DIBZ – Page 3 – Natural adventures

6944. Dean Lane skate park (864)

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

This combination piece from Fade and Dibz is outstanding, and really ticks all my boxes. I watched them as they started painting this and knew, even when it was in draft that it was going to be an absolute blinder.

This is straight out of the black book, a sketch come to life with a clever twist and superb early Disney character. I love seeing works in progress as it shows just how unbelievably talented these artists are, and how they build the picture up into something quite magnificent.

The writing is by Dibz, and has a beautiful, deep 3D drop shadow, with additional shading to create perfect depth and lift. The fox character, by Fade, looks like he is reading Dibz’ black book, maybe at this actual picture, which would be a clever twist. The whole thing is set on a piece of lined paper, which adds another whole dimension to the collaboration. Bravo! Gentlemen.

6916. Dean Lane skate park (830)

Painted on one of Bristol’s most iconic walls, the curved wall in Dean Lane skate park, this is a birthday tribute piece to Soker by Dibz. Pieces like this have the capacity to confuse, because the letters do not spell the artist’s name, and I have in the past misidentified pieces because of it.

Dibz really is a master of graffiti writing and is at the top of his game, something he has maintained for such a long time now, without any dip in form. The letters are filled with a solid black fill, and finely written ’50s’ indicating it was Soker’s 50th birthday. Great to see one of Dibz’ small signature tags in red at the top right too. Excellent work, and a fine birthday tribute.

6904. Dean Lane skate park (828)

Fade, Jody and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

Here we have yet another epic production collaboration from Fade, Jody and Dibz, who have been knocking it out of the park for a couple of years now, creating some breathtaking triptychs from the two writers and the ‘character’ artist.

I watched them for a short while while they painted this piece, and while the two writers were well advanced with their work, Jody’s skull portrait was still some way off. On the left, Fade has produced some gorgeous ‘lava’ letters tinged with some turquoise highlights and some purple smoke plumes. His letters look like CREAM, but I can’t be sure.

The centrepiece is an outstanding screaming skull by Jody. He really is a most talented artist, both in his studio work and his street art. His technique is simply awesome, and he manages to create such depth and texture with the deft strokes of the spray can. Brilliant stuff.

Dibz, to the right, mirrors the colours of Fade, as is so often the case with these production pieces. The letters spell DIBZ, a little easier than Fade’s to read, and contain the same hot lava look. The triptych as a whole has a searing heat about it, as if the poor soul in the middle is trapped in hell. Outstanding collaboration.

6870. Dean Lane skate park (821)

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025

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.

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.

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.

6834. Dean Lane skate park

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.

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.

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.

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.

6819. Brunel Way (312)

Fade (Acer One and Jodi), Dibz and Sikoh, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025

This production wall is one that has been revisited several times by Dibz and Fade, and they have brought in others along the way. The portrait and writing above it by Jody and Acer One respectively have remained intact, but everything else around them have been repainted several times. This latest fiery reincarnation is by Dibz, Fade and Sikoh.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025

Starting with Fade, flames engulf his letters FADE and nestled above, THK (Tru Headz Kru). The black letters are bordered with a flame line, incorporating reds, oranges, yellows and whites – absolutely incredible. The flame background is equally impressive, and he has also managed to incorporate some drips into the piece too.

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025

Dibz’ writing mirrors that of Fade, and is also out of the top drawer. Slightly more angular than his painting partner, his letters have the same multicoloured border – how do they do that? Dibz has also managed to create a little bit more depth with his letters, and has added a yellow, melting, halo above his letters.

Dibz and Sikoh, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025

It is a pity that we only get to see Sikoh’s work occasionally, because he is without doubt one of the most talented artists around. Here he has painted two spray cans, one with a flesh hand spraying out flames, which is mimicked to the left with a fire hand holding the can. The collaboration is utterly outstanding, and has remained intact for over a month for all passers-by to enjoy.

6812. Dean Lane skate park (814)

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025

Although Dibz and Fade have had a reasonably quiet winter, they have still managed to get out frequently enough to collaborate on some very impressive walls. This wall is one of their favourites, and because of its shape requires them to paint closer together than some of the other longer walls they like to paint.

In this piece, they each get to showcase their style and technique, using different base colours. Stepping back you can see that Fade’s work, in yellow, has a slightly softer finish, with more curves, than the slightly less forgiving angles on the green writing by Dibz. I don’t know too much about the character in this piece, but I am guessing both artists contributed to it. Naturally there is lots more to come from these two.

6746. L Dub (65)

Stivs, Fade and Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025

A common collaborative presentation, which so many of my posts feature, is a three-way triptych between two writers and a character artist. Dibz and Fade have played out this structure with numerous fellow collaborators, often Jody. In this piece, however, it is Stivs who performs the honours with consummate skill.

Stivs and Fade, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025

The three artists have taken over the entire corner wall of the pumping station with a bright scene incorporating the film/TV/merchandise franchise ‘Transformers’. On the left Stivs and Fade share the space, with a large robot character on the left by Stivs, and some beautiful ‘flat’ lettering from Fade (with the ‘A’ upside down?), all set on an urban silhouette scene.

Stivs and Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025

On the right-hand elevation, Stivs and Dibz have combined with the ‘Bumblebee’ character to the left and some classy bright writing from Dibs in the middle. To the right of the writing is a ‘metallic’ emblem, so beautifully crafted, with the letters THK fashioned into a robot mask. A very impressive piece by these three artists in a place that receives very little foot-fall, so seen by relatively few people.

6739. Dean Lane skate park (807)

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

I caught up with Fade a couple of days ago, and he observed that I hadn’t posted much of his and Dibz’ work lately, He was right, but fortunately this collaboration was already in my pipeline, and is a timely reminder of their fantastic work. I would add that they have had a generally quiet start to the year, but are picking up the pace a bit now.

Unlike most of their collaborations, the three elements are a little bit fragmented. The writing from Dibz and Fade is distinct and there is no general colour theme, and the tank is a little bit out of context. Fade has gone for some beautifully finished letters, in the corners of which are a bunch of explosions. The writing is set on a nighttime cloudy sky.

That brings me on to the tank, which I assume is a joint effort. I don’t quite know what the tank represents, but I guess you could take your pick – Gaza, Ukraine or even a metaphor for Trump’s wreckless and aggressive international policies. Maybe it is just a nice picture of a tank.

Dibz’ outstanding writing has a camouflage thing going on, but it is subtlely applied, and contrasts beautifully with the orange (but it looks like copper) 3D drop shadow. This wall has been a great place for Dibz and Fade to showcase their work, and recently, they have painted it again (keeping the tank intact) – to come soon.

6673. Brunel Way (308)

Fade, Stivs and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025

Towards the end of the year, the collaborations from Dibz and Fade plus guests, dropped off significantly, and I have a feeling that Fade told me he was making a trip to America in the winter, and perhaps that was the reason. I am sure that this is only a temporary blip and that this collaboration marks the first of many in 2025

This time, Dibz and Fade have teamed up with Stivs, who has provided the centrepiece for this collaboration. In this piece, there is a clear themed palette giving off a rusty red vibe, combined with a deep white drop shadow. Fade has written his FADER letters with accuracy, and the shadow fill is either thin or patterned, and I can’t quite decide which.

Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025

Stivs has provided the character interest in the centre with a magnificent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle portrait (he is going through a bit of a TMNT phase at the moment). The writing at the top says ‘Have a turtlee good 25’ giving away that this is a New Year collaboration piece.

Dibz rounds off the triptych with a reflection (in terms of colour and style) of Fade’s writing, and also has the same effect on the white drop shadow, which leads me to conclude that it is a deliberate, mottled pattern rather than thin paint, which makes sense really, because these masters of their craft would never be happy with substandard fills. A great way to begin the year.

	beth on So, farewell then
	hitandrun1964 on So, farewell then
	hitandrun1964 on 7516. Berwick Road
	Sheree on 7516. Berwick Road
	paulh121 on 7505. Brunel Way (350)

	beth on So, farewell then
	hitandrun1964 on So, farewell then
	hitandrun1964 on 7516. Berwick Road
	Sheree on 7516. Berwick Road
	paulh121 on 7505. Brunel Way (350)

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