It is curious how I associate different artists with specific settings or spots. I say this, because I really didn’t expect to see a Mr Riks piece down here alongside the River Avon. This spot tends to be quite experimental, and a lot of emerging artists use it to practice their letters, forms and techniques. To find an established artist like Mr Riks painting here is, to my mind at least, quite unusual.
Mr Riks, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025
The letter form that Mr Riks writes with is so distinctive; smooth rounded edges, letters compressed without any see through gaps and a superb solid border are all things I would expect to see. This is a fabulous chrome piece with nice shout-outs to his mates, Ryder and Kush.
I know that Mr Riks has painted in this spot before, but I was still rather surprised to stumble across this one. There are two notable things about the piece, the first is that there is no buffed wall or background, so the writing is at risk of being overcrowded by the surrounding graffiti, the second is the day glo colours that go some way to mitigating that risk.
Mr Riks, Frome Side, Bristol, September 2025
The nicely rounded letters spell RIKS in his distinctive font, and he has given them a bit of a lift with a deep 3D drop shadow drifting to the right. If I am honest, I think a little bit of extra background would have given this piece a bit more prominence, however, he might have been short of paint or time. Vibrant work.
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.
Inkie and Mr Riks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Mr Riks and Lokey, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2024
Although this wonderful collaboration from Mr Riks and Lokey doesn’t look particularly festive, I believe it to be a Christmas piece. It is certainly lovely to see these talented graffiti writers out painting together, although I think this paint jam was meant to be considerably better attended.
Mr Riks and Lokey, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2024
Mr Riks has such a distinctive style, and he has brought his letters to life with a distinctive blue-green and yellow combination, and for good measure added a little wasp with a spray can in hand. Lokey, meanwhile, remains one of the only anamorphic writers in Bristol, and this wonderful piece rounds off a productive year for the artist. A superb Christmas collaboration.
There are a multitude of reasons why street/graffiti artists go through productive and non-productive phases, sometimes to do with friends, family and relationships, sometimes location/geography, sometimes employment, sometimes mental/physical health issues and sometimes simply falling in or out of love with it. I am pleased to report that Mr Riks seems to have found a rhythm and has been out and about a fair bit recently.
Mr Riks, New Stadium Road, Bristol, January 2024
This is a spot, where Mr Riks has painted before, alongside his friend Silent Hobo. This time it is a solo piece, and a very nice one at that. Some great colours in the distinctive bubble script writing, with a couple of cheeky characters peering on. A great piece from an accomplished writer.
Ryder, Inkie and Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
When Inkie is in town, he will often get together with friends and paint a collaborative wall, and often it is this one in Dean Lane. On this occasion he got together with Ryder and Mr Riks, which is not a trio of artists that would ordinarily spring to mind, but the street art scene is always full of surprises.
Ryder, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Ryder doesn’t paint at Dean Lane all that often, but he has smashed it with this rather condensed burner painted in orange and grey. The RYDER letters are nicely worked, with the orange bleeding out into the background at the top of some of them. The colour palette which includes a dark blue and black isn’t one that I would instinctively chose, but works incredibly well in this striking piece of graffiti writing.
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Most of the time, you pretty much know what you are going to get from Inkie, and this chrome piece delivers in bucket-loads. Great design and precision are trademarks from the gentle giant, who is probably one of Bristol’s most famous street artists after Banksy, alongside Nick Walker and Cheo. Inkie has such a distinctive style, that I reckon he could write any combination of letters and it would be easy to identify.
Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
To the right, another artist with a distinctive style, Mr Riks, has gone for this colourful piece, which is full of energy and joy. Although, not the focal point of the piece, the cartoon eyes are irresistible and draw attention. Great fills and a wonderful drop shadow, this is a fine piece of graffiti writing from Mr Riks.
This collaborative wall brings together three graffiti writers, each with very strong and distinctive styles, opting to paint in colours of their choice, making it a loose collaboration – more like three friends painting a wall together, without a theme or agenda. Great stuff.
This classic burner on the long roundabout wall is one of two recent Mr Riks pieces to appear in Bristol. To the untrained eye, this might look like any other chrome throw up, but have a closer look and there are signs that this piece is by no ordinary artist.
Mr Riks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2023
The letters spell out RIKS, with a couple of comedy eyes and fingers at the top of the ‘I’, and there is a little deliberate blurring on some of the edges of the letters. It is the drop shadow, however, that gives this piece away as having been painted by a craftsman. The shadow has a vanishing point somewhere beneath the piece, and its curves perfectly match the curves of the letters. The stripes, which add depth, and orange border are really nice and tight too. The whole thing may appear modest, but is at the same time classy and masterful.
Instead of turning right onto the Bristol to Bath cycle track at Greenbank as I normally do (I am a creature of habit), I decided to buck the trend and turned left towards the road bridge and was rewarded with this rather nicel little piece of graffiti writing from Mr Riks.
Mr Riks, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2022
I have said before that I have a great many pieces by the artist in my archives, but I think I have only posted one before, which is rather remiss of me. This is a really nicely worked piece, neat and tidy. The fills transition beautifully from pale to dark blues, and I rather like the swishy feature that zig-zags out of the piece. All in all, very well worth turning left… a first class effort.
On the wall opposite the tunnel under New Stadium Road was this lovely little Christmas collaboration from Silent Hobo, Mr Riks, Dopes and a very special mini Hobo. All three artists have been fairly active of late, but weirdly I have only ever posted one of Mr Riks’ pieces before, which would appear to be a terribly omission on my part.
Silent Hobo, Dopes and Mr Riks, New Stadium Street, Bristol, December 2021
The right hand side of the collaboration is by Mr Riks and Dopes and appears to say RIK JAY with some fabulous horizontal shading and fades with a load of drips hanging off the letters. Classy work indeed from the two artists.
Silent Hobo, New Stadium Street, Bristol, December 2021
The Mini Hobo is by Silent Hobo with help from his very little daughter who looked pretty useful with a spray can judging from the pictures on Hobo senior’s Instagram feed. All in all this is a very nice little Christmas piece and maybe the beginning of great things to come from Mini Hobo.
Natural adventures 