1439. Old Bread Street (14)

A fine trio of artists, Soker, Cheo and Hemper came together in 2016 and painted this fine collaboration. All three are at the top of their game and this formula – wildstyle, character, wildstyle – is one that works well. There is a balance and symmetry to the whole thing.

Soker, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016
Soker, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016

The chrome writing on the left is by Soker, and the letters SOKEM are easy to pick out. The lines are very clean and sharp and a careful look at the detail reveals incredible attention in each and every intricate shape. Magnificent.

Cheo, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016
Cheo, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016

In the middle, the character piece is by Cheo, who else, and looks like a man who enjoys his music. I love the way his glasses change the colour of everything behind them, and the same with the goggles. beautifully done.

Hemper, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016
Hemper, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016

Finally on the right some more writing in chrome, this time from Hemper. Of the three, he is the one I know least about. I think that these days, he is not as active as the others. The letters spell ‘HEMP’ and they have a slightly more forgiving and organic feel to them than those of Soker.

Cheo, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016
Cheo, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016

The whole thing is utterly lovely and I am puzzled why it hasn’t made it out of my archives until now. Some mistake surely. Damn that water droplet.

1377. Raleigh Road (5)

This is another old one from 2016 on a wall that is no longer accessible, but was once a choice wall for the ASK crew. This is a fine piece by Cheo, which I have been looking at for ages, but still can’t make out the writing. ‘Equips’? As ever, great character and beautiful crisp lines.

Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, April 2016
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, April 2016

I enjoy looking through my archive pictures as it affords me to look at people’s work through a different lens, one which has a better understanding of the artists and their art.

1370. Upfest 2017 (149)

What a brilliant piece this is from Cheo, the largest of several walls from the artist at Upfest featurig the animation character Morph. In this piece Morph is joined by his erstwhile partner in crime Chas.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

My favourite part of this wall though is not the two characters in the foreground, but the gallery of bristol artists behind them. Morph originated on a television programme for children called Vision On, and one section of the show was dedicated to ‘the gallery’ which showed paintings that had been sent in by children, accompanied by great music, that all children of my generation would recognise instantly.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Cheo’s hilarious take on the Vision On gallery features several well known Bristol street artists with his take on their entries, knowing what he knows about their styles now. very funny.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In the piece he honours Andy Council (dinosaur), Soker ( a little girl), Voyder (a unicorn), 45RPM (an owl), 3Dom (a castle), Inkie (a Wallace and Gromit), Cheo (a bee) and Chelway (a whale). Poking fun at his mates.

1155. Dean Lane skate park (91)

A wonderful recent piece on the long wall at Dean Lane by three of Bristol’s very best street/graffiti artists, 3Dom, Soker and Cheo from the ASK stable. I think that this might have been another Halloween collaboration – they have been very popular this year.

3Dom, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
3Dom, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

First off, on the left is a curious surreal house/shed/kennel with something swirly going on in the middle. 3Dom always has this dream like imagination that presents the familiar combined with the bizarre. The dripping house and shadow underneath are very nice touches to this piece. Great to see 3Dom being more visible on the streets again after a gap of several months.

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

I suspect that regular readers will be very familiar by now with the writing of Soker (text says SOKEM) or at least if you are not, where have you been? His writing is always of a high quality and I have rarely been disappointed.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

Finally, rounding off the collaboration is a wonderful homage to ‘Freddy Krueger’ by Cheo, complete with razor fingers, stripy t-shirt and a pumpkin face. This is a fun piece that really stands out…it is a pity that there is a bit of glare on the photograph. Most annoying.

3Dom, Soker, Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
3Dom, Soker, Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

All in all this was a nice halloween surprise for me in this spot which I regularly visit. Great work from the boys.

1141. Raleigh Road, Vector (17)

The hoarding in Raleigh Road has become a popular spot with Cheo, Soker, Voyder and Deamze in particular, and between them they keep refreshing it with some great work. This is a great piece from Cheo featuring a couple of spraying characters and his signature bee.

Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017

This piece is fresh and clean, and looks as tidy as if it were still in his black book. I’m not quite certsin what the characters actually are, but they are both dressed in hoody and baseball cap respectively. Very street.

Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017

So many more of his pieces in my archive…more time needed.

1045. Church Road (2)

At the top of Church road there are a whole bunch of reasonably new pieces from members of the ASK crew of which this is one. The three sections are by Soker, Cheo and Deamze, although the Soker and Deamze writing are in exactly the same style and lettering and I am left wondering if only one artist was involved in those bits.

It is a colourful collaboration that is nicely balanced. The Cheo character in the middle is ready to spray…was it in fact this character that sprayed the rest of the piece? Always good to see ASK collaborations around the place.

Soker, Cheo and Deamze, Church Road, Bristol, September 2017
Soker, Cheo and Deamze, Church Road, Bristol, September 2017

1014. Church Road top (3)

A recent piece from Cheo on a wall that you need to go looking for. This is the second pairing of Cheo and Soker pieces that I have found here, but I expect they have been spraying here for years.

Cheo, Church Road, Bristol, September 2017
Cheo, Church Road, Bristol, September 2017

Some really lovely wildstyle writing and a fun character too. Cheo and his king bee just keep on pleasing. The image below is the last piece he had up here which was photographed in March 2017.

Cheo, Church Road, Bristol, March 2017
Cheo, Church Road, Bristol, March 2017

991. North Street Green (9)

Not long after Upfest was over, and just as the dust was settling, this wonderful piece from Bristol’s Cheo appeared in North Street Green. It is a very strong piece, and in my view, far superior to the Morph characters he produced for Upfest.

Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, August 2017
Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, August 2017

In this piece he has sprayed a couple of very cool frogs appearently chewing the fat and puffing away on a cigar and cigarette. It is an incredibly neat and crisp piece and in my view shows Cheo at his absolute best.

Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, August 2017
Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, August 2017

I’m not too sure how long this would have taken him, but it looks like he took care with it. Yet another great piece from the master.

964. Bond Street (1)

When Cheo and Soker get together, you can be sure you will be in for a treat, and so it is with this fabulous piece on Bond Street, as you drive out of Bristol city centre. The building that this Aardman piece appears on I think has been ‘repurposed’ recently, and this artwork may have coincided with that.


Previously the wall played host to a few throw ups and tags. Now we have a very large Wallace and Gromit by Cheo, atop a wonderful ‘Bristol’ from Soker. I’m not sure what the Duke at the to right refers to, and I have been a bit lazy about finding out more about this piece, which I presume is a commission or if not, permitted by the wall owner.


Since it went up, the piece has been partially obscured from the road by a tree in full leaf. Come the Autumn and Winter, many more people will become aware of it from the road as they pass by. This piece somehow represents the USP of Bristol in my eyes. Progressive animation and street art, a great match.

923. Upfest 2017 (4)

Cheo, who is one of the  most established Bristol street artists at the heart of the Bristol scene, is also very active in promoting and collaborating with Upfest. This year he brought the Aardman character ‘Morph’ to life as Graff Morph, and sprayed this loveable character in several locations around the Upfest area.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Morph first appeared in the Television programme Take Hart, presented by Tony Hart. The programme itself was a spin-off from Vision On, which a few will recall as being the only art programme for children for many years. It is fitting that the character from an art programme is the subject of focus for Cheo at Upfest. There were seven Graff Morphs at Upfest. This was the first one I saw. All good fun, especially for the children at the event.

If you look carefully at the Featured Image, you will be able to spot one of Chinagirl Tile’s grenade bunnies from last year.