Portrait – Page 4 – Natural adventures

7038. St Werburghs tunnel (503)

J Archer, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2025

There were a lot of ‘out-of-town’ artists who converged on St Werburghs tunnel for Wispa’s birthday paint jam, many of whose work I haven’t seen before, including J Archer. I know little of the artist and haven’t been able to find out very much either, so I will stick to what I can see.

This is a beautiful portrait of a woman in blue and purple tones. The proportions of the face are all good, and the features nicely picked out with light and dark shading. Although the portrait doesn’t look very big, It is probably about 7-8 foot square, which is actually a decent size. The squiggles through the face break up the piece and add to what might be a straightforward portrait. A fine tribute to Wispa – there were so many on the day.

7032. River Avon (86)

I am writing this post (last night) in a lonely hotel room in Warrington. Tomorrow, I am attending the launch of a new National Nature Reserve just outside the town, something I have been working on for a few months. It will be great to see the partnership project come to life.

This piece by Zake is a superb example of his work, and he has really managed to keep the whole thing very neat and tidy. Although it doesn’t look like it, the piece is quite large, and on a wall he decorated back in August

As with all of his portrait pieces, he has created great depth using light and shade to lift the face from the wall, deceiving the eye. Big teeth and a lack of pupils in the eye, give the character a sinister appearance, which is a bit of a Zake trademark. Below is his previous piece in this spot.

7024. M32 Cycle path (291)

Conrico, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2025

Conrico always brings something slightly different to the party. His brush-stroke style contrasts with much of the ‘solid fill’ or ‘blended’ style that most street artists work with.

In this interesting piece, which appears to be telling a story, a woman, smoking, is holding a burning piece of paper. At the base of the piece, a newspaper headline read “Bristol City Plagued by Grad…”. This must be a story that I missed, but it looks like Conrico has tried to capture it. I am none the wiser, but it is a great piece of commentary art.

7016. Dean Lane skate park (844)

It is difficult to know how he does it, but Stivs keeps on turning out masterful pieces, whether it is his calligraffiti, portraits or robots, they just keep on coming and with such high quality. This is a stunning portrait o the swimming pool wall at Dean Lane.

Stivs uses the technique of painting patterns on the wall, taking a picture of the patterns, overlaying his sketch onto the picture and then using the patterns as a kind of template reference. The result is utterly beguiling and beautiful. If it is at all possible, Stivs is just getting better and better.

7012. St Werburghs tunnel (511)

There is never a time when I am not utterly made up when finding a portrait piece by Pekoe. This is a modest piece in the tunnel, which was painted as part of the Wispa birthday celebration paint jam in June.

Pekoe’s subject and style has been a consistent landmark in the Bristol street art scene for years, and her corralling of the RBF crew is admirable. This portrait has some great colour contrasts – I love those glossy green lips, and green eyes. Pekoe has had a relatively quiet year so far, but I live forever in hope to find more of her work.

7009. M32 roundabout J3 (693)

El Ruby Tattoo and Umbrelle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

Because Bristol is well known for its street art and graffiti scene, we tend to see a lot of visiting artists passing through and dropping a piece or two. I don’t actually know where these two artists, El Ruby Tattoo and Umbrelle, are from, but they have combined well to create this double-header on the M32 roundabout.

Both artists are tattoo artists, and they were painting with Kid Crayon and Tera (I think), so there was a strong tattoo connection. The two character portraits are very different, but both are rather good, and they work well side by side. It is a bit of a shame that the bright sunshine has cast a few shadows on the uneven surface, but that is the price you pay for nice weather.

7002. Purdown (91)

Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, June 2025

The concrete slabs at Purdown can be quite challenging to say the least, the stand-alone edifices limit the scope and dimensions of the piece, and don’t lend themselves to writers. There is also the matter of a small herd of goats that tend to enjoy ‘scrambling’ around all the concrete structures. Jest Soubriquet (@likes_wan_tu) has absolutely made the most of this slab, showcasing his superb work.

Jest Soubriquet has absolutely smashed it with this colourful portrait piece, which really stands out as something special. It is great that dog-walkers, runners, families and so on, who enjoy Purdown, get to see great art like this for free, in an interesting context of WWII history, nature and street art. A supreme piece from the master of colour.

6995. Mina Road (15)

Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2025

This wall, I believe, is owned by the householder behind it who has been happy to give permission to Silent Hobo, in the past, and more recently Stivs and Vane to decorate the wall. This recent makeover is their second collaboration here, and they have created something truly beautiful.

The art nouveau style of this two-part collaboration is not only really unusual, but arresting, and perhaps something you might expect to see on the near continent rather than in Bristol. Vane’s photorealistic portrait is engulfed in flowers and surrounded with a stunning art nouveau design, not unlike the metro signs in Paris.

Stivs continuers the theme, with the highly designed background and floral decoration, and also includes a portrait, although one that is perhaps slightly less photorealistic. This collaboration is as outstanding as it is unexpected. A very special piece.

6984. St Werburghs tunnel (506)

Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2025

What a beauty by Daz Cat. My first thought was who has he been collaborating with? – but there was only one signature and I realised pretty quickly that Daz Cat was trying out something a little new. I can confidently say that his portrait/cat character combination is a huge success, and I look forward to seeing more pieces like this from him.

There is a lot to talk about in this ‘self-collaboration’ and I’m sure I won’t be able to do it justice. Starting with the portrait, there are some obvious Daz Cat trademarks, particularly in the patterning in the eyebrows and hair. The proportions and perspective are near perfect, and I think that it demonstrates what I already knew, that Daz Cat is a very talented artist.

The cat character is more along the lines of what I’d expect to see. There is a story here. The cat is holding a snail which has a flower growing out of its shell – what it means, who knows? But it looks great. I look forward to more of these self-collaborations in the future.

6970. Greenbank (161)

Conrico and Werm, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2025

This is a fine collaboration from two artists who never seem to stop, both totally dedicated to their art and sharing it with us. This is the kind of collaboration which is more about artists painting together rather than any kind of fusion between their styles, colours or design.

On the left, Conrico presents a portrait of a woman in the foreground, who looks like she is taking a selfie in front of an island paradise – probably a Japanese island in the East China Sea. Conrico’s portraits are improving all the time and becoming more of a feature of his work. Of course, he has enough paint to add in his letters, with a feint reflection in the inviting sea.

To the right, Werm’s letters are beautifully presented, with the middle two letters a little smaller and ‘sitting on top’ of the rest of the piece. Lots of depth and intricate design work in this graffiti writing. Both artists have very different technical styles, but this collaboration works incredibly well.

	hitandrun1964 on 7494. Purdown (100)
	hitandrun1964 on 7497. Surbiton Station, L…
	skat on London bound
	Bill Bisgood on Football train
	Cethru Cellophane (a… on Football train

	hitandrun1964 on 7494. Purdown (100)
	hitandrun1964 on 7497. Surbiton Station, L…
	skat on London bound
	Bill Bisgood on Football train
	Cethru Cellophane (a… on Football train

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