In the Dean Lane skate park there are a lot of ramps and slopes that provide a perfect canvass for street artists. There are two drawbacks: the first is that they are a challenge to paint and the second is that they get scuffed up pretty quickly by the skating, scootering and biking activity.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
I think I got to this cheeky Zake portrait piece reasonably soon after it was painted, because it is in quite good condition. This is a classic Zake portrait, with lots of expression, and plenty of contours and depth. A fine small piece from the cartoon character specialist.
I have met ESKA on a couple of occasions, and he is a genuinely nice bloke. In our chats, I was under the impression that he was passing through Bristol, as he has quite an itinerant lifestyle. However, it seems that he is hanging around longer than I thought, which is brilliant news, because his work is outstanding, and quite different from the Bristol style we are used to seeing here.
Eska, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
This is a fine piece on the back of the long ramp in the skate park. Normally, his letters spell out ESKA, but I am not convinced that is the case here. His colour choices are superb, and there is a remarkable anamorphic effect, with great depth in the piece.
Eska, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
One of the special features of Eska’s writing is hidden in the small details, such as the little figures watching on at some futuristic spaceships or something like that. Always, his work contains plenty of hidden messages and symbolism, and of course they are finished to an incredibly high standard. Long may his stay in Bristol last.
Keeping up with Dibz and Fade, even over the winter months, has been challenging. Their high-end graffiti writing is creative and imaginative, and some of the best you’ll see in Bristol and beyond. Sometimes the pair paint in themed colour schemes and play off one another, but this collaboration presents two very different pieces with only a shared background to link them.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
On the left, Fade has painted a stunning tribute piece for Chaos, who in his own words is ‘lost but not forgotten’. The yellow letters are filled with three horizontal stripes, nicely blended, without any hard edges. The little white trims do a lot to create depth, as does the thick black border. A beautifully finished piece, as you’d expect from Fade.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
To the right, Dibz has painted a crazy colourful explosion of a piece, which is a ‘heavenly birthday’ tribute piece for Benson Much, and knowing this, you can make out the letters BENSON. This is an absolute stunner, there are no two ways about it. Each component of the work has been allocated a different colour, not only on the surface, but also in the drop shadow. This demonstrates Dibz’ complete understanding of light and shade and colour matches and when combined with his extraordinary talent you are left with something that you can’t help but admire. A fabulous collaboration.
I have a feeling that Short, like many other graffiti writers who stick to a general style of letter shapes and play with the colours and fills, will be making regular appearances in this blog. While this is only the second piece I have posted, I have plenty more in my files, and they seem to be coming at a steady rate.
Short, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025
The fat script-style letters, with a nice deep drop shadow are beautifully filled with a burst of yellow and orange colour and some purple decorative touches, are nicely arranged and presented. The piece is painted over a Hire piece which acts as a contrasting background – no buffing here for Short. Watch out for more.
How excited was I to find this outstanding wheatpaste by Tian earlier this month? A rhetorical question of course. Back in April 2016, the French artist, Tian, bombarded Stokes Croft with a series of beautiful paste ups, and visited Bristol again in May 2019 doing much the same. Both visits were celebrated by me, and many others who enjoyed discovering his series of interesting cut-outs.
Tian, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
I guess he was visiting the city again, but this time I have only found two wheatpastes, one of which has already gone. I expect there are more, but I don’t know where to look. This one, on the swimming pool wall, is of a Japanese woman in a kimono holding chopsticks. This is very much in a theme that Tian has cultivated over the years, and embraces the sepia tint as part of the piece. I am so excited about this, and keen to find some others in the North Street area.
This wall is usually occupied by Dibz or Fade or combination of the two, so it can be refreshing to find something a little different from time to time. I don’t know an awful lot about Mr Sensae, and don’t think I have photographed any of his work before.
Mr Sensae, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
This writing, spelling out SENSAE certainly catches the eye with its bright colours, which the artist even acknowledges with the words ‘nice colours’ in the bottom left. Starting with a pink background and decorative spots that provide a great backdrop, the letters are filled with horizontal stripes of colour ranging from orange to blue, and decorated with loads of reversed spots and stars. A striped 3D drop shadow veers off to the right. This is a banging piece of graffiti writing.
I believe that this wonderful character piece by Turoe was painted to celebrate Soker’s birthday during a recent paint jam in the Deaner. The old-school piece is brimming with class, and references the ‘Eighties kidz’ who, alas, are no longer kids, but have come a long way and are have become the establishment/benchmark in Bristol street/graffiti art.
Turoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
Turoe doesn’t get out too much these days, but when he does, his work is without doubt of the highest calibre and this character with bucket hat, chain and watch, TURO belt buckle and spray can exemplify this. A little awkward to photograph, but not insurmountable with a wide angle function on my phone.
Aha! Another wonderful piece by the fast-developing Lis, this time pushing he illustration creativity beyond her frequently painted mushrooms. This is a humorous cartoon piece beautifully panted on an awkward slope.
Lis, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
The mint choc chip character is looking most forlorn, probably because it has been dropped on the ground. Again, as with her other spray painted pieces, the finer detail look like it might have been completed with an ink pen of some description. Either that or she has mastered a fine line technique with a spray can unsurpassed by any other artist. So good to see Lis expanding her portfolio.
Fade, Jody and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
After a few posts from a trip to Liverpool, I return to my comfort zone of Bristol with this magnificent production piece from Fade, Jody and Dibz on the long wall at Dean Lane.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
The triptych begins with some great writing from fade on the left, where the absence of colour and decoration within the letters demonstrates the artist’s talent in its rawest form. All the artwork is beautifully tight, and he switches up things a little with the black border fading to orange on the right.
Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
In the middle is a superb portrait by Jody – I think the first I have seen this year – which presents a woman in three-quarter profile with loads of interesting light and shade cast across her face in red and blue tones, creating so much depth and interest. So very well painted, and as an example, have a look at the shadow cast under her nose. Brilliant. The hair is sensational too.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
To the right, Dibz continues with the white letters, reflecting those of Fade on the left. This piece from Dibz is pretty much an archetypal work by the maestro and rounds the collaboration off perfectly.
There is no question about it, Stivs is an extremely talented artist. Whether it is his extraordinarily tight calligraffiti, his cartoon characters or his portrait pieces, his natural ability shines through in all of his work. Recently he painted this stunning portrait piece in Dean Lane, bringing enjoyment to many.
Stivs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
I don’t know whether it is easier or more difficult to paint portrait pieces in single tones or in full colour, but either way, I am in awe of anyone who carries it off. This is a beautiful cartoon portrait piece, that feels like it has a Japanese film influence, but I am only guessing. The different tones and shades in the face create wonderful depth, and the subtle streaks in the hair hint at the shape and style of it. An outstanding and quite unexpected piece.
Natural adventures 