Character – Page 9 – Natural adventures

7108. M32 Cycle path (293)

Tera, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2025

I have continued to dig out Tera pieces that I failed to post at the time they were painted, so this one from June is a little out of sequence, but demonstrates really well his development, which has been so rapid.

I’m not quite sure what the overall message here is, but when I see skeletons and gold coins, I think about avarice and comeuppance. A message that I am always mindful of, and one that reinforces my dislike of selfish billionaires, is that ‘you can’t take it with you’. This piece says that to me. It is a well-painted piece that, in part, reflects his accelerated progress, and highlights some of the areas he can sharpen up on, which, in fairness, he has been doing since painting this a couple of months back.

7100. L Dub (76)

Painted as part of a World Wall Stylwer paint jam, this is an outstanding piece from Peanutsdeli, an amazing artist who makes it into the pages of Natural Adventures from time to time, but who lives in the Cheltenham area, I think.

In this character piece, and you’ll have to forgive me for not knowing the theme for this one, there is so much fine detail, something Peanutsdeli specialises in. Those sharp lines and definition around the muscles of the character are exceptional. A piece full of movement and dynamism. Peanutsdeli smashes it again.

7093. Dean Lane skate park (857)

Hemper has had an interesting year so far, at one point there was no stopping him, producing multiple pieces in multiple styles, after which he went a little quiet, but recently he has returned with another burst of energy and a short-form theme to his lettering, of which this piece is typical.

The cartoon-style letters, spelling HEMS, are made rather more cartoony with the inclusion of character features in the ‘E’ and ‘S’. What sets this apart from other similar pieces of writing is that it oozes class, confidence and experience, from the yellow spiky splash background to the sharp black and white borders. There are only a few artists who can carry off small pieces like this with such perfection.

7092. Purdown (92)

It is a genuine joy to find Slakarts’ work, and this one up at Purdown is a real beauty. There was a time when Slakarts was painting very regularly, but I am guessing that the real world has caught up with him, and he tends to paint only a handful of times a year.

This is a wonderful hybrid piece, taking his stylised cartoon character and turning it into an abstract cornucopia of colour, shapes and fill designs. The piece perfectly fits the concrete slab and somehow captures the mood of an English summer’s day. More please.

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.

7088. L Dub (75)

I believe that DFC1848 lives in Cheltenham, but that doesn’t seem to stop him making fairly regular visits to Bristol, and this one was to join a paint jam at L Dub a little while back. DFC 1848 started his street art journey painting one or two cartoon characters again and again, building his technique and confidence until now where he seems to paint a huge variety of pieces almost at will.

This is a rather brash pink-faced character – some kind of animal (I am not too sure what) wearing a baseball cap with the letters DFC emblazoned on the front. The piece has two borders, a thin black outline, a thick purple border, all set on a chrome background, which adds interest, but I am not sure that it offers the contrast he might have been looking for. Nice shout-outs to DJ Perks and Donz who frequent this spot and who joined him whilst painting this.

7079. River Avon (88)

Werm and Scrapyardspec, River Avon, Bristol, July 2025

In my mind, some collaborations were just meant to be, and this magnificent joint venture from Werm and Scrapyardspec is simply awesome. Two utterly different styles, a writer and a character artist, have combined with skilful design and colour sharing to create a piece that just works brilliantly.

There is nothing pretentious about this combination piece, just two artists comfortable with what they do where the resulting whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The letters by Werm are nicely executed with straightforward fills and a bold white border. Scrapyardspec’s goofy character replaces the ‘E’ of ‘WERM’ and is integrated into the word with the clever use of an orange border bringing everything into the single piece. Excellent work, full of the joy of street art friendship.

7078. M32 roundabout J3 (698)

Sub had a busy month in July and appears to be pushing the boundaries with his work. This piece tucked away on the M32 roundabout seems to be a practice for a combination piece he followed up with in Peel Street Green (to follow soon).

Sub’s chunky letters and deep drop shadows in icy blues, together with a couple of decorative cracks, are accompanied by a Mario character which I would describe, perhaps a little harshly, as a good first effort. It doesn’t help that the eyes are a bit untidy. What you might notice, when I post the next version of the character in a few days the vast improvement. The learning journey with Sub continues.

7076. Brunel Way (325)

Scrapyardspec, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2025

This is something the same, but also a little different from Scrapyardspec under Brunel Way. He has used a buffed pillar (a crazy scheme devised by Bristol City Council to eradicate graffiti, which only serves to create nice clean new ‘canvasses’) to act as a solid backdrop to one of his wobbly characters.

Instead of filling the piece with colour, like all of his other pieces, he has gone for a simple white fill which works so well against the grey. The piece is clean and almost looks like a giant sticker, rather than a painted piece. Scrapyardspec has injected some great creativity into his standard character.

7074. St Werburghs tunnel (Ejits)

A short while back, Kid Crayon organised a paint jam for Frazzled magazine and assembled a fine line-up of artists, including Ejits. There is something very charming about her stylised cartoon characters, which tend to have a cheeky side to their personality.

This is a wonderful eye-catching cat, beautifully illustrated and perfectly finished. There is two-tone texture in the cat’s face and a strong dark pink border to keep everything neat and tidy. I am an admirer of her work, and would love to see (find) more of it on our streets.

	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on 7449. Greenbank (180)
	skat on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…

	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on 7449. Greenbank (180)
	skat on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…

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