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.
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.
Dibz, Shade One and Rusk, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2023
This is one of the last pieces I photographed in 2023, and what a belter of a collaboration it is, bringing together the outstanding skills of Dibz, Shade One and Rusk. As always, the light under Brunel Way rarely allows photographs to do the street/grafitti art pieces justice, but I think that it is possible to see what a classy collaboration this one is.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2023
On the left is some superb writing from Dibz, which is a tribute piece to a supporter of his work, ‘Marie’. What this piece of graffiti writing shows is that you can give Dibz any number or combination of letters, and he will be able to create something beautiful with them. The pink and black drop shadow against the gold letters works so very well.
Shade One, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2023
Shade One’s work is really something special, and this portrait piece of a young person wearing a hoodie and baseball cap set against the moon and silhouetted buildings, is exceptional. The portrait is painted in greyscale, and although there is a lack of colour, it doesn’t matter one jot, because the shade and shadows provide perfect depth and texture. A very fine piece indeed.
Rusk, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2023
On the right, Rusk, who is often found painting alongside Shade One, has created some gorgeous letters spelling RUSK, reflecting the gold and pink colours seen in Dibz’ piece. By using two tones of gold (bronze/brown) transitioning horizontally through the letters, it gives the illusion that the letters are a solid bar being tilted and catching the light in different ways. A tight and classy piece and collaboration.
Dibz and Jody, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
There is just enough time to squeeze one more utterly awesome piece from Dibz and Jody before the year is out. Although not overtly Christmassy, this piece does have a sense of celebration and festival about it.
Dibz and Jody, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
The wildstyle writing is from Dibz, and has a camouflage influenced design, offset perfectly with dark purple drop shadows. The letters, which of course are perfectly sharp and well finished, create a wonderful frame for the central portrait by Jody.
Jody, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
Jody has actually painted a lot on the streets this year, which has been a huge bonus, and he has definitely saved one of his best for this end-of-year collaboration. There is a sadness and calm in the portrait, and it feels religious or spiritual in nature. Simply stunning.
Dibz, Fade and Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Good morning and happy Christmas Eve. A busy day for most, I expect, and definitely for me. One of my tasks today is to make a ‘Sussex Pond’ pudding, which is our alternative to Christmas pudding, which the kids and I don’t much care for. I’ll keep this short.
Dibz, Fade and Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Wonderful work from Dibz, Fade and Jody, who have teamed up several times this year to produce some outstanding collaborations. This is a true collaboration where all the contributions are in the one piece. Jody painted the wolf, and Dibz the letters, so I expect that Fade painted the wonderful background.
Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Jody steals thee show a little with his magnificent wolf portrait in the centre of the piece. It is so good to see so many street pieces from him this year, and I hope he continues into next year.
Dibz and Fade have been a tour de force this year and I have featured a lot of their work on Natural Adventures along the way. I think that this collaborative piece might be the last this side of Christmas, and it is yet another cracker from the duo, a Christmas cracker if you like.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Adopting their usual format for long walls of a piece of graffiti writing from each artist, positioned either side of a central feature piece by either of them or a ‘guest’ artist like Jody or Sikoh. To the left, Fade has written a lovely sharp FADER FUA in pink and green letters, either side of which are cartoon characters, although I have utterly failed to identify what film/series they come from.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
On the right, Dibz has written his name in glorious gold with a sumptuous purple drop shadow and pink border, all as crisp as you’d expect from him. The character in this piece is, I think, Count Duckula, and some green gloop oozes from the piece in an evil way on the sides.
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
The feature in the middle portrays a full moon with the letters FUA KREW, which is their From Up Above crew name. I don’t know which artist painted the letters, but they are 100 percent on point, in quite a challenging arrangement. Some great work from two of the tidiest artists around.
This year has seen the emergence of a powerhouse of collaborative graffiti writing and scenes from Dibz and Fade putting together some epic walls. Their drive and commitment has been unrelenting, and 2023 has been a special year in Bristol because of it. In this collaboration, they have been joined by Sikoh.
Dibz and Sikoh, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
This watery piece is yet another perfect example of their collaborative style. Dibz’ letters are submerged under the waves, with just a little bit of pink breaking the surface, which is really cleverly done. there is a strong sense of swell and movement from the waves.
Sikoh, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
In the centre is a character, which according to Sikoh’s Instagram is a water bear pig, whatever one of those is. Naturally, the water creature is holding a spray can which is squirting bubbles. The bubbles are exquisitely painted. This is something of a rare appearance by Sikoh, whose work is always superb.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Rounding off the triptych is some great writing from Fade, which, like Dibz’, is largely submerged, with a little bit of pink breaking the surface. Fade has incorporated lots of arrows, perhaps indicating the fluidity of the underwater scene. A fine collaboration.
Dibz, Fade and Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
Here we have yet another classy collaboration between Dibz and Fade only this time they are joined by Smak in this Halloween extravaganza. The wall, as I have mentioned several times in the past, might be great fun to paint, especially if it is raining a little, but it is a devil to take decent photographs of unless the light conditions are perfect.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
On the left, Dibz has painted a creepy ‘zombie’ hand clutching at a spray can, putting a finishing touch on the writing to the right of it. The letters are beautifully worked, and Dibz has adopted the traditional colours of Halloween pieces, namely, Orange, purple and black.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
In the middle section, Fade has kept things simple with sticking to writing only with what looks like FADER, but could be something else altogether. All is neat and tidy with the piece as we’ve come to expect.
Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
On the right-hand side, Smak has joined in with the festive fun with some very fancy letters and a skull character peering over the K to the right. The backdrop to the whole thing is a wonderful spooky silhouette of dead trees and towers, finished off with some autumn leaves sweeping across the entire length f the wall. A classy collaboration from three fabulous writers.
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
This is a rather interesting collaboration in Dean Lane, in which Fade and Dibz have done their thing, but have been joined by Awkward, whose big-eyed character faces are in stark contrast to Dibz and Fade’s sharp graffiti writing.
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Dibz has written DIBZ and has a downwards and left facing drop shadow. Fade has written FADE and his writing has a drop shadow that goes up and to the right, which creates some imbalance in the piece (to my mind). Add to that the crazy character by Awkward and you have a collaboration made up of three great individual pieces, but the golden thread or flow is a little absent. Having made that observation, I still very much like the three core elements on this wall.
I am in a conference all day today, so I wrote this one last night, not that it makes any difference to anything at all. As reported several times before on Natural Adventures, Dibz and Fade have been unstoppable this year, painting some incredible pieces week in, week out. This beauty was on the long wall under Brunel Way.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
As with many of their recent collaborations, it can be difficult to know where the individual work ends and the combined work begins, but broadly speaking the writing on the left is by Fade, and under his tight writing he has the words ‘From up above’.
Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
The central character looks like something out of a Marvel or DC comic, but I am not sure that I can spend hours trying to find out who, although a quick Google search has led me to the door of Dark Phoenix from X-Men. Beautifully painted… these guys really are good. The banner spells out Tru Headz Kru (THK), which I assume is the two collaborating artists.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
To the right, Dibz gives us another of his flawless pieces of graffiti writing, looking stunning in shades of green with a purple drop shadow. I can see several possible words in the letters, but most likely is DIBZ, although I can also see DARK, which would cross-reference nicely with the character. Still more to post from these two!
