After quite a long fallow period, Awkward has popped up once again, spurred on by Benjimagnetic, it would appear. His character pieces are so distinct and have a slightly sinister quality to them, with crazy big eyes, a skeletal nose and zigzag line mouth.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2025
The blue-faced character looks like he is wearing a Cheech Wizard hat, the character created by underground comic artist Vaughn Bode, and firm favourite with graffiti artists. The speech bubble contains the word Awkward and performs the role of signature for the piece, as if a signature is needed for Awkward’s work. A lovely piece.
Although he has had a relatively quiet winter, Noise has woken up for the Spring and is starting to make his presence felt once more. This is a wonderful big bold piece of graffiti writing and is set in a Vaughn Bode landscape.
Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
It is customary for most graffiti writers at some point in their ‘career’ to pay tribute to the American underground cartoonist who was active in the 1960s and 70s, and Noise has done so with a fabulous Cheech Wizard on the left and a scattering of toadstools along the base of the piece. Nice work.
Fade, Dibz, Noise and and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
I am not sure that I have seen this wall painted as much as it has been over the last year or so, not just painted, but painted with so many high-quality pieces. This recent collaborative piece is by Fade, Dibz, Awkward and Noise.
Fade and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
The left-hand end of the wall is collaborative combination from Fade and Awkward. Starting with the latter, I think that this is the most extensive bit of work I have seen from him, with so much more than his usual mega-tag face. Here Awkward has included a complete character as well as some woodland beasties and flowers, with loads of little details. The character is wearing a Cheech Wizard hat and surreptitiously holding a spray can. Fade has painted some beautifully finished letters, acting as a central platform for Awkward’s decorations.
Dibz and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
The middle section is by Dibz with a combination of outstanding writing and a couple of characters… a Vaughn Bode Lizard and another masked character whose name I don’t know, both faithfully reproduced. There have been a whole ton of Vaughn Bode inspired pieces lately, and I guess it is a theme from World Wall Stylers or something like that.
Noise and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Rounding off the wall and sticking with the colour theme, Noise, who seems to be enjoying a spate of collaborations, has produced another of his NOISE pieces composed of dense letters with stunning fills and transitions. Awkward makes another appearance with a character peeping over the ‘S’ along with a couple more woodland bugs. Altogether a wonderful piece from the foursome.
I feel that I have almost exhausted superlatives when describing Kosc’s work, and this piece leaves me scratching around for something to say that isn’t already clichéd in some way. How about this: Kosc is a great artist who has painted a fascinating and touching tribute to the American cartoon artist and graffiti-world favourite Vaughn Bode.
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2024
The writing alone is worthy of praise, but it is the Cheech Wizard and Lizard characters that augment the letters so well and bring the whole piece alive and straight into the crazy world of Vaughn Bode. Kosc is on a roll and just seems to get better and better, and this is a truly masterful piece.
Acer One and Andy Council, Chatterton Square, Bristol, December 2023
Although I photographed this piece reasonably recently (back in December), it actually dates from October 2022. It is yet another fine combination from painting pals Acer One and Andy Council, and what a productive year they both had in 2022.
Acer One and Andy Council, Chatterton Square, Bristol, December 2023
To the left is a rather nice birthday shout out by Acer to fellow graffiti writer Ziml, painted in the stylised font that is by now so familiar on the streets of Bristol. To the right is a Cheech Wizard, by Andy Council, constructed out of buildings and other component parts. It has just occurred to me while writing this column that the way Andy Council composes his work resembles the work of the incredible 16th Century Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who painted portraits composed of fruit and vegetables. I never thought I’d be writing that in Natural Adventures, but there you go.
Kid Krishna, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, December 2022
It would seem that Kid Krishna ‘owns’ the walls either side of Boston Tea Party on Cheltenham Road, as there are pieces by the artist either side of the entrance, and both of them are character pieces, rather than the stylised writing we are more familiar with. This piece is to the left of the entrance, and is a bit of a stunner.
Kid Krishna, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, December 2022
Of course, there is more than just a passing nod to Vaughn Bode’s Cheech Wizard character in this piece, with the addition of some curious camera or lens in the middle. This is a beautifully crafted piece and one of my favourites from last year.
I am really confused about one thing, though. One time I drove past this piece when it was being painted, I saw a woman painting it, or at least I thought I did. I might have been mistaken, and my eyes aren’t getting any younger, but if I am right, then Kid Krishna might be female. Either Paul H can put me straight, or I will just have to find Kid Krishna at work.
Acer One and Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022
Here is more prof that we do occasionally get the odd sprinkling of snow here in Bristol. I took these pictures about two weeks ago, and this collaboration is a very nice tribute to a close friend of many artists, Dring, who sadly passed away recently. You couldn’t want for a finer tribute than this one by Acer One and Andy Council.
Acer One and Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022
The letters are by Acer One, beautifully designed with a sensational two-part graded fill and double shadow. The robot monster character (iconic character Chechen Wizard – thank you Paul H) in the middle is by Andy Council and is representative of a new direction being adopted by the artist – it will be interesting to see where this leads. OK – I have to sign off now for a couple of days of family revelry.
Natural adventures 