6160. Dean Lane skate park (728)

Fade, Andy Council and Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Fade, Andy Council and Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

What I love about recording and writing about street/graffiti in Bristol is the enormous array of quality, experience and styles that I get to see – it is never boring, and I love to try and represent it all here. This is an extraordinary ‘high-end’ production from Fade, Andy Council and Acer One. I get the feeling from the balance of the piece that Fade may have been an opportunistic addition to this piece, but has integrated perfectly with the colour scheme and tone,

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Fade, using all his experience, manages to create such a tight finish to all of his work, and it feels like there is never any part of it that is untidy or out of place. His letters spell FADE, and are filled beautifully in black fading to brown. The writing is set on a stunning grey/brown cloud that runs through the whole collaboration.

Andy Council and Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Andy Council and Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

The balanced symmetry of the Acer One and Andy Council element of the collaboration is what makes me think that Fade was an add-on. It comprises one of Acer One’s designs that he is currently favouring, which is accompanied by two of Andy Council’s famous Ammonites.

Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Acer One has come up with this incredibly clever and intricate concept, where two words are incorporated into one design – something he has done before, but is now more refined. Some of the words are easier than others to see. The upper chrome lettering spells ACERONE and the lower black letters spell COUNCIL. If you block off the upper or lower part, it is easier to read the names.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

I love it that Andy Council will often return to his ammonites in his mural work. They obviously hold an important part in his work because his signature incorporates one. These creatures are ‘composites’ made up of elements ‘stitched’ together in Andy Council’s unique and inimitable style. This is overall a brilliant production, and a precursor to a larger one including Dibz and Jody… watch this space.

6149. Dean Lane skate park (727)

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

There has been no let up from Dibz and Fade, and although their pieces don’t appear as regularly on Natural Adventures as they used to, it doesn’t mean they aren’t painting as frequently, it simply means they are having to compete for space with so much other art including Upfest 2024.

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

This is a classic presentation by the two artists with Fade on the left, Dibz on the right and a co-created character in the middle. They have cleverly reversed the fill colour layers between the two pieces of graffiti writing, with Fade starting with green at the top transitioning through dark blues to a light blue, while Dibz starts with the light blue at the top.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

The writing is, of course, of the absolute highest standard, painted by two artists who are at the top of their game. I don’t know who the green dog character is, and my Google searches haven’t turned up any clues, which is a pity, but he is nonetheless magnificent. Naturally, there is more to come from these two… watch this space.

6145. Dean Lane skate park (726)

Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

It has been a while since I last saw a piece by Stiff, and while finding his work is always a great pleasure, I don’t think that this is one of his finest. The main problem I have with this piece is that I am not quite sure what it is, as the colours are rather dark and the elements not clearly defined.

Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Stiff usually paints weird and wonderful aliens and monsters, and I guess that this is another one to add to his menagerie. I feel it is important to post as much as I can from all artists, warts an all, because I like to reflect the full spectrum of art and graffiti writing in the city. Looking forward to Stiff’s next piece.

6137. Dean Lane skate park (725)

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

When I first met Jeviossoul, he was just starting up with his character portraits, but he promised me then that he would be hitting the city hard with his ‘slow lane’ pieces. True to his word, he has been productive, particularly on the fringe spots, but occasionally hitting some of the more popular walls like this one in Dean Lane.

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

I like to think of Jevoissoul as a bit of a diamond in the rough, who has an interesting style that he is improving. It is not only his style that is getting better, but his technique is definitely on the up too. This piece might be his tidiest yet, and features his character with an orange cap, swallowing an acid tab, with the words ‘one love’ in accompaniment. Watch this space to see how he progresses.

6135. Dean Lane skate park (724)

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Well, well, well, this outstanding dragon character piece came a little bit out of the blue. It is by Cheo, one of the godfathers of Bristol street art, whose frequency of painting has declined a little in recent years, but whose work is always to be celebrated.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

In this game, if you snooze you lose, and I arrived a littler too late to photograph the piece before it had been dogged. The blue cock and balls (one of the most ancient forms of graffiti), probably sprayed by kids, slightly ruins the flow of the piece, but takes nothing away from the enormous talent of Cheo. Every little detail is perfectly worked, such as the folds in the clothing, the dragon’s face, and the crispness of the flame sprite. The signature bee rounds the scene off nicely. So good to see, albeit a little late.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

I went back to Dean Lane a few days later and the blue tags had been removed, although another one appeared to the right of the piece.

6125. Dean Lane skate park (724)

Werm and Noise, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Werm and Noise, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Werm and Noise are no strangers to collaborating with one another and in May, painted this wonderful collaboration in Dean Lane. Both artists have a distinctive style, and although they use different colour palettes in this collaboration, they are joined together with some connecting background characters.

Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

The writing from Werm is busy and electrifying, with brilliant use of contrasting colours and some highly technical skills used to spell out WERM. There is a lot of depth in the piece, with layers sitting on layers. The bright star spots on some of the letters add a twinkle – classy work.

Noise, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Noise, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Noise, has been smashing it lately with a host of new pieces during the spring, and does it again with this piece and his characteristic fat letters spelling out NOISE. The two-colour fill transitions nicely using some symbols and patterns where the two colours meet . Both pieces are bookended with little grey characters painted in a cartoon style, but I am not too sure who painted them. All in all a fine collaborative wall from the pair.

6111. Dean Lane skate park (723)

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Unfortunately, I missed Soker when he was painting this unexpected piece in Dean Lane, because he had disappeared for a break, and I couldn’t hang around too long. This was extra unlucky (so near and yet so far) because he doesn’t paint all that often these days.

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

As I would expect, the writing from Soker is outstanding, with some quite thin script-like letters spelling out his name. What transforms a good piece into a great piece is the attention to small details, such as the yellow and orange tips to the letters. A beautiful drop shadow lifts the letters away from the luscious pink background, and the whole piece is an exemplar of great graffiti writing. Soker remains one of the very best in Bristol.

6096. Dean Lane skate park (722)

Chill and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Chill and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

You don’t often see the PWA crew paint this particular wall in Dean Lane, I guess because there are usually three or more of them painting together, but this time it is only Chill and Zake, so there is room here for both of them. The two portraits, in very different styles, are interacting really well together and integrated using a common background.

Chill and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Chill and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Chill’s portrait is both colourful and full of fine detail, and has that accuracy that is common in artists who are also tattooists. He is also responsible for the wonderful silhouette plants and signature song bird. Zake’s portrait, is a little softer and full of depth, with a slightly odd scene of fish and water flying out of the character’s mouth. While I am not too sure what is going on, it makes for entertaining viewing. The pairing is great to see, and this is certainly a memorable collaboration from them. I’m not too sure it lasted very long though, which is a pity.

6079. Dean Lane skate park (721)

Fade, Jody and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Fade, Jody and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Just because I have been paying quite a lot of attention to Upfest 2024 recently, id doesn’t mean that the world of Bristol street/graffiti art has stood still, on the contrary, it continues at the same ridiculous pace as usual. At the vanguard of high quality high productivity are the machine that is Dibz and Fade, and in this instance Jody too.

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

This ET tribute triptych is typical of the classy collaborations these artists have been churning out for well over a year now, since Fade returned to Bristol. On the left is a beautiful and perfectly presented piece of graffiti writing from Fade, that is notable for the drop shadow lifting upwards, which makes it feel like the letter block is moving downwards, if that makes sense – clever stuff.

Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

The filling of the sandwich has been created by Jodi and portrays the most iconic scenes of the movie and possibly one of the most iconic images of the early 1980s. Not only has Jodi recreated Elliott and ET, but also the amazing landscape and moon shot. I like the way that the artists have put their signatures onto the box which ET is sitting in, as if they were written in felt-tip.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Rounding off the collaboration is a perfect piece of writing from Dibz which mirrors Fade’s writing on the other side. The drop shadow that Dibz uses is more conventional and acts as a counterbalance to Fade’s. This is an awesome ET collaboration, worthy of great praise.

6077. Upfest 2024 (14)

#DFTE, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
#DFTE, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

The philosophical pondering of #DFTE is a constantly refreshing aspect of his work, indeed a central one too. It is only a few years ago when his small framed musings started appearing in spots all around the city, becoming something of a street art hunter’s ‘pot of gold’. More recently he has taken to upscaling his work into large walls, adopting the same font, and managing not to lose the unique proportions and sentiment that typifies his earlier work. You can see the transition of his work in this gallery.

#DFTE, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
#DFTE, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

I guess that #DFTE is stating the obvious here with his “if you change, you will be different” statement. I imagine that this prompts the clichéd response “well, it makes you think… doesn’t it?”. Whether it makes you think or not, this is another wonderful piece of stylised writing and words from the Bristol-based artist.