Inkie – Natural adventures

7214. M32 roundabout J3 (719)

Inkie and Mr Riks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025

I am a little weary. It is late, last night, and I have been fishing all afternoon, with some success. I will be fishing again tomorrow which means that I have had to write this post in advance. I was lucky enough to catch Inkie and Mr Riks as they were putting the finishing touches to this collaboration.

Inkie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025

Inkie has painted some classic letters in gold which pop out from the wall with the help of a deep 3D drop shadow. The colours work perfectly and the whole piece shows off the incredible skill of an artist at the top of his game.

Mr Riks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025

Alongside is a superb piece by Mr Riks which contains letters spelling RIKS, which diminish in size from left to right. The writing is probably best viewed from the right, bringing the letter sizes into some king of regularity. Using the same letter colours as Inkie, Mr Riks’ piece also stands out from the crowd. A wonderful collaboration from two awesome artists.

7113. St Werburghs Tunnel (523)

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025

Inkie is back in town and has been painting a little. This is a rather nice little piece of classic Art Nouveau/funky graffiti writing, and what makes it a little unusual is that he appears to have painted it alone.

when you see a quick piece like this, you know just by looking at it that you are in safe hands and looking at the work of a master craftsman. The red fills of the letters are brought to life with the application of a thin white border. Classy.

6698. Dean Lane skate park (802)

One of the best Christmas presents I received this year was a signed Inkie print from my wife, who managed to get down to the ‘Pipe and Slippers’ pub, while I was away, and catch up with the artist and some mutual friends. I don’t think that my wife made the link back to me, which is a pity because it all might have made a little more sense to him at the time. The print is a good one, and awaiting framing, along with dozens of other pieces of artwork I have accumulated.

This lovely piece by Inkie is a tribute to an old friend of his Paul ‘Peewee’ Miller, who’d recently died. Inkie mentions on his Instagram that he painted this exact wall, presumably with Peewee, 36 years ago. That is going some.

6332. Cumberland Basin

Ryder and Inkie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

I am rather tired this morning. I got back late last night from Copenhagen, after a wonderful long weekend there with my 89 year old mother. We packed a lot in to the three full days, and I am still processing much of the trip. I have managed to keep my posts going on Natural Adventures through this period, but might need to slow down a little as I ease myself back into work after two weeks off.

This wonderful collaboration between Ryder and Inkie was actually painted way back in May and for some inexplicable reason never got posted at the time… it happens.

Ryder, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

To the left, and slightly impacted by the shadow cast across the top, is some superb writing by Ryder, which is accompanied by Evil Edna, the television character from the cartoon series Willo the Wisp. There are some great fill colours, oozing confidence, without overcomplicating things. Great to see Ryder managing to paint a little.

Inkie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Inkie is arguably the best know Bristol artist still regularly painting in the city, and this is a sumptuous example of his stylised lettering. The piece is pretty much perfect in every way and like Ryder’s piece is confident and uncomplicated. Both are writers at the top of their games, with nothing to prove, and it comes across in their work.

6281. Leicester

Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024

It is always great to see work by Inkie, but especially so when outside Bristol, it feels like a home from home. This is an outstanding piece of writing with some flat pink, stylised portraits and silhouetted urban landscape in the background.

The letters BTP, which form a kind of print backdrop, stand for Bring the Paint, a street art festival hosted in Leicester every now and again. This piece was painted by Inkie for this year’s festival, and accompanies others that he has painted in previous festivals here. This a really nice, tight graffiti writing, and a superb example of Inkie’s work.

6191. Upfest 2024 (36)

Inkie, Upfest 2024, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2024

Inkie is probably Bristol’s best known street artist, alongside Banksy (of course) and Nick Walker, and unlike the others, he still regularly paints in Bristol. It is pretty much a given that Inkie will be invited to Upfest to paint a significant wall, and for at least the second time he has painted the side of Parson’s Bakery on North Street.

‘Use your loaf” is the slogan Inkie has chosen for this classic piece with his very special writing and stylised portrait of a girl with long flowing hair. I don’t know if the colloquialism is one known outside the UK, but in this instance ‘loaf’ means brain or head… a bit like the phrase ‘use your noodle’… same thing. A clever slogan for a bakery. Wonderful stuff from Inkie.

Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, July 2019

Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, June 2016

6098. Leicester

These pieces bring together the familiar with the unfamiliar. Finding Inkie pieces in other towns and cities is always hugely rewarding, and gives me a sense of Bristol pride. To find two pieces in a city that I have never visited in my life before was definitely a bonus. I’m not too sure when these pieces were painted, and not to sure whether they survived the ‘Bring the Paint’ festival which was starting (coincidentally) on the morning I was out taking these photographs.

The two pieces showcase Inkie’s portfolio really well, containing his stylised Art Nouveau portraits and in the second piece combined with a classic piece of Inkie writing. Always good to see, and Inkie wasn’t the only Bristol artist to have painted in the city where I spotted artwork by Mr Penfold, Lewse, Skank and others… making me feel very much at home. I might have to pay another visit sometime.

6024. Anchor Road (5)

This container, behind the Watershed, is one of the more curious spots in Bristol. I am not sure who owns the container, nor do I understand quite why the council has given permission for it to be sited here, but here it is and fortunately for us, it has played host to a series of high-end commissions over the years. Inkie replaced the Paul Monsters piece that had been here before a little while back, but I have only recently photographed it.

There are several Inkie elements that have come together in perfect harmony in this combination piece. The print background runs through the whole piece and sets a regular patterned backdrop. Of course the distinctive writing in very Inkie colours is as good as you’ll see and to the right is one of his beautiful Art Nouveau style characters. The only board of the piece that leaves me scratching my head is the cartoon-style spray can, which doesn’t look like an Inkie piece at all and doesn’t quite fit with the rest of it.

5963. M32 Cycle path (259)

Inkie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024

Inkie is arguably the second most well known street artist in Bristol, but unlike his contemporary (Banksy) still visits and paints in the city frequently. I was in the right place at the right time when he, Sepr and Haka were painting this wall together and although I have met Inkie on a few occasions, we actually had quite a long chat this time, whereas usually it is a ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ kind of thing.

This is a classic piece of Inkie writing, almost archetypal, which oozes confidence, capability and class. Green and orange work really well together, and we discussed the merits or otherwise of orange paint, which in this case was really thin, and he wasn’t overjoyed about it. There are some paints that just seem to be partially transparent and require more coats, and this was one of them. Unless you knew about the thin paint, you probably wouldn’t notice. Classy work.

5895. St Werburghs tunnel (413)

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

With this piece in St Werburghs tunnel, Inkie demonstrates his versatility, and shows that he can paint way outside his ‘house’ style that is so familiar to folk in Bristol. This piece was painted during the incredibly well attended February paint jam organised by Ryder.

Inkie has painted something of a tribute to Galaxian, a computer game from 1979 that could be found in pretty much every pub or arcade in the early 1980s usually alongside Asteroids. The INKIE letters have been painted in the Galaxian brand style, and he has included rows of spaceships in formation. This is a wonderfully painted piece of ’80s nostalgia, which would have resonated with most of the other artists who participated in the paint jam.

	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…

	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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