It is rare to find a Fade piece these days that is not immediately associated with a piece by Dibz and at times his work can be eclipsed by the overall collaborations they create, so it is great to see a fabulous standalone piece of graffiti writing from Fade, and this is a beauty.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Painted in greyscale on a black background, the impact of the letters has to be really strong, and it is. Spelling out FADE in letters that pop out from the wall, especially along the bottom edge. A nice touch is the little black ‘ink’ trail all around the outside of the piece. All in all, a fabulous and rather special piece of graffiti writing.
I am enjoying the regularity with which Biers is turning out his pieces at the moment, with at least one or two each month. The broad format is the same, with his WD40 letters, and a character poking through the ‘0’.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
The character has baffled me a little, and my Google search has yielded nothing, so he will have to remain a mystery. Perhaps the skull next to the character would offer an extra clue, but it is not enough for me. The letters are really clean and tidy, a feature of Biers’ recent work, and the colour palette is lovely, although slightly lost on the pinky background. Perhaps something with a little more contrast might have worked better, but what do I know?
This lovely piece by Nips was slightly hidden from view, behind the hedge and fence on the swimming pool wall in Dean Lane. I think that I have been pretty late to the party when it comes to posting pieces by Nips, but I now have the artist fully in my sights and I’m sure there will be plenty of appearances from now on.
Nips, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
The letters, spelling NIPS, painted in a great and eye-catching combination of black and mint green are set on a complementary pink drop shadow. The star of the piece though, for me, is the crazy dog character making up the dot on the letter ‘i’. It is details and additions like this that elevate a good piece to a great one. More to come from Nips before too long.
Zake is something of a phenomenon. His output rate and the quality of his work are quite exceptional, and he is always coming up with original ideas based around his central character style. Even though I big him up frequently on Natural Adventures, I think his modesty lends itself to him being a bit of an unsung hero. Well, I am singing!
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
This face is perhaps a little smoother than some of his recent intricate works, but still presents his mastery of light and shade to create depth. It is sometimes difficult with his work to remember that it is painted on a flat wall, such is the 3D effect he creates. They just keep on coming, with no sign of letting up. Great work from the PWA man.
With the exception of commissions or permitted walls, street art and graffiti art in Bristol is largely an illegal activity that can at times be edgy in either content or placement or indeed both. The former Salvation Army building, on which this writing by Raid has been sprayed, has recently been converted into flats/accommodation and abuts the skate park. Historically, this has been an area with a high level of graffiti and tagging, but the redevelopers cleaned up their walls, presumably to tidy up the building to make it more attractive to buyers/tenants. There is nothing more tempting for graffiti writers, in particular, than a nice freshly cleaned wall in an area of high graffiti activity, and it looks like Raid gave in to the temptation.
Raid, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
From my perspective, not only is this a really nice piece from Raid, but it looks great against the clean brick wall… and there we have it, the edge, the mischief, the anti-establishment stance and so on that graffiti and street art have come to represent. We will all have our views on this, and that is what keeps the culture vibrant and the discussions fresh. For my part, I love street art and graffiti art (naturally) and prefer it to be in the right places. Sometimes you just have to admire the outliers too, and I admire this piece from Raid.
Dibz, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, February 2024
Something a little different from Dibz on the curved wall in Dean Lane skate park, illustrating the point that Dibz is anything but a one-trick-pony (some trick at that). The writing feels a little bit retro, and the incorporation of a series of black and white pixels adds to that effect.
Dibz, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, February 2024
Interestingly, the pixel squares are a little uneven and most unlike Dibz’ precision work – I wonder if there is a tiny chink in his perfect armour… The piece includes the word Metal Headz, which I assume means something to Dibz, but sadly nothing to me. Some fun and variety from the maestro.
Sepr and Boaster, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Aah! what joy finding this outstanding piece by Sepr and Boaster the day before going away for a week on holiday. Finding this piece, in part, helped me to overcome any withdrawal symptoms or FOMO while I was skiing in the French Alps. If I had missed the piece, I would have been a little regretful. but thankfully that didn’t happen.
Sepr, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
It is possible to see when artists are having fun and obviously bouncing with shared ideas and inspiration. A pair of toucans drinking Carlsberg Special Brew… who’d have thought it? The toucan on the left was painted by Sepr with all his trademark stylised cartoon painting skills on show. I cannot explain how much I like this piece, and have missed his work, which seems to be occasional these days. The toucan is holding a plastic bag containing four beer cans and he is holding another in his other hand. The piece is accompanied with the words “Two can Jackie Chan the toucan with a bag o’cans!” pretty much describes the piece. Jackie Chan is offering a can to his friend to the right.
Boaster, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
I recently posted a piece by Boaster which I photographed in Nottingham, so it is really satisfying to see another one so soon and this time in my home town of Bristol. Boaster’s toucan is drinking a bottle of Brahma beer (a brand I am not familiar with) and uttering the words “sim voce”, which I think means ‘yeah’ sort of thing in Portuguese. Am I to infer that the toucan is Brazilian? it would make sense. The two toucans are different in style, one very sharp, the other a little fluffier, but they work perfectly together. This is easily the best collaboration of the year so far, in my opinion.
I am so incredibly short of time today, suffering from having to plough through a mountain of work that has accumulated during the week that I was away. I sometimes wonder if it is worth going on holiday at all, because the feel-good factor wears off so quickly. This is a stunner from Fade.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
It is quite difficult to understand just how Fade manages to turn out so many high quality pieces, each and every one completely original and perfectly turned out – he has certainly found his niche. This piece looks like a fiery furnace of coke or coal blasting out heat to create the hot letters. Great design, superb fills… excellent piece from Fade.
Face 1st, Chill, Kool Hand and Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
The PWA boys have been at it again, for what may have been their first collaboration of 2024 and this one included Face 1st, Chill, Kool Hand (by invitation I think) and Laic217 on one of their favourite walls in Dean Lane.
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Face 1st has come up with something a little different for this piece. He presents us with one of his laughing girls, wearing glasses and holding something in her hands. I can’t quite work out what it is, but in my mind it is either a wrap, or she is rolling a cigarette/joint. Underneath the character is a FACE in bubble writing.
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Next to Face 1st is a wonderfully animated character by Chill, suitably dressed with a woolly hat for a cold January day. The smoking character is really well painted and typical of Chill’s fabulous cartoon style, which captures his tattoo skills and artwork.
Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Next up is a dog character from Kool Hand, who has painted with PWA on a couple of occasions, but I am not sure whether this is as a guest or a member of the crew. I suspect the membership is a little loose in any case. The blue dog is nicely painted with strong solid fills and a clean thick border. The character is missing a mouth, and as am not sure if it is deliberate or whether Kool Hand decided, for whatever reason not to include one.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Last up is a nice piece from Laic217, as always. This time he has squeezed on a rather angular skeleton skull face, also wearing a woolly hat for the cold weather and a hoody. The angular sun glasses are in line with the shape of the skull. A lovely winter-warmer from the PWA crew.
This sumptuous red and gold piece of graffiti writing is one half of a collaboration with Noise, which I posted a few days ago. The pieces were painted as a contribution to the World Wall Stylers theme for December. On reflection I perhaps should have posted the pieces together, but firstly I couldn’t capture both pieces in one photograph and secondly felt they both deserved to have a post of their own.
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
I met Werm a week or so back for the first time in a while and it was great to catch up. I like this piece a lot. Werm has started to simplify his work a little, and in my view that is a good thing, concentrating on the impact of the piece rather than its technical complexity. Sometimes less is more, and definitely it works in this instance. The colours go a long way to enhancing the quality of this one. Great stuff from Werm.
Natural adventures 