Hot on the heals (pun intended) of yesterday’s post featuring a flame piece by Dibz is this outstanding burner from Fade which was painted adjacent to Dibz’. I wasn’t able to get both pieces in one shot so have presented them separately.
Fade, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
I think that both artists were on absolute top form on the day they painted these pieces, because they are pretty much flawless, and they may have taken their work to another level, if that is even a thing. Fade’s pieces tend to be slightly less busy than his friend’s and sometimes a little easier on the eye. This piece is tight as tight can be and the transitions of fill are to die for. The dog (who Fade is particularly fond of) says hello.
Keeping up with Dibz and Fade can be a difficult thing to do… they are a combined force of nature with an energy and enthusiasm for graffiti writing that is unsurpassed in Bristol. This piece, entitled ‘Explosive material’ kind of does what it says on the tin, and contains writing from both artists amidst an explosion.
Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Dibz on top in blue and Fade below in red complement one another perfectly with their styles, and the fills are nothing short of miraculous, incorporating the clouds of the explosion behind. This is a well-worked graffiti writing piece from two artists who keep raising their level notch by notch.
For good measure, they both left behind quick throw ups painted at the same time as this piece:
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Fade, Pekoe and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Every once in a while I go back a month or two into my archives looking for pieces that get missed or overlooked but that deserve to be published on Natural Adventures. How I let this one pass me by I’ll never know, but it is a wonderful collaboration between Fade, Pekoe and Dibz.
Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Fade and Dibz paint this wall a lot, and I mean a lot, so it is really nice to see them hook up with Pekoe to collaborate with them. There is a strong spider theme coming across in the collaboration, and Fade’s letters have webs suspended from them and forming part of the fill. The dark letters are topped with a nice red colour for variation, and he has painted a tidy 3D drop shadow. Nice stuff from Fade.
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Pekoe has painted a small portrait centrepiece between the two writers, of a woman with a red face and spider hair theme going on. I don’t know if this is a fictional Pekoe character or whether is is meant to be some kind of spider woman character, but it is nice and tight and beautifully presented (a rose between two thorns?)
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
The Tryptich is completed with a fine example of wildstyle writing from Dibz, whose letter fills, decorations and colours reflect Fade’s on the other side. I would have liked to have known more about the spider theme, but my curiosity will have to remain unresolved until I next meet one of the artists. A nicely finished themed collaboration.
Dibz, Jody, Urge, The Art of Sok and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
This is another stunning production piece, led and bookended by Dibz and Fade, incorporating work from Jody, Urge and The Art of Sok. The themed colours of orange and light blues works exceptionally well in this spot that can have a tendency to be a bit gloomy.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Starting with Dibz on the left (and rather annoyingly, capturing that shaft of light which makes an appearance in the afternoons), the collaboration gets off to a great start, with as sharp and tidy wildstyle graffiti writing as you would expect from Dibz.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
With five artists in the line-up, and three of them writers, the character pieces appear in the second and fourth slots. This astonishing Godzilla piece is by Jody, who has been on fire since joining up with Dibz and Fade over the last year or so (although, to be fair, he is always on fire, but perhaps more so recently).
Urge, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Next up is a piece by Urge, who I know nothing about, but whose writing looks completely at home with the Bristol artists. I guess that Urge was visiting, or passing by, and got invited to join in. I love it that Bristol artists are so welcoming of others from around the country.
The Art of Sok, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
The fourth slot is taken up by the Art of Sok, whose distinctive style of cartoon characters, while so utterly different from the other four pieces, somehow manages to complement them very well. His characters are always beautifully presented in as close to a perfect state as they could be.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Things are rounded off by Fade, who along with Dibz ‘owns’ this manor. His beautiful letters, immaculately filled with two shades of blue and bordered with an orange 3D drop shadow, reflect the writing that comes before it. This is a very classy production piece from these five artists. Bravo!
Goldie, Fade, Acer One, Jody and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
All year long, Dibz and Fade have been decorating this wall with alarming regularity, and they have been joined along the way in their endeavours by Andy Council, Jody and Acer One (amongst others) and this time are joined by Goldie, Acer One and Jody. A production tribute wall to honour the musician and DJ, Randall.
Goldie, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The whole production is very nicely balanced which given the configuration, which starts with a Goldie piece that embroiders the words ‘The R’. This is a really nice dedication and beautifully painted. The colour selection is reflected in the rest of the collaboration. It is always great to see Goldie visiting Bristol for a bit of a paint.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
Fade is next up and he has compressed his piece to accommodate Goldie next to him and support the balance I was talking about earlier. With the orange and turquoise letters, Fade has written the letters ‘DJ’ which are as immaculate as you might expect. Both sets of writing are adorned with flames, which extend for the entire collaboration.
Acer One and Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The centrepiece is a shared space with Acer One lettering across the top of an outstanding Jody portrait of DJ Randall. Acer One has written ‘Too hot to handle’ which I am guessing is part of a slogan rhyming with DJ Randall. Not being a music specialist myself, I am unable to shed too much light on the artist or his work.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The Portrait is a faithful and beautifully painted, and certainly a fitting tribute.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2024
The production rounds-off on the right with a wide piece of wildstyle graffiti writing from Dibz. The Turquoise and orange letters spell Randall, so the whole production spells out:
“The R, Too hot to handle, DJ Randall”.
Wonderful stuff from this quintet of talented artists.
You might have seen several references in the past to World Wall Stylers, and wondered what it is all about. Essentially, it is a global street art collaboration event, organised through Instagram, setting a theme which artists can adopt, paint and photograph, tagging @worldwallstylers in their own Instagram feeds. It is a way of showing off your style to a large urban art community and observing other artist’s impressions on the same theme. This month is chapter 16 of World Wall Stylers and the theme is the film ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’.
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Fade and Dibz have collaborated in this Roger Rabbit piece in what I would call a fusion collaboration where both artists will have contributed to all parts of the piece, in spite of the letters spelling out FADE. The character in this piece was called Smart Guy, one of five weasel characters belonging to the Toon Patrol. Brilliant work from the pair and a prompt to dig out the movie and re-watch it sometime.
Fade and Dibz need no introduction here given that I have posted dozens of their collaborations already on Natural Adventures this year. Their productivity is admirable and the quality of their work, awesome.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
This collaboration centres on the theme of 1980s arcade game Pac-Man, but adopts a modern version of the little yellow character. The yellow dots in the maze are reproduced, although I am a little surprised not to see the incorporation of the four ghosts. Fade has split his letters into two colour assemblages, perhaps adding a little variety.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Dibz has also incorporated the maze element as his background and cleverly incorporated an ‘on-brand’ Pac-Man FUA (From up above). The transition of colour fill in Dibz’ letters is outstanding, and the fine yellow highlights help the letters to pop. Magnificent work from the duo.
I am currently enjoying a few days in Copenhagen with my mother, to celebrate, belatedly, my 60th birthday. This means that the next few posts are a little hurried, and not very in depth, distractions being what they are.
Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
This is a gorgeous and beautifully integrated collaboration from Fade and Pekoe. There is a synergy in this that works incredibly well with both artists adding to the others’ work, where the total is greater than the sum of the parts. The letters are magnificently painted by Fade, and the ‘A’ replaced with a trademark portrait from Pekoe. There is so much to love about this striking piece, especially the rich colour palette.
Awkward, Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
The FUA (From Up Above) boys are at it again, although this time they are joined by Awkward, and have opted for a smaller wall for this collaboration. In this piece we see our two main protagonists getting closer and closer to fusion in their work.
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Fade on the left and Dibz on the right have opted to use the same colours, 3D drop shadow, decorations and background, and it is only their stylistic differences that separate them. Dibz’ work tends to be a little bit more angular than the smoother edges of Fade. The colour transitions in the fills are excellent in both halves.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
The central piece is book-ended by two characters by Awkward, who has painted with Dibz and Fade in Dean Lane not all that long ago. Messages contained in the speech bubbles are ‘roll the dice’, ‘Awkward’ and ‘Stop the war’. The characters look typically alarmed/animated with their exaggerated eyes and wobbly outlines. A rather nice collaboration from the three artists.
Dibz, Jody and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
If ever you want an example of the perfect triptych graffiti writing/character portrait piece then look no further than this magnificent piece by Dibz, Jody and Fade underneath Brunel Way bridge. As always, these three have smashed it, and I just don’t know how many more ceilings they can break with their work.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
To the left, Dibz’ writing in black and pink is reflected on the right-hand side by Fade, where their writing is almost becoming indistinguishable except to the most experienced eyes. The key difference is that Fade’s letters tend to be ever so slightly softer than Dibz’. Both have created something special and finished it off with a splash of ‘liquid’ gold running behind the collaboration.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Sitting pretty between the graffiti writing is this outstanding skull painted by Jody. One of the great benefits of Jody joining these writers over the last couple of years is that we get to see so much more of his work on the streets, which I dare say we wouldn’t see so much if he was painting alone. When I see Jody’s work, I am still baffled how he manages to get such extraordinary detail and texture using a spray can. A trio at the top of their game.