I unearthed this piece recently while digging about in my archives. It is a place-appropriate combination piece that is very much at home in the DIY skatepark underneath the M32.
Conrico has written his name with thinly filled green letters, through which a skater is powering. There is some great movement in the piece indicated by the skater’s posture and the little wisps around his feet and the skateboard. This is a rather unusual and wonderfully observed piece from Conrico.
It would seem that Conrico rather likes this particular spot, as the previous piece here was his fabulous two-panel cats work, featured here a few weeks back. Unfortunately the cats piece got tagged and didn’t last very long and he replaced it with this eye-catching portrait piece.
The portrait is more stylised than many of his pieces, both in terms of the rich flesh tones and the bold use of those tones to build depth through light and shadow. I like the proportions that Conrico has presented in this piece, with two thirds of the space occupied by a seascape, bringing more focus on the subject to the right. As ever, nicer work.
One of the most memorable moments of my wanderings over the three weeeks of Upfest was catching up with Bristol artist Conrico while he was painting this piece. He is a kind man and always up for a chat. It was a very hot day when I stopped by his piece, and he could see I was uncomfortable. He offered me his fine water spray and fan to cool myself down – a true gent. We also experienced a magnificent natural moment as one of the adjacent trees was shedding its fine and fluffy seeds, turning a hot spring day into a winter snowstorm, quite incredible.
The colourful portrait piece features a woman clasping something bright in her hands with plasma bolts emanating from them and a cheeky moth. I’m not too sure what the story is here. I love the way Conrico has capured the pattern on the woman’s jumper – brilliant. An interesting selection for an Upfest piece, but one that shows off his ‘paint brush’ style perfectly.
We have had such glorious weather for a long time in Bristol, which is great (when it isn’t too hot) but makes life rather difficult for photographing graffiti and street art. Bright overcast days are much better, but when the sun is out, shadows are cast, which messes up camera settings, and can make a piece look quite different, especially if the wall is textured. I haven’t yet walked past this lovely piece by Conrico without shadows cast over it. Hey ho, can’t have it all.
Conrico has upped his game this year and has been turning out so many outstanding pieces in his unique style. This is a delightful portrait of a young woman wearing a red zip up jacket and with large hoop earrings. The soft cartoon style lends itself to layers of shading and texture which Conrico achieves with multiple spray can ‘strokes’ as if the can were a paint brush. Like so many of his recent pieces, there seems to be so much more going on than just a portrait.
Conrico has had an exceptional few months, and even managed to secure a wall at Upfest 2026, something that I know he had been eager to achieve. His style of painting with ‘brush strokes’ using spray cans gives a unique look to his work and in particular his portraits.
Sandwiched between Werm and Kool Hand, this portrait piece features a woman taking a photograph of Kool Hand’s piece. I do like it when street art interacts in this way. The woman is beautifully presented and like many in his portraits has dyed hair. She casts a curious shadow which lifts her away from the wall. Lovely stuff from Conrico.
This is a wonderful collaboration painted by Conrico, Noise and Stivs, who were participating in the World Wall Stylers challenge (Chapter 26) on reggae legends. Although these were painted in April, they were still looking pretty fresh in May.
First up is a lovely portrait piece by Conrico of Pablo Gad, a lyricist of ‘when I was a yout’ by Ed Solo. I grabbed that information off Conrico’s Instagram thread, without which I wouldn’t have known any of this. The red, gold and green are well represented, and the portrait presented in Conrico’s distinctive brush stroke style.
The middle section is a lovely bit of chunky graffiti writing from Noise that also carried the red gold and green colours that stand out beautifully against the black background.
The collaboration is rounded off with an outstanding portrait of Lila Iké by Stivs. His portrait work is hitting new levels at the moment, which makes for very enjoyable viewing. Stivs is a little more subtle with his incorporation of the red, gold and green colours, incorporation them as part of the border surrounding the portrait.
All round, this is an outstanding collaboration.
Conrico has had a productive year so far and in my view has been creating some of his best and most varied work, showing that within his unique ‘paintbrush’ style, he can conjure up exotic scenes, stunning portraits and throw in some writing too.
This is a wonderful piece that transitions between two perpendicular hoardings on the corner at the end of the Greenbank ‘wall’. Two cats, one on each board pose in front of a flaming background, and this cat looking backwards is accompanied by a tidy ‘CONRICO’ alongside it.
The second cat is walking towards the corner. There are two possible outcomes when these felines meet – familial recognition and love or a stand-off. They look like siblings to me, so I suspect the former outcome. A lovely story creatively told by Conrico. One for the cat-lovers.
It is so good to see Conrico firing on all cylinders this year, and I am super-pleased that he has been selected to paint at this year’s Upfest, something I know he has been keen to do for some time. He certainly deserves it.
This is a bright and cheerful combination piece with a portrait alongside his Conrico letters and GYS (Graveyard Shift crew). The portrait is most beguiling, there is a lot hidden behind those large brown eyes, and I like the positioning of the subject’s hand under her chin. A wonderful piece delivered in his special style.
I have already said several times this year that Conrico is on fire, and with this piece he continues to confirm my assertion. I believe that this gorgeous landscape piece was painted as part of a collaboration paint jam to celebrate Kid Crayon’s birthday.
There is a calmness about this view, and a sense of early spring created by the presence of meadow flowers and tree blossom, most likely reflecting a Japanese landscape, with a small hut or temple in the foreground. The brush-stroke quality of the piece which has a little bit of Monet about it. Superb work from Conrico.
Alongside the outstanding Stivs piece on this hoarding under the M32 (see previous post), is this wonderful Samurai warrior piece by Conrico. The artwork is so full of freedom in the style that Conrico excels at, and conjures up thoughts of spring with all that cherry blossom.
A helmeted figure is presented alongside an old cherry tree (I assume) and an outstretched arm which is tied to a bamboo stick and holding a sword. I’m not too sure what the story of this piece is, but I am sure that there is one. Just another fabulous piece from Conrico, who is on a roll at the moment.
Natural adventures 