Haka – Natural adventures

7319. Brunel Way (341)

Haka, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2025

Hurrah! I have waited a long while for Haka to continue his series of Children’s picture book pieces, and here, underneath the busy Brunel Way flyover, is a superb piece from the Janet and Allen Ahlberg book series ‘Funnybones’. This is not the first Funnybones piece that Haka has painted, and I genuinely hope it isn’t the last.

What I like about these pieces by Haka is the way he remains loyal to the original artwork while having just a hint of his own style in there. The ‘forever’ shout-out to CK1 and to Jesse and Remy negates the need for a signature, but he has signed the piece nonetheless. Great work from Haka.

Haka, Spark Evans Park, Bristol, February 2022

Haka, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2022

6932. Greenbank (158)

Normally, when Haka paints one of his graffiti writing/character combination pieces, I recognise the character from a children’s picture book. This time Haka has stumped me – I am not familiar with any books containing a lizard, and can’t tell you too much more about it.

Some classic HAKA letters sandwich the lizard, although I note that only the right-hand side has been decorated with stars. I wonder if that is an omission, or whether it is the lizard that has emitted the stars from its claw. The lovely piece was difficult to photograph on such a sunny afternoon, something that has been a constant problem during our glorious spring.

6849. Greenway Bush Lane (9)

Haka, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, March 2025

This is simply brilliant. There really isn’t much more I can say about it. Haka has painted a superb rendition of Dr Seuss’ ‘Cat in the Hat’, driving a crazy vehicle with four ‘arms’ holding up each of the letters H A K A.

Haka has been incredibly faithful to the original artwork by Dr Seuss and captures everything that is so compelling about our childhood, it is a piece full of nostalgia for me and for many others I would expect. Haka’s series of children’s book characters continues to delight and upscale these wonderful images for all to enjoy. Bravo!

6730. St Werburghs tunnel (474)

Haka, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

So many of the combination pieces painted in Bristol leave me wondering who the painted character might be portraying (there are often modern cultural references to cartoon productions of the 1970s to now), but every once in a while the character is one I am familiar with, and this is one of those moments. The character in this Haka piece is Percival Proudfoot Plugsley or Plug member of the Bash Street Kids from the children’s comic Beano.

Indeed, this is not the first time Haka has incorporated Plug into one of his pieces and other members of the comic strip. The letters are classic Haka letters, nicely overlapping and filled with two colour shades and some yellow decorations. Some nice shout-outs too, including the ever-present tribute to CK1.

6679. Brunel Way (309)

One of the favourite books of my youth was Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs, an illustrator and author who wrote some of the finest and most touching comic strip books of the time. Fungus the Bogeyman spanned the generations very cleverly, and is full of witty puns and literary references. On starting this post, I have been searching for my copy of the book, but seem to recall I leant it to a cousin years ago. I might just have to buy myself a new copy.

Haka has captured the essence of Fungus the Bogeyman perfectly in this piece, and the spot itself is exactly the kind of place that you’d imagine the character to lurk on a damp, foggy night. As with all of his pieces featuring children’s characters, Haka has remained incredibly faithful to the original illustrations. My favourite piece of the year so far.

6637. Sussex Street

Haka, Sussex Street, Bristol, December 2024

I rather like my occasional trips to the recycling centre. My most recent, last week, consisting mostly of cardboard boxes, afforded me the opportunity to visit a few spots that I don’t get to see all that often, and I was chuffed to find a clutch of pieces in Sussex Street that I hadn’t been aware of, including this piece by Haka, which looks like it was painted in October 2024.

This is a classic Haka combination piece, with his letters split either side of a character. You’ll have to forgive me for not knowing who the character is, but now that my kids are grown up I have lost touch a little with youth culture. The whole piece hangs together really well, and the writing has a lovely 3d drop shadow drifting to the right. A lively piece that probably looks a lot livelier on a sunny day.

6630. Dean Lane skate park (793)

This looks like it might be my last street art post of 2024, a year in which I have published 897 street/graffiti posts and 22 artist galleries, not a bad haul really, and there have been some corkers in amongst that lot. I tend not to do annual reviews or ‘top tens’, but I am sorely tempted to do so this year. Time, of course, is my enemy (and my friend).

It somehow feels good to round off the year with a piece by Haka, a true Bristol combination graffiti writer/character illustrator, who has been presenting children’s picture book and cartoon characters for a long while. In this piece he has painted one of my favourite walls with his characteristic writing and included a faithfully recreated BFG – Big Friendly Giant by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Be safe seeing the old year out and New Year in.

6484. M32 roundabout J2 (6)

Haka, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, October 2024

Very rarely, I venture into the tunnels and north under the M32 at the Junction 2 roundabout, and am always rewarded with one or two gems that lurk there. I have to say that I am surprised that this area isn’t a much more popular spot for street artists, as there is plenty of wall space and dozens of columns. This piece from Haka might have been here for some time, but I am posting it because I rather like it.

The writing/character combination piece features the rather sweet Monster Munch Pickled Onion flavour monster, who bears more than a passing resemblance to the Sugar Puffs Honey Monster – perhaps they are cousins. Perhaps Haka was inspired by the snack when he painted this piece, as it is a slight deviation from his picture book characters. Great stuff, and I am pleased I took this little diversion from my usual rounds.

6455. Cumberland Basin

Haka, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

My first thought when I saw this piece was ‘who the hell is Remy’ this was not an artist I was familiar with, but very quickly the style, signature and characters leapt out making it blindingly obvious that it is by Haka. I am not sure who Remy is, but this is a rather lovely tribute to them.

Haka paints an awful lot of characters from children’s picture books and I suspect the characters here are more of the same, but I can’t identify them. The fills and patterns in the letters are rather more elaborate and tidy than I would expect from a Haka piece, and they look really fantastic. This is a lovely piece, full of fun and joy.

6187. Brunel Way (277)

This is not the first time that Haka has painted characters from the series of extraordinary children’s picture books by Richard Scarry, and I can’t express how happy I was to see this. Haka has faithfully reproduced this little pastiche featuring Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm.

Haka has captured Richard Scarry’s style really well and brightened up this dark corner of Brunel Way. These books have played an important part in my childhood, and one of the books which I owned made it onto a TV commercial I was in with my sister back in the 1970s… but that is another story.

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
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	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
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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…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

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