Fade – Page 5 – Natural adventures

5999. Dean Lane skate park (712)

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024

The machine that is Dibz and Fade continues to produce outstanding collaborations, and this one in Dean Lane is a cracker. The Dark Knight is a popular icon for street artists, and Dibz and Fade have gone with the darker variant of the caped crusader, unlike the comedic, lighter cartoonish options they might have gone with

When I asked Fade how I should attribute the artwork in their pieces, he suggested that where the lines become blurred, just label them Dibz and Fade. The writing is attributable, with Fade on the left and Dibz on the right, but the rest of the work is collaborative. A well-thought-out piece, tidily presented – what else would you expect?

5909. Brunel Way (264)

Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024

I am so far behind with my posts that since this piece by Dibz and Fade was painted, the left hand side has gone, and the right hand side augmented. The more these two work together, the more difficult it becomes to determine who has painted what, and I was lucky enough to meet them yesterday and Fade said that the both contribute to both bits of their work, and that it might be easier to attribute the pieces to both of them, rather than trying to isolate one artist from the other.

Having said all of that, on the left, the writing is the work of Fade, containing plenty of spots from the cheetah. Some great letter shapes and the crossover fade from orange to black is expertly handled.

On the right the letters spell out Dibz, and the character, which I have only just realised as I write this, is the cheetah from the Cheetos snacks brand, hence the words “it’s not easy… being cheesy”. The cheetah and the writing have been incorporated into a full wall Alice in Wonderland piece from the pair, which I hope to be able to stitch together from several visits. There is no stopping this Dibz/Fade juggernaut.

5905. Dean Lane skate park (700)

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

Collaborations from Fade and Dibz are becoming part of the furniture these days, and it would be easy to slip into complacency or to take their work for granted. What I have to remember is that we are very lucky in Bristol to have two artists of this calibre at the top of their game and painting on at least a weekly basis.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to determine who paints which bits of their collaborations these days, but my guess is that Dibz painted the letters FADE and Fade painted the character piece. It appears that the pair are on a bit of a Dragon Ball frenzy at the moment, as this is the second recent character from the cartoon series to appear in Dean Lane. This time it is the turn of Majin Buu.

The work of Dibz and Fade is pretty much always tight, and rarely, if ever, do they turn out anything that looks scruffy or rushed. This is what they do and they look like they are absolutely loving doing it. The benefactors of their labours are those that seek out and find their work.

5893. Dean Lane skate park (698)

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

Probably the most notable ‘high-end’ collaboration partnership of the last twelve months has been that between Fade and Dibz. Shortly after Fade’s return to the UK, he teamed up with Dibz and they haven’t looked back since, turning out outstanding collaborative pieces on an almost weekly basis. For sure, the increased output from Dibz has been incredible, as he had slowed down a bit during the Covid years.

On the left Fade has written FADE in fairly soft lilacs with turquoise borders but surrounded them with vibrant bright oranges and yellows, providing contrast and interest. To the right is a character, Son Goku, from the TV series Dragon Ball – I never saw it, perhaps because I was too old, and didn’t have kids (1989-1996). I don’t know who painted the character… it may have been a joint effort.

To the right Dibz has adopted a similar colour scheme, although applied in a different way. Such perfect writing, wonderfully tight as you’d expect. These two continue to smash it with every piece they paint, and it doesn’t look like they will be slowing down any time soon.

5872. Dean Lane skate park (694)

Pekoe and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

It is not often that you find a Fade/Pekoe collaboration, but I have been photographing street art and graffiti writing for long enough to know that you should always expect the unexpected. I wonder whether this was a planned thing or whether they found themselves at the same place at the same time and decided to paint together. I guess I’ll only ever know if I ask them.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

Pekoe has smashed it again with this wonderful portrait piece, and there is something about the presentation of her work these days that makes me think she is in a good place emotionally and that it is surfacing in her paintings. The subject has wonderful full lips, dark eyes, hoop earrings and an absence of tears. The decorative shapes help to break the piece up a little and add to it significantly.

You simply can’t hold Fade back at the moment – not that you’d want to – and his enthusiasm for painting walls is not only expressed in the quantity of the pieces he paints, but also in the incredibly sharp quality of his work. The letters here are very crisp, the transitions of the fills are exceptional and the 3D drop shadow nicely uniform. Fade comes across as a bit of a perfectionist, which is probably why he enjoys painting with Dibz so much. This is a very nice collaborative wall.

5868. Dean Lane skate park (693)

It is rare to find a Fade piece these days that is not immediately associated with a piece by Dibz and at times his work can be eclipsed by the overall collaborations they create, so it is great to see a fabulous standalone piece of graffiti writing from Fade, and this is a beauty.

Painted in greyscale on a black background, the impact of the letters has to be really strong, and it is. Spelling out FADE in letters that pop out from the wall, especially along the bottom edge. A nice touch is the little black ‘ink’ trail all around the outside of the piece. All in all, a fabulous and rather special piece of graffiti writing.

5718. Dean Lane skate park (671)

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.

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 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.

5706. Dean Lane skate park (670)

Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

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.

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.

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.

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.

5697. Dean Lane skate park (668)

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

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.

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.

5680. Brunel Way (248)

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.

	slfinnell on Thursday Doors – 30 July…
	Laura Newhampshire on 7817. Temple Way (6)
	paulh121 on 7805. Goodneston Road (3)
	hitandrun1964 on 7815. St Werburghs tunnel…
	equinoxio21 on 7804. Jamaica Street (33)

	slfinnell on Thursday Doors – 30 July…
	Laura Newhampshire on 7817. Temple Way (6)
	paulh121 on 7805. Goodneston Road (3)
	hitandrun1964 on 7815. St Werburghs tunnel…
	equinoxio21 on 7804. Jamaica Street (33)

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