PLB – Natural adventures

7883. Cumberland Basin

Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2026

A quick jaunt back into my June archive revealed this beauty from Solar on the long wall at Cumberland Basin. I would offer my subjective view and say that Solar’s work this year has risen to the next level, and he is turning out some outstanding work.

Solar’s unusual and anti-style work is perversely becoming quite conventional, simply because he has established himself and made a mark. This is no bad thing, because he retains his identity and developing style. In this wonderfully fragmented piece, the outline is incomplete, and the fills drift way beyond the boundaries. A sense of order is maintained by the pink and magenta decorations that have stuck to the script and frame the piece beautifully. Cool work.

7859. Greenbank (190)

Whenever I find a Taboo piece I always know to expect the unexpected. His anti-style approach means that conventions and regularity are thrown out of the window and you have to invest in his work and trust the process. If you submit to his style, rather than try to fight against it, it all becomes so much more enjoyable – which could be said for graffiti writing more generally.

These single colour cartoonish letters with a deep drop shadow in the same colour are accompanied by a little crocodile character at the right hand side. Some little white accent spots and crocodile teeth lift the piece with subtlety and skill. The piece is accompanied with the words ‘make it snappy’ a phrase that rounds off the joke that begins ‘give me a crocodile sandwich…’. A fine but of fun from Taboo.

7757. Dean Lane skate park (932)

I have recently been having a virtual conversation with Taboo, and it is great to have a bit more of a connection with the artist. Over the last couple of months, I have found a stack of old pieces by Taboo, and he has been painting quite regularly, so I have a lot of catching up to do with his work.

This is a perfect example of Taboo’s anti-style graffiti writing, and this might be a good time to offer a definition of what anti-style means:

A rebellious sub-genre that rejects traditional graffiti rules like legible letterforms, flow, and colour theory.

The pink letters here spell out TABOO, and, consistent with a lot of his writing, his letters have a midline running through them giving them a bit of a 3D lift. A nice piece that might be inaccessible to some, but is a fine work in my eyes.

7730. Sparke Evans Park (153)

Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2026

Solar is smashing it out of the park everywhere I look at the moment. He seems to have upped his game over the last few months and is reaching new level of confidence, creativity and execution.

This is a banging piece on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park. The irregular letters, fringing on anti-style, have a space age look to them, with the ‘S’ looking like a space ship and the ‘R’ looking like the visor of a space helmet. All of this might be just what I see, but it is now difficult for me to unsee it. Definitely a fresh and vibrant piece of writing from a writer at the top of his game, so far.

7628. M32 roundabout J3 (767)

Butch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

A quick couple of posts today. I am recovering from shingles – a very nasty affair – and return to work this morning with a rather large backlog of emails and messages to action. This mortal coil!

I have always had a big soft spot for Butch’s work, and this combination piece on the roundabout is a real beauty. His overlapping full cap letters are somewhat eclipsed by a dog/rabbit(?) riding a bicycle at haste. It is a wonderful piece of cartoon illustration full of energy and humour. Love it.

7511. Sparke Evans Park (143)

Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2026

Since first creeping onto my radar, Solar has gone from strength to strength, and is now turning out some high quality pieces that are most attractive to the eye. In this instance I will forgive the overwhelming amount of brown and concentrate on the style of the piece.

The letters are isolated from oner another thanks to a yellow drop shadow, and their shapes are rather unruly, although adhering to his overall style. Each letter has the appearance of a boulder with cracks running through, a fairly common device used in graffiti writing. The whole piece is finished off with some contrasting starbursts and a not to PLB (Placebo) and tribute shout-out to Paroe.

7359. Frome Side (64)

Solar, Frome Side, Bristol, December 2025

My last trip under the M32 alongside the canalised River Frome was a rather fruitful one, and this piece from Solar was one of the rewards for the marginally treacherous scramble down. Solar is an artist whose work has shown steady progression over the years, and he is turning out some superb writing that touches on anti-style.

Although it is difficult to provide a scale to this piece, I can tell you that it is very large. The height of it is about 7-8ft, so if you imagine the artist spraying the top at full stretch, you can get a sense of it. The irregular letters spell SOLAR and are painted on a grey background, which mimics the natural colour of the concrete. There is a fabulous two-tone orange fill, with the lighter colour running through the middle of the letters creating some depth. The piece is rounded off with a clean white border and some light blue spots for decoration. A classy piece from Solar.

7249. Cumberland Basin

Pl8o, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

I have included this piece, not because it is amazing, but because it is by PL8o whose work I like and because it is representative of a great many tribute pieces in Bristol to Dorns who recently passed away.

There is something easy and accessible about PL8o’s letter style, and the colours in this piece certainly stand out. It is a nice tribute. Interestingly, this piece was over-painted by an artist who is not local and who probably didn’t know about Dorns or the tributes to him. That piece has since been tagged with ‘Dorns’ written all over it, and a comment which reads ‘You had the whole wall…’ basically telling the artist off for painting over a tribute piece – an example of the politics and rules (there are no rules) of street/graffiti art.

7193. St Werburghs tunnel (526)

Butch and Solar, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2025

Thinking back, it is quite unusual to see any work from the PLB (Placebo) crew in St Werburghs tunnel, but here, breaking the trend, is a two-piece collaboration from Butch and Solar. I suspect that there is a third artist involved in this piece in the form of the cat character in the middle, but it is unsigned, so I can’t be sure.

Butch, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2025

To the left is a really lovely piece of writing by Butch. I love his choice of letters, they really work for me, and the way he lays them out in a higgledy-piggledy fashion appeals. The letter fills in red are good and bounded by a strong orange line, all neatly placed on a white cloud background.

Solar, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2025

To the right, Solar has painted his customary slightly wibbly letters in striking red, with black decorations and an uplifting yellow drop shadow. The whole thing is vibrant and eye-catching and, from my perspective, shows great development and improvement/confidence from both artists. Who did paint the cat?

6719. Greenway Bush Lane (2)

Solar, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025

I love the fact that this long hoarding in Green Bush Lane is becoming a ‘spot’ having been colonised initially by Mote and Mr Crawls – great work from these pioneers. This represents the ever-changing mosaic of graffiti spots around the city, as areas become gentrified and old spots disappear, new opportunities appear.

This is a sensational piece from Solar, and an instant winner with me. With this piece alone, the PLB artist has raised his game to the next level. He has cleverly used the ‘clean’ hoarding as his background colour and painted his piece directly on to it. No need for any buffing. His irregular letters spelling SOLAR have an organic feel to them and are beautifully outlines with a pink border. Some fabulous decorative work, including bubbled inside and outside the piece contribute to its magnificence. A piece out of the top drawer from Solar.

	paulh121 on 7908. Purdown (107)
	Nguyễn Thị Phương Tr… on 7907. St Werburghs tunnel…
	hitandrun1964 on Preparation
	Paul - Cawston Green… on 7905. Purdown (106)
	M. on Preparation

	paulh121 on 7908. Purdown (107)
	Nguyễn Thị Phương Tr… on 7907. St Werburghs tunnel…
	hitandrun1964 on Preparation
	Paul - Cawston Green… on 7905. Purdown (106)
	M. on Preparation

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