Character – Page 26 – Natural adventures

6143. St Werburghs

Most of the photographs that appear on Natural Adventures are taken while I am out walking the long-suffering dog. Just occasionally, when he is in one of his more stubborn moods, he drags me in a different direction to my well trodden beat, and on this occasion he discovered this Zake piece on the side of a caravan in St Werburghs.

I have no idea how old the piece is, but it looks like some of Zake’s older work. Three wonderful cartoon-style face characters are bobbing on a splashy sea, or that is how it looks to me. His work is centred around light and shade and reflection, and it is brilliant to see how the blue of the water is reflected on the underside of the faces. A nice discovery by Rover.

6137. Dean Lane skate park (725)

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

When I first met Jeviossoul, he was just starting up with his character portraits, but he promised me then that he would be hitting the city hard with his ‘slow lane’ pieces. True to his word, he has been productive, particularly on the fringe spots, but occasionally hitting some of the more popular walls like this one in Dean Lane.

I like to think of Jevoissoul as a bit of a diamond in the rough, who has an interesting style that he is improving. It is not only his style that is getting better, but his technique is definitely on the up too. This piece might be his tidiest yet, and features his character with an orange cap, swallowing an acid tab, with the words ‘one love’ in accompaniment. Watch this space to see how he progresses.

6135. Dean Lane skate park (724)

Well, well, well, this outstanding dragon character piece came a little bit out of the blue. It is by Cheo, one of the godfathers of Bristol street art, whose frequency of painting has declined a little in recent years, but whose work is always to be celebrated.

In this game, if you snooze you lose, and I arrived a littler too late to photograph the piece before it had been dogged. The blue cock and balls (one of the most ancient forms of graffiti), probably sprayed by kids, slightly ruins the flow of the piece, but takes nothing away from the enormous talent of Cheo. Every little detail is perfectly worked, such as the folds in the clothing, the dragon’s face, and the crispness of the flame sprite. The signature bee rounds the scene off nicely. So good to see, albeit a little late.

I went back to Dean Lane a few days later and the blue tags had been removed, although another one appeared to the right of the piece.

Minto

A gallery of illustrated graffiti writing from the brilliant Bristol-based artist Minto

Instagram: @instaminto

All photographs by Scooj

Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025

Hypo and Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Minto, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024

Minto, Cumberlan Basin, Bristol, April 2024

Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023

Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020

Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020

Cheo and Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol

6121. Frome Side (36)

The day after the wedding party before… Actually I was a designated driver last night and am feeling good, apart from suffering with a sore throat from competing with some rather loud music. I feel my age on these occasions. I am pressed for time this morning, so a couple of quick posts for you.

DFC1848 paid one of his occasional visits to Bristol in May, and left a few of his hallmark character pieces behind, including this cutie under the M32. As ever it is always great to see his characters, which he has been developing over the last few years. I fully expect to see him painting at the Cheltenham Paint Festival next month.

6113. Sparke Evans Park (98)

Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

Stivs has utterly smashed it with this outstanding writing/character combination piece, which was painted alongside a Kosc piece (featured a few days ago) on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park. Stivs is an artist of many talents, and although he in well known predominantly for his calligraffiti, he isn’t half bad at painting characters, as this piece demonstrates.

Although he is a bit of a ‘potty-mouth’, this piece reads ‘FUK PIG’, he dresses the letters up so beautifully, that it kind of creates a profanity filter of sorts. The cartoon-style character, probably lifted from a film or cartoon series, is beautifully presented and makes you wonder why he doesn’t paint characters more often. Together with the Kosc piece, this is one half of a very fine collaboration.

Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

6110. M32 roundabout J3 (582)

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

I am taking a little break from Upfest now to concentrate on the street and graffiti art that happens every single day in Bristol, the lifeblood of the urban art culture in the City. One of the stalwarts of this culture is Biers (a name I use because this is what he used to write when I first encountered him – he goes by several other names these days, including Jimothy Slip).

This is a very neat and tidy WD40/character combination piece, although I have had trouble identifying the character peering out of the ‘0’. The fills in the letters are nicely worked and the thick white drop shadow lifts the letters nicely above the lime green background. A nice piece from Biers.

6102. Cumberland Basin

Sait Bare, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2024

Rather annoyingly, I keep missing pieces by Sait Bare, either finding them prior to completion or that they have been overpainted, so it was a relief to find this one finished and intact. This letter/character combination piece is painted in a metallic gold colour, that is strong, and the background decor reflects the general messiness of the wall.

The letters spell SAIT with the character taking the pace of the letter ‘i’, and there is a deep red and black striped drop shadow. The character is painted in a carton style, with the eyes and mouth standing out in white against the gold. There is a lot to like about this piece and I look forward to finding more from Sait Bare.

6096. Dean Lane skate park (722)

Chill and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

You don’t often see the PWA crew paint this particular wall in Dean Lane, I guess because there are usually three or more of them painting together, but this time it is only Chill and Zake, so there is room here for both of them. The two portraits, in very different styles, are interacting really well together and integrated using a common background.

Chill’s portrait is both colourful and full of fine detail, and has that accuracy that is common in artists who are also tattooists. He is also responsible for the wonderful silhouette plants and signature song bird. Zake’s portrait, is a little softer and full of depth, with a slightly odd scene of fish and water flying out of the character’s mouth. While I am not too sure what is going on, it makes for entertaining viewing. The pairing is great to see, and this is certainly a memorable collaboration from them. I’m not too sure it lasted very long though, which is a pity.

6067. Dean Lane skate park (720)

There is something rather unique and weirdly charming about Awkward’s character pieces. There really is nothing like it out there in Bristol or anywhere else I have been. Not only are the characters unique in style, but his use of strong primary colours grabs the attention and draws the eye.

In this piece two characters are exchanging thoughts, one with a speech bubble saying ‘Awkward’. underneath the conversing heads is the simple message ‘stop war’, which places the piece very much in the context of the present, with the terrible wars in Gaza and Ukraine ongoing. Although his interventions are infrequent, Awkward’s characters are always welcome.

	skat on Waterlogged
	equinoxio21 on 7461. St Werburghs tunnel…
	equinoxio21 on Waterlogged
	scooj on 7435. River Avon (107)
	scooj on 7165. Dean Lane skate park…

	skat on Waterlogged
	equinoxio21 on 7461. St Werburghs tunnel…
	equinoxio21 on Waterlogged
	scooj on 7435. River Avon (107)
	scooj on 7165. Dean Lane skate park…

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