Combination – Natural adventures

7902. M32 roundabout J3 (794)

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2026

The photographs of this combination piece by Sub, is a perfect example of why it is important to take pictures, even if the light conditions (sun/shade) aren’t perfect, because when I returned for a second attempt, the character had been dogged, so we’ll have to make do with these.

Sub has been steadily improving, and has successfully added characters to his writing portfolio. His letters here are very nicely presented with some pink cloudy smudges, a plasma burst and some horizontal drips. Sitting alongside is a fun ghostly cartoon character – I am not sure if it is a Sub creation or an existing character that he has copied – I am not familiar with it. I just did a little research, and I think it might be a Super Mario ghost King Boo, without his crown. A great commbination piece.

7896. St Werburghs tunnel (591)

The Cat Came Back, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2026

Oh how good is it to see this third recent piece by The Cat Came Back? Sadly though, I haven’t seen any more from the artist since I photographed this last month. In this fine combination piece, the artist shows off his considerable writing skills alongside a beautiful cat girl portrait.

Where has The Cat Came Back been all this time I wonder, and are these pieces a flash in the pan or something to look forward to seeing regularly? The letters spell out Jones, which I am guessing is the artist’s surname. Great letters shapes and fills. The portrait is really well painted and perfectly proportioned. The piece is bold too, set on a black background. Lots to like here.

7889. Cumberland Basin

Nice One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Another classic piece from Nice One, who, it has to be said has generally had quite a quiet few months painting on the streets. It can be hard to know sometimes what impacts on the peaks and troughs in activity from different artists, and one can only hope it is for good reasons.

This combnination piece cleanly separates a superb portrait sketch from the beautifully picked out and typical letters ‘Nice One’. The portrait piece resembles a bust or statue and the sketch-like quality of the lined feels like this piece has been directly lifted out of an artist’s workbook. To create that greyscale pencil drawing look at this scale using spray paints is fantastically skillful and perfectly executed by Nice One. Outstanding.

7886. M32 roundabout J3 (790)

Minto has had a great summer, creating some truly memorable pieces around Bristol, and of such a high quality too. His distinctive style has been carried through all of them and this is no exception.

The heavily disguised letters, spelling, of course, MINTO, are beautifully embellished with swirls, patterns, lines and colour, but all seemingly beautifully balanced and interconnected. Midway through, there is the inclusion of a small character, wearing a helmet with goggles and smoking a cigarette. Such mini-characters often organically emerge fom Minto’s work, augmenting the busy mix. Another very nice piece from the artist.

7830. River Avon (125)

Avem808 appears to have been having a lot of fun this summer, transitioning his work from writing dominated to character dominated. I think that he enjoys the creativity and charm of his characters as much as the technical aspect of his writing.

The writing is heavily disguised, and I have to assume that it spells out AVEM. It is the bookend characters that leap out, almost literally, especially the one on the left. These crazy imaginings are quite unlike anything I have seen in Bristol before and are becoming as a bit of a trademark of the artist.

When I look at the character on the right I see a sandglass, and the sand character slipping from top to bottom through the squeezed middle. I cannot help feeling that Avem808 seems rather liberated, from what I don’t know, but this marked change in his work is very welcome and I look forward to seeing it develop further.

7828. Brunel Way (365)

This may be the most dynamic and sophisticated piece that I have seen by Butch to date, painted as part of a PLB paint jam underneath Brunel way. The first notable thing about the piece is that it is full of colour, and he has combined his letters with an animated character on the left.

Butch nearly always overlaps his letters so that the letter to the left sits over the letter to the right. This layout distinguishes his work from other writers. Each of the letters is decorated independently, although the ‘U’, ‘C’ and half of the ‘H’ share a grey and white colour scheme. The character is a running pencil, with a big mouth. What he is running from I have no idea. All in all an entertaining combination piece.

7797. Enfield Road (1)

Subtle, Enfield Road, Bristol, July 2026

As mentioned in my previous post, I have recently discovered a treasure chest of hoardings in the Fishponds area of Bristol, and can’t quite believe that it has taken me so long to find them. I have also managed to track down countless Subtle pieces that I have been aware of, because they are here too. This feels like an enormous weight lifted from my shoulders, as it has been bugging me that I couldn’t find them.

This is a wonderful combination piece by Subtle, with his characteristic letters intertwined with characters and scenes from Disney’s ‘Sword in the Stone’ film. The background woodland scenery is truly brilliant and is such an amazing backdrop to his letters. Several more pieces by the artist to come from this honeypot spot.

7792. Greenway Bush Lane – Upfest 2026 (38)

Minto, Upfest 2026, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, May 2026

Another Bristol artist to grace the Upfest stage this year is Minto, who somehow managed to get away with painting two pieces rather close together. Sometimes artists pull out at the last minute, and opportunists make the most of the blank space.

This first simple white on black piece shows what is possible, using only one colour with some great outlines and a bit of shading. I can’t imagine that it would have taken Minto more than a few minute to create this cartoon doodle, and it is very much an extra piece thrown into the mix.

His other piece only a few yards away is also a bit of a quick one, but more along the lines of what we see frequently in Bristol. The letters spell Minto, and the pig character has been nicely incorporated alongside them. If I am honest, I don’t think Minto put too much effort into these pieces, and probably turned up more for the crack than the artistry, because he has been smashing it with much more sophisticated and well-finished pieces than this recently.

7781. M32 Cycle path (317)

Kid Crayon, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2026

This wonderful combination piece by Kid Crayon is his contribution to the Mexican-themed wall painted alongside the M32 a few weeks ago. KC has embraced the theme with gusto, using the colours of a parched desert for his lettering and decorating the piece with cacti. These might be stereotypes, but certainly chime with a British characterisation of Mexico as a hot, dry country.

The character is a masked Mexican wrestler (luchador), and is accompanied by the word Lucha and a little enacted wrestling scene in the bottom left of the piece. Loads of fun in this beautifully finished celebration of Mexico.

7753. Stapleton Road

Avem808, Stapleton Road, Bristol, June 2026

Avem808 only really came under my radar about a year ago, and since then his work has transformed somewhat and at an incredible pace. I think that he has a bit of time on his hands at the moment, which is why he is able to get out and paint quite frequently.

His intricate writing has given way a little to the creation of busy and detailed combination pieces, crawling with characters. Here, his letters in red and pink, which I assume spell out AVEM, are joined by a fez-wearing camel, and a raft of other crazy characters. There is a lot going on in this piece and an awful lot to look at, it is almost overwhelming, but worth dwelling on it for a while to see all the little stories unfold in front of you.

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