. The character is reasonably simple in design and execution, probably taking only a few minutes to paint. I expect the blue blob was painted first, followed by the pink shadow and then the black outline and detail last. Expect to see more from Weas, now that I have started the ball rolling.
Mr Crawls, Kool Hand and Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
This is something of a rarity, a character collaboration. Often you get combinations of characters and graffiti writing in small or large collaborative efforts, but exclusively character pieces is unusual and just how brilliant is this collection from Mr Crawls, Kool Hand and Daz Cat?
Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Mr Crawls has hit the ground running this year with some outstanding pieces and a slight change in direction or modification of his characters. He is always looking to move things forward and adding new ideas around his central theme of a bird wearing a hat. This most recent phase I would describe as stylised cartoon work.
Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Another artist who has been busy over the winter is Kool Hand, and what a good artist he is, I have just updated his gallery and there are some really fine pieces to enjoy there. This piece features a three-quarter profile of his famous orangutan character, this time in green. Crisp and clean and really well presented.
Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
An artist whose work has become more sophisticated and complex over the last few years is Daz Cat. In the early days his cat pieces were fairly two-dimensional, and although fun to find, had plenty of headroom for improvement. Now Daz Cat is operating at an entirely different level, turning out first class portrait pieces (mostly of cats) with every outing. This smiling cat is a perfect example of his work, so full of character and detail and a enjoy to behold. Below is an example of his early work to give you an idea of what I am talking about. This is a very fine character collaboration.
Mr Crawls has had a good start to the year, but rather surprisingly, he hasn’t been painting with his friend Mote – I’m sure there are all sorts of good reasons why. I have loved watching the way Mr Crawls has been evolving his bird characters, and it feels like it is a journey that is still in its early stages.
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
Here, Mr Crawls has painted one of his gulls (I am using the orange beak as an identifier, as there isn’t much more to go on), which is in a stylised cartoon form. Beautifully simple, but full of interest, with a fine bucket hat, asymmetric eyes and a couple of letters thrown into the bird’s neck. A wonderful character piece in the Deaner.
As if it were needed, this combination piece is further evidence that Jevoissoul is on an upward trajectory. Probably the most noticeable aspect of his improvement is the tightness of his work, and by that I mean his lines are clean and his fills tidy. When he first started out, His work felt a little cluttered and hurried, but I don’t get that feeling so much now.
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
To the left, our familiar character, complete with grimace, appears to be losing his cap, which creates a sense of movement in the piece. Jevoissoul’s artwork is becoming more sophisticated, with a two-tone light/shade aspect to the face. The letters also have a sense of movement, indicated by the black accent lines around the outside. Good colours and nicely blended horizontal strips fill the letters nicely. Perhaps there could be a little bit more interest in the letters themselves, but now I am just being picky.
This is yet another piece from the very well-attended birthday RBF paint jam in honour of Desi and Even back in January. It is a fabulous portrait piece by the lovely Pekoe. It has been a relatively quiet winter for Pekoe, but I am pleased to report she has definitely become more active this side of Christmas.
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
This portrait is beautifully finished, with superb tight lines, fills and borders. I am particularly struck by the white highlights that complete the piece superbly, on the lips, the eyes and most significantly adding a shine to the hair. The theme for the paint jam was Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation outfit, and I don’t know if the spiders have anything to do with that or whether they are simply random additions. The other character to the left is part of Bbygwya’s adjacent combination piece.
Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
Only a few days ago I posted a piece by Zed in the Clouds and said at the time that he was hugely underrepresented on this blog, so as part of remedying that gap, here is a recent piece by the artist in St Werburghs tunnel, which is rather larger than his usual offering.
Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
This combination piece features his familiar character donning a red bucket hat and the letters ZED. Both parts of the combination are filled with a cream tone that is draped in a mass of colour streaks that look like scribbles from a child’s drawing pad. All of the lines run vertically and are augmented with some star decorations. To round off the piece, Zed has included some blood-red drips throughout that bled from the border. Overall, a very nice piece.
I never hide the fact that I am a huge admirer of Bloem’s work, whether it is her character pieces, scenes or graffiti writing. Bloem has transitioned seamlessly between her themes, and although she has only painted a few pieces of writing, her obvious talent and technique would make you think she had been a graffiti writer for some years.
Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
The letters spelling BLOEM are imaginatively filled and well where the solids are blended perfectly, and the patterns are delightful. The ‘O’ is a character with horns, which adds a little spice to the piece. Stepping back, the piece appears to be bursting through a wire mesh fence, which is a creative take on smashing through a wall, which is a common idea in graffiti writing. Very nice work indeed.
Ryder and Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Turnover on the M32 Cycle path has been fairly slow this winter, and I have reduced the frequency of my visits to the spot accordingly. On my last visit, however, I got really lucky and met Ryder and Jaksta, along with some of their friends, who were all painting together to celebrate Jaksta’s birthday. It appears that January is a big month for street art birthday paint jams.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
In this combination collaboration, Ryder has painted the letters RAKE and Jaksta the character. Painted on a good old-fashioned brick wall, this piece looks like a throwback to the 1980s. The graffiti writing by Ryder is superb, spelling out RAKE, and not only celebrates Jaksta’s birthday, but also 25 years of painting together.
Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Jaksta is the cartoon character king, who manages to create incredible caricatures of people both famous and unknown. This is an absolute peach, and one of two pieces painted by the artist during this session. The exaggerated features and overized head are key components of Jaksta’s style, and would not look out of place in Montmatre’s (Paris) crazy art markets. A fabulous collaboration by the RAW duo.
The derelict gun emplacement at Purdown is located within a fenced-off area which is home to a small herd of goats. I think that they are ‘employed’ to help the vegetation down. The presence of the goats makes my trips with the dog something of a challenge, because their smell and very existence drives him crazy, and I have to keep him on a very tight lead. This of course makes taking photographs all the more difficult, with many images blurry of at jaunty angles, when the dog pulls just as I take the shot. I did manage to get a couple of decent pictures of this fabulous goat character piece by Daz Cat.
Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, January 2024
Daz Cat continues to develop his style and his pieces are so much richer in content and style and offer a great deal of depth and context that was absent from his early ‘flat’ pieces. He is a great example of an artist who learns and improves all the time. There are other artists who tend to remain quite static and comfortable doing what they do. Both approaches are legitimate, although as an observer, watching the development is an added bonus. I hope the goats of Purdown appreciate this homage.
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