6968. M32 roundabout J3 (687)

Face 1st, Zake and Soak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Face 1st, Zake and Soak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

I cannot think of a time when I haven’t been utterly delighted to come across a PWA collaboration, and this beauty filled me with good cheer a couple of weeks back. There is a good chance that the collaboration will; remain intact for a while, as this stretch of wall tends to have quite a slow turnover.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

The three artists contributing to the collaboration are Face 1st, Zake and Soap. Face 1st needs no introduction and is probably the artist who has appeared most on Natural Adventures, and deservedly so. This is a classic theme for the artist, with a laughing girl’s face and big hair spelling out FACE, with some diamonds chucked in for good measure.

Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

In the middle is this wonderful cartoon character piece from Zake which also fits into his archetypal style, with so much depth, the face seems like it could roll off the wall and into the pathway. Zake seems to be painting at least once a week at the moment and is smashing it.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

The triptych is completed with a lovely piece of writing from soap, who doesn’t get out as much as he used to, but still manages to collaborate reasonably often with his PWA chums. His letters and fills are sublime and, as is usually the way with his work in recent years, has an Adventure Time influence with the incorporation of the Ice King. Superb collaboration with a shared inclusion of a colour scheme throughout.

6961. M32 roundabout J3 (686)

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

Although this piece is a little bleached out by the strong sun, I am so pleased to have captured it at all. So many times when Kid Crayon has painted a new piece, I get down to photograph it, and it has gone. I don’t know if this is purely coincidental, or whether there is something more sinister going on. Suffice it to say that I have missed at least two pieces by him this year.

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

It is fantastic to see Kid Crayon getting out more often this year, after quite a long period of low productivity – due in part to his real work being very busy. In this piece, the letters CRAYON can be seen with a little reversed out KID at the start. Each letter has an individual paint treatment, with the base colours alternating through the word. The ‘O’ is represented by a character with a blue face, donning a rather fetching Eat crew baseball cap. A floating crayon in front of the character’s mouth rounds the piece off nicely. There are so many KC trademarks in this fun and uplifting piece.

6951. M32 roundabout J3 (685)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

Hypo continues in his rich vein of form and is working his colours really hard at the moment, but not in a chaotic or random way, but rather in a considered and thoughtful manifestation.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

Each of the letters HYPO are given an individual colour scheme with blended tones beautifully worked. The letters are afforded a chunky 3D effect, thanks to the skilfully placed white highlight lines that deceive our eyes. Another fabulous piece in an outstanding and lengthy series of graffiti writing.

6949. M32 roundabout J3 (684)

Subtle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Subtle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

It is totally awesome to see Subtle again after quite a long break. His work, for me, epitomises the Bristol style of graffiti writing. I have mentioned that different towns and cities, regions or countries have distinct styles, and this piece by Subtle oozes Bristol.

Subtle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Subtle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

The piece itself is painted in rather dark colours and a little difficult to pick out with the light behind the wall. Great big fat letters on a buffed wall with a dollop of red decoration is just what the doctor ordered, and a great way to start the day. Classy and beautifully executed. Welcome back Subtle.

6941. M32 roundabout J3 (683)

Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

I sometimes wonder if I might get a little tired of posting street art, and occasionally I do get tired, but my interest simply doesn’t wane, and as long as there are street/graffiti artists out there painting, I will be writing. Admittedly, I might slow down a little, but that is life. There are a few artists in Bristol who provide a real tonic for those periods when I need a little uplift, and Bloem is without question one of those.

Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

In this piece Bloem has decorated some rather nice bubble writing with grey flowers and flower buds, keeping the whole piece rather subtle and modest. Her improvement and progress really has been quite remarkable, and she seems to turn the dial up a notch with each new piece. Unfortunately, this one didn’t last too long, but it was an uplifting beacon while it remained.

6938. M32 roundabout J3 (682)

Microsoft

Mr Crawls and Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Mr Crawls and Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

Mr Crawls and Kool Hand have been painting together more regularly of late, and it is good to see.  Their character styles, although quite different do complement one another rather well.

Mr Crawls, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Mr Crawls, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

Mr Crawls has painted one of his ‘skeleton’ bird characters, which look slightly creepy if I am honest, but are very much part of his repertoire. He has shown another side to his talent here though, with some very nicely presented writing, spelling out JIM. I expect that this is a shout out to a friend/family member.

Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

Kool Hand presents his orangutan character, who over the years has developed and become ever so slightly more sophisticated. The solid fills haven’t changed much, but the clean lines have improved and the overall shape of the head has softened. Some nice white flashes add to the 3D appearance of the character. A rather nice collaboration.

6936. M32 roundabout J3 (681)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

It is a great thing that Hypo has made more time for his graffiti writing over the last year or two. His regular appearances, painting the letters HYPO are more than welcome, and he has upped his game considerably over that time.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

This is another piece in which he uses colour to the maximum, something he is really accomplished at, and he presents his letters with what looks like a water mark running horizontally through the letters. With subtle white highlights, his letters have a superb 3D effect, leaping out from the wall. This is a blinder of a piece.

6930. M32 roundabout (680)

Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, there is an authenticity I really like about Lupa’s work. Her modest pieces stick to her general formula, and her letters are unpretentious and fun.

Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

In this piece she has pushed herself to incorporate an intricate grey and white box background pattern which must have taken ages to do. It has worked really well and raise the interest level in the piece considerably. Her letters are nicely filled with a combination of colours that are easy on the eye. A very nice piece of graffiti writing from Lupa.

6921. M32 roundabout J3 (679)

Short, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Short, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

This piece, by Short, is really easy to miss. It is in one of the tunnels under the M32 roundabout where the lighting is poor, and one’s mind is focussed on not being run down by a bicycle or e-scooter rather than stopping to look at the graffiti writing. If photographing such pieces is hazardous, I can’t imagine what it is like to try and paint in such a confined space.

Short, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Short, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

The black, joined-up letters, spelling SHORT are somewhat augmented, deliberately or otherwise, by the background created by a previous artist’s large chrome letters, which creates the perfect backdrop. I am enjoying the way that Short is popping up in different places around the city, and offering us a type of graffiti writing that is a step up from throw ups, and developing all the time.

6913. M32 roundabout J3 (678)

Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

This piece is from another out-of-towner, Eatz, the second post featuring a visitor in a row, which is one of the wonderful aspects of Bristol street art. Because Bristol is nationally and internationally known for its street art and graffiti culture, and its most famous contemporary son, Banksy, a lot of artists from about the place will visit and drop a piece while they are here.

Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

Eatz has created a rather interesting monster, with multiple eyes and a hand holding a glowing stick of some kind, emerging from a puddle of blackness. Lots of great colours and a bit of a story behind this alien in a spacesuit. The piece was painted alongside a Lupa piece, and I wonder whether they are friends/acquaintances, or whether they met of the first time as part of the paint jam.