Fade – Natural adventures

7106. Cumberland Basin

Fade, Jody, Dibz, Cheo and Acid Face with a Brace, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

In Bristol, we are really lucky and get to see a lot of collaborations and paint jams about the place, bringing together local artists who are often joined by visitors, invited or passing through. We get to see all sorts of different styles and levels, and then occasionally a top drawer special production like this one from Fade, Jody, Dibz, Cheo and Acid Face with a Brace.

Fade, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

Photographing this production in its entirety was something of a challenge due to its sheer length and some difficult light conditions, with so much open sky above the wall. To start us off on this wall we have a semi-submerged piece by Fade, with the water level cleverly portrayed using different shades of colour above and below the water line, a theme continued by each artist through the production. Some dramatic skies round off Fade’s section nicely.

Jody, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

Next up is a portrait piece by Jody featuring a warrior with a deep fur collar and long sword, so I am imagining a Viking theme going on, although I can’t help feeling that the hairdo doesn’t quite match the machismo of the character.

Dibz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

In the centre and holding the whole production together is a piece of typically brilliant writing from Dibz, again, with the water line running through it and incorporating a wonky long sword. The dramatic skies also continue through this story.

Cheo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

Cheo brings a whole different style to the piece, while faithfully following the Viking idea. His cartoon warrior, wading through the water, is festooned with long blonde hair tied up with red bands. His snarling face is made rather comical with the tilt of his helmet. Of course, a trademark bee, also with a helmet, is in attendance.

Acid Face with a Brace, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025

Rounding off the production is some more writing from Acid Face with a Brace, whose collaboration with Dibz and Fade in Dean Lane from earlier in the summer is still very much intact. The theme is beautifully embraced by Acid Face with a Brace, and he has included a wave breaking over his letters, mirroring the Fade piece at the other end. Awesomeness all round.

7062. Dean Lane skate park (852)

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2025

I was lucky enough to come across Dibz and Fade while they were painting this beautiful collaboration and was given a small insight into some of their colour choices over the last year. It turns out that they are only now finishing off the paint that they were given by Goldie for his wall of fame at Ikea last year. Amazing really that he gave them so much and that it has lasted this long.

This stacked collaboration required quite a lot of ladder work, and seeing the work in progress gives some sense of scale. Fade is working on his letters, bottom left and Dibz is up the latter. I guess I’ll have top forgive them for the brown background, which works well with the flame colours used in the letters, although an extra coat might have helped in one or two spots.

Overall, the twin collaboration is yet another demonstration of their extraordinary talent. I particularly like the green splats, giving the whole thing a bit of vibrancy and movement.

7054. Dean Lane skate park (851)

I can’t think how many times Dibz and Fade have teamed up in the last couple of years, but it must be into dozens, and this piece shows the true nature of total collaboration, where both artists created this incredible work together, and it isn’t possible to know who painted what. Lots of crew shout-outs are scattered around the outside of the piece in pink. Wildstyle writing at its best.

The piece spells out, rather appropriately, ‘Wild Style Addicts’ which probably sums up these two rather well. The gold and purple colours complement one another well, and it all looks very neat and tidy on the black wall.

7031. Dean Lane skate park (847)

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025

I think I was about five or six years old when I was given my first Asterix book. My mother was having her hair done and bought me ‘Asterix the Gaul’, to keep me occupied for the very boring two hour hair appointment. Not only did the distraction technique work, but it began a love affair I have had with these cartoon adventure books ever since. I still buy (in hardback) every new edition that is published, even though both the original author and illustrator (Goscinny and Uderzo) have now died. Imagine my excitement when I came across Dibz and Fade while they were painting this epic piece in Dean Lane.

I can’t really add much commentary about the artists that is new, and I have run out of superlatives to describe their work. The writing on the left, by Dibz is about as tight and sharp as you can get with wildstyle graffiti writing. The orange letters with a deep 3D drop shadow, which has a metallic sheen to it, spell DIBZ.

To the right hand side of the collaboration, Fade has adopted the colour selection for his piece, but, although subtle, his letters and style are a tad softer than Dibz’. A notable change in this collaboration is that the artists have swapped sides from their usual preference, which must feel a little bit like sleeping on the wrong side of bed. Maybe?

The centrepiece of this production is a near-perfect rendition of the druid Getafix, who makes the secret magic potion that gives our protagonists, Asterix and Obelix, their strength. The artists have been so true to the original artwork, Uderzo himself would have been impressed. This really is a remarkable collaboration and shows off Dibz and Fade at their very best. I’ll forgive them for the ‘Geta-graf-fix pun.

6975. Dean Lane skate park (840)

Fade, Acid Face with a Brace and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

One of the best pieces of the year so far (in my view), this is an outstanding production triptych by Fade, Acid Face with a Brace and Dibz. What is difficult to convey is the scale of the collaboration, because not only is it wide, but it is also tall as well.

There is so much happening here, and it starts off with a superb piece of writing from Fade. The letters are complex and multilayered, with great fills, deep 3D drop shadows that appear to be translucent and some ‘tape’ wrapped around the ends of the word. The purple bubbly background is present through the whole piece.

Acid Face with a Brace, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

Arguably the most eye-catching part of this collaboration is the central character by Acid Face with a Brace, a writer from Birmingham. The scary, hooded mummy-type character is superbly painted, with tons of movement, and brilliant folds in the fabric and bandages. The blue face and big red eyes are superbly crafted. This is simply awesome.

Rounding off the collaboration is a mirroring of Fade’s writing to a large extent, but with enough signature elements to be different and ‘Dibzy’ enough. The way these three have combined their talents to create this amazing production is a testament to their individual and combined skills. A little bird tells me that wall may get a facelift while retaining the character – you heard it here first.

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.

6922. Dean Lane skate park (831)

There are a couple of things that are slightly unusual about this piece by Fade. The first is that it is a solo piece and not a collaboration with Dibz and second, it has unfamiliar letters, as it is a tribute to ‘the Mrs’ to use Fade’s words, although I can’t remember her name, and I am struggling to decipher the letters.

The graffiti writing is flawless, as you would expect, and stands out on the large wall with a black background. There is a little too much brown for my own personal taste, but I have spoken enough about that in recent posts. Really stand out work from Fade

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.

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	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
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