7661. River Avon (120)

Jest Soubriquet, River Avon, Bristol, May 2026
Jest Soubriquet, River Avon, Bristol, May 2026

There are several names that this artist goes under; Jest Soubriquet, Jest Likes and Likes Wan Tu. I tend to stick with the first one because it is the first name I used in this blog, and if nothing else, I do like a bit of consistency. This is a wonderful wildlife piece, painted during a paint jam alongside the River Avon.

Jest Soubriquet, River Avon, Bristol, May 2026
Jest Soubriquet, River Avon, Bristol, May 2026

The characters look familiar, probably based on Disney’s Lion King characters. The colourful one on the left (Mufasa?) is definitely a better rendition than the one on the right, where the nose doesn’t seem quite right. Excellent stuff from this regular visitor. Note to self – time for a gallery?

Asre

A gallery of wonderful character faces and writing from Bristol’s Asre.

Instagram: @azre_returns

All photographs by Scooj

7648. Cumberland Basin

Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026
Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

There is a lot of flesh in this combination piece by Stivs, an artist who is not afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to scantily clad characters. Whatever one’s views about such things, the artwork is striking and skilfully presented.

Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026
Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

Cat woman as you might not have seen her, although DC Comics did portray her in very tight catsuits, often with little left to the imagination – Stivs has just taken things to the next level. Stivs has given Cat Woman a couple of playful tattoos saying BAD CAT, and he has corrupted the initials ACAB (All Cops are Bastards) to ACAT, just because he can. D and S in calligraffiti-style bookend this character. Great work from Stivs.Cumberland Basin

7647. Dean Lane skate park (922)

Hire and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Hire and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

This is a rather fun collaboration between Hire and Zake in Dean Lane. I can’t remember if these two have collaborated before, they probably have, but this is still a bit of a treat from the writer and the character artist.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

On the left, Hire has written his letters in a rather compact block, which is quite unusual, as he typically spreads his letters out a fair bit. The fills of orange and light blue have been nicely done and work surprisingly well together. A deep drop shadow is bordered with a drippy pink line with light highlights woven in.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

I’m not too sure what to say about Zake’s character piece, as it is all a little bit strange. A bald man with a huge mouth and multiple teeth has a little finger puppet attached to the end of his long tongue. The puppet character, which looks like some kind of lizard monster is spraying pink ‘vomit’ over Hire’s piece, thus creating his drippy pink outline. A great read-across between the two pieces in this collaboration.

7645. Dean Lane skate park (921)

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

Over the last year or so, Cheo seems to have upped his game (if that is at all possible), certainly in the frequency of his wall decorations. Cheo is a very talented artist who has been part of the ‘establishment’ in Bristol, but never lost his contemporary edge, and appears to be equally happy with his commercial work and his ‘graffiti’ art.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

This piece in Dean Lane is in a narrow section and quite difficult to photograph – where would I be without a wide angle facility on my phone? The character in the piece, wearing a LIDL T-shirt has been spraying (one assumes) a CHEO throw up in green and blue. He is holding a spray can out of which a rather surreal scene unfolds… a pink blob character, complete with a plunger stuck to his head and smoking a cigar. What!? Great work from a master craftsman.

7640. Purdown (103)

I do like it when Mr Klue ventures beyond his beloved St Werburghs tunnel, so finding this Mad Hatter piece at the gun emplacement up at Purdown made me very happy.

All the elements of a Mr Klue classic are here. The large hat with the ticket in the band, the invisible head, and the shirt and stripy tie, finished with a wisp of smoke rising to the left. I love the perspective created by light and shadow, and the use of pink for the left of the piece and yellow for the right. Great work from Mr Klue.

7628. M32 roundabout J3 (767)

Butch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026
Butch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

A quick couple of posts today. I am recovering from shingles – a very nasty affair – and return to work this morning with a rather large backlog of emails and messages to action. This mortal coil!

Butch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026
Butch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

I have always had a big soft spot for Butch’s work, and this combination piece on the roundabout is a real beauty. His overlapping full cap letters are somewhat eclipsed by a dog/rabbit(?) riding a bicycle at haste. It is a wonderful piece of cartoon illustration full of energy and humour. Love it.

7627. Cumberland Basin

Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026
Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

Tera, like many other artists, has awoken from his winter ‘recess’ and is painting with energy and regularity this spring, which is so good to see. This is a wonderful piece painted alongside fellow tattoo artist Kid Crayon.

Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026
Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

The combination piece has a demon as the focal point with lettering either side of it spelling TERA. The light conditions and the style of Tera’s painting makes it a little difficult to make out the demon clearly, so I have included a close up of the central part to show off his detailed artwork.

Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026
Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

It is fairly clear and obvious that Tera is a Tattooist who has picked up street art and is upscaling his work, and his co-worker Kid Crayon is an artist/designer and street artist who has down scaled his work into the tattoo art form. The more, the merrier I say.

7624. River Avon (116)

Seam, River Avon, Bristol, April 2026
Seam, River Avon, Bristol, April 2026

I took these photographs on one of those rare occasions that my wife joined me on a ‘street art’ dog walk. She doesn’t share my enthusiasm for paint chucked at walls, but to be fair, not many people do. On the upside I did manage to introduce my wife to a new route for her road runs, for which she was most grateful.

Seam, River Avon, Bristol, April 2026
Seam, River Avon, Bristol, April 2026

These letters from Seam spell out his name with a series of characters in monochrome colour. There is a lot to like about this line up of cartoon-style characters, which although quite crudely drawn, have something about them. I love this take on combination graffiti writing.

7618. Dean Lane skate park (917)

Weas, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Weas, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

You have to look hard to find this piece by Weas painted on the swimming pool wall behind the now lush hedge. The passageway here is quite narrow, so the photographs are on full wide-angle mode to capture the whole thing.

Weas, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Weas, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

I think that I prefer Weas’ full combination pieces over his mega-tags that litter the streets of Bristol… there is even one on a utility box in my street. These more extensive pieces show us what he can do when he spends a little more time painting. The letters WEASEL in black across the bottom are accompanied by four (three purple) ghost-like characters weaving their way about. It is versions of these characters that are a familiar sight in the City. A nicely executed piece, hidden from view.