6904. Dean Lane skate park (828)

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

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

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.

Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

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, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

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
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.

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
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
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.

6834. Dean Lane skate park

Fade, Jody and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
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
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
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
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.

6819. Brunel Way (312)

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

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025

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
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
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
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
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.

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

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.

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

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, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

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
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

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

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.

6534. Ikea Wall of Fame (1)

Zaki Dee, Nicer, Fade and BG183, Ikea wall of fame, Bristol, October 2024
Zaki Dee, Nicer, Fade and BG183, Ikea wall of fame, Bristol, October 2024

Something big happened in Bristol over 17-20 October in the Ikea car park, just off junction 2 of the M32. Goldie, a British music producer and DJ who is also an accomplished graffiti writer and whose work has appeared in Natural Adventures several times, organised an international paint jam to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his record label Metalheadz. In doing so, he invited artists from the New York-based Tats Cru to join a selection of Bristol artists, and some others from the UK and beyond.

The challenge was to paint a themed collaboration – the yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz (more on this another time) on this enormous wall. In doing so a new wall of fame was created, and one which I hope will host further such productions. This is the first in a series of photographs from the wall, starting at the left-hand end.

Zaki Dee, Nicer, Fade and BG183, Ikea wall of fame, Bristol, October 2024
Zaki Dee, Nicer, Fade and BG183, Ikea wall of fame, Bristol, October 2024

In this first section, The writing is from Fade, who is no stranger to Natural Adventures, and he is accompanied by the rather gory witch character by Nicer, some floral decoration, running through the entire production, by Zaki Dee and a section of New York skyline by BG183.

I will be posting more from this incredible paint jam in due course, and hope to provide some sense of scale of the production.

6524. Brunel Way (301)

Fade (Jody and Acer One)) and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024
Fade (Jody and Acer One)) and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024

This is a wonderful production wrap-around Halloween piece from Dibz and Fade. In fact this is the second time that the pair have bookended their former tribute collaboration with Jody and Acer One, to musician and DJ Randall. The central portrait by Jody and letters from Acer One have remained intact each time.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024
Fade and Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024

To the left Fade has painted a wonderful combination piece, along with Jody, with the letters FDE either side of a creepy pumpkin character. The purple, black and green colours together with the pumpkin orange are commonly used in Halloween pieces.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024

The pumpkin is super-fierce and beautifully painted by Jody (thank you Paul H for your unflinching reminders that I completely missed this) with the light overflowing from the lantern and spilling onto the floor and spelling out the crew letters THK. Clever stuff.

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024

To the right, Dibz has similarly created a combination piece, but his character is a cartoon-style Grim Reaper, altogether less threatening than his pumpkin partner. The letters offer up wildstyle writing at its best, and contrasts somewhat with the comic character, but as ever, Dibz gets the two to work well together.

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2024

Overall a superb seasonal augmentation of an existing collaboration.