7889. Cumberland Basin

Nice One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
Nice One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Another classic piece from Nice One, who, it has to be said has generally had quite a quiet few months painting on the streets. It can be hard to know sometimes what impacts on the peaks and troughs in activity from different artists, and one can only hope it is for good reasons.

Nice One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
Nice One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

This combnination piece cleanly separates a superb portrait sketch from the beautifully picked out and typical letters ‘Nice One’. The portrait piece resembles a bust or statue and the sketch-like quality of the lined feels like this piece has been directly lifted out of an artist’s workbook. To create that greyscale pencil drawing look at this scale using spray paints is fantastically skillful and perfectly executed by Nice One. Outstanding.

7884. Greenbank (191)

Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2026
Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2026

It would seem that Conrico rather likes this particular spot, as the previous piece here was his fabulous two-panel cats work, featured here a few weeks back. Unfortunately the cats piece got tagged and didn’t last very long and he replaced it with this eye-catching portrait piece.

Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2026
Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2026

The portrait is more stylised than many of his pieces, both in terms of the rich flesh tones and the bold use of those tones to build depth through light and shadow. I like the proportions that Conrico has presented in this piece, with two thirds of the space occupied by a seascape, bringing more focus on the subject to the right. As ever, nicer work.

Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2026
Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2026

7880. West Street – Upfest 2026 (54)

Afonsoul, Upfest 2026, West Street, Bristol, August 2026
Afonsoul, Upfest 2026, West Street, Bristol, August 2026

At this year’s Upfest, there was a good balance between large feature walls and hoardings, to suit the needs of artists and their styles. Remarkably, the organisers managed to find a whole set of new walls around South Bristol, of which this is one.

 

Afonsoul, Upfest 2026, West Street, Bristol, August 2026
Afonsoul, Upfest 2026, West Street, Bristol, August 2026

I watched for a while as Afonsoul painted this piece, high up on the scaffolding, but could only admire the piece when I went back to visit in August when the scaffolding was down. It is a wonderful portrait piece and one in which you lose yourself in the artwork and forget that there are windows all the way through. A superb Upfest mural by the visiting Afonsoul.

7879. Greville Smyth Park – Upfest 2026 (53)

One of the most memorable moments of my wanderings over the three weeeks of Upfest was catching up with Bristol artist Conrico while he was painting this piece. He is a kind man and always up for a chat. It was a very hot day when I stopped by his piece, and he could see I was uncomfortable. He offered me his fine water spray and fan to cool myself down – a true gent. We also experienced a magnificent natural moment as one of the adjacent trees was shedding its fine and fluffy seeds, turning a hot spring day into a winter snowstorm, quite incredible.

Conrico, Upfest 2026, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2026
Conrico, Upfest 2026, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2026

The colourful portrait piece features a woman clasping something bright in her hands with plasma bolts emanating from them and a cheeky moth. I’m not too sure what the story is here. I love the way Conrico has capured the pattern on the woman’s jumper – brilliant. An interesting selection for an Upfest piece, but one that shows off his ‘paint brush’ style perfectly.

 

 

7858. Quakers Art Lane

Hazard, Quakers Art Lane, Bristol, June 2026
Hazard, Quakers Art Lane, Bristol, June 2026

Around a month or so before Upfest, the organisers of the festiival curated a wall in the heart of the shopping district of Bristol, which played host to a number of well-known artists and provided a bit of a teaser for the main festival, as well as brightening up this little corner of an otherwise dull and grey space.

Hazard, Quakers Art Lane, Bristol, June 2026
Hazard, Quakers Art Lane, Bristol, June 2026

The timing of this mini-event roughly coincided with the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough, and this portrait piece of our national treasure by Hazard, while not particularly flattering captures the age and intensity of the great man. I cannot think of anyone living who has done more to raise the wonder of nature and bring it into our homes, but also quietly and diplomatically raise some of the more challenging issues of our time such as biodiversity loss, climate change and most contraversially spiralling global population.

Hazard, Quakers Art Lane, Bristol, June 2026
Hazard, Quakers Art Lane, Bristol, June 2026

Hazard, who has close associations with Bristol having lived here for a number of years, is much loved in the city. This piece showcases her ability to capture images, Sir David and the owl in this case, and bring them to life with a lively colour palette, and breaking up that which we know and are accustomed to with geometric shapes and interventions. This is a brilliant piece by Hazard, depicting a personal hero. Bravo!

7852. Langton Park – Upfest 2026 (50)

Jazz, Langton Park, Upfest 2026, Bristol, May 2026
Jazz, Langton Park, Upfest 2026, Bristol, May 2026

It is always good to discover new artists, especially when they live and work in Bristol. This is a rather nice Upfest portrait piece (sorry about the shadows) by Jasmine Shanice Art, who goes by the name Jazz. This is a rather nice little spot just off North Street, which gets a whole lot of footfall, so her piece will have been seen by thousands of residents and visitors alike.

Jazz, Langton Park, Upfest 2026, Bristol, May 2026
Jazz, Langton Park, Upfest 2026, Bristol, May 2026

The portrait, painted in greyscale, depicts a woman with her hands in an interesting pose, great hair and a pair of large hoop earrings. She is standing in front of a bright sun and blue sky, which seems to sum up the spring and summer we have had pretty well. Although this is the first time I have seen Jazz’ work, I very much hope to discover more.

7840. Goodneston Road (7)

Daz Cat, Goodneston Road, Bristol, July 2026
Daz Cat, Goodneston Road, Bristol, July 2026

Daz Cat has had a comparatively quiet year this year, and I am hoping that this is for good reasons like work coming in for him. Although I am posting this piece now, you can see from the state of it that it is pretty old, with quite a lot of flaking throughout the piece.

Daz Cat, Goodneston Road, Bristol, July 2026
Daz Cat, Goodneston Road, Bristol, July 2026

The piece features three characters, a blue human-like figure sandwiched between two cats. Daz Cat has conjured up a range of emotional expressions, one for each of the characters. Great use of colours, tone and touch has brought about a fine triple portrait piece from Daz Cat. I’ll be looking out for more, but my expectations of finding anything currently are quite low.

7814. L Dub (91)

Mind 49, L Dub, Bristol, June 2026
Mind 49, L Dub, Bristol, June 2026

Another interesting piece from Mind 49 in his series of hooded portraits in which get only a small window into the subject’s face and are left to imagine the missing features. The ‘hood’ is decorated with naive artwork and contrasts with the fine detail of the eyes.

Mind 49, L Dub, Bristol, June 2026
Mind 49, L Dub, Bristol, June 2026

Mind 49 is teasing the viewer, but I suspect that there is more going on in his own psyche. For some years now he has been painting portraits from which features are missing. Nothing is distorted or ugly, simply hidden from view. A complete portrait from Mind 49 is a rare thing indeed. This is my favourite of his pieces in this deception series.

7812. Cumberland Basin

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2026
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2026

This is an amazing cartoon portrait piece that not only shows off Sled One’s technical skills, but also reveals his extraordinary imagination and creativity. The piece is set on a pink background and the grass in front of the wall is still green, which dates this piece to before July.

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2026
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2026

The blue-faced man in a green jacket with beautiful folds, is having a lightbulb moment. But this lightbulb moment is more literal than usual, with his scalp tilted upwards revealing a characterful lightbulb where his brain should be. There is so much detail in the piece, and those sunglasses simply have to be admired. Surreal creativity at its best.

 

7795. River Avon (123)

Conrico, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026
Conrico, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026

We have had such glorious weather for a long time in Bristol, which is great (when it isn’t too hot) but makes life rather difficult for photographing graffiti and street art. Bright overcast days are much better, but when the sun is out, shadows are cast, which messes up camera settings, and can make a piece look quite different, especially if the wall is textured. I haven’t yet walked past this lovely piece by Conrico without shadows cast over it. Hey ho, can’t have it all.

Conrico, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026
Conrico, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026

Conrico has upped his game this year and has been turning out so many outstanding pieces in his unique style. This is a delightful portrait of a young woman wearing a red zip up jacket and with large hoop earrings. The soft cartoon style lends itself to layers of shading and texture which Conrico achieves with multiple spray can ‘strokes’ as if the can were a paint brush. Like so many of his recent pieces, there seems to be so much more going on than just a portrait.