6744. St Werburghs tunnel (475)

Tao Create and Big Hev, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Tao Create and Big Hev, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

Of interest, but not really of much importance, is the gender split of street artists and graffiti writers in Bristol which I would say is around the 60:40 Men to women, but it is noticeable that a higher proportion of women are painting now than were ten years ago, when I first started this blog. This is a fabulous collaboration from Tao Create and Big Hev, who have painted together before, and I assume are friends.

Tao Create and Big Hev, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Tao Create and Big Hev, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

To the left is a portrait piece by Tao Create, who underwent something of a transformation in her style over the last year or so, taking her to a new and much higher level. I can’t find any information about whom this is a portrait of, but it is stunning nonetheless, with superb depth and texture in the greyscale shades. Big Hev’s words ‘I’ve been ghosted by a ghostboy’ are equally mysterious. The piece appears to be a tribute to GB perhaps? This is a striking collaboration, which sadly has been overpainted, but was a delight while it was there.

6732. St George skate park (23)

Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025
Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025

I missed this piece by Mind 49 last year, so it is looking a little worse for wear, although, given that it is in a skate park, it has worn well. I love the way that it has been painted onto a cracked ramp, which makes it feel like an organic part of the park, that it has always been there, kind of.

Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025
Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025

Mind 49 has been one of the great talents to emerge from the Bristol scene and has developed from a precocious talent, via an activist, into a fine painter of photorealistic portraits. Here, the beautiful profile with soft tones marking out light and shade of the face contrasts with the half-finished look of the shirt and hat. A truly fabulous piece.

6717. Frome Side (53)

Pekoe, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
Pekoe, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

Pekoe is my heroine for coming up with this series of portrait pieces with the wonderful words ‘hot girls hate fascists’. We live in an uncertain time, when nationalism and the far right are on the rise, and we need look no further than to Trump and Musk to see the devastating effects and chaos caused by self-interest and populism. Pekoe provides a powerful and simple message for these people – it is not a good look.

Pekoe, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
Pekoe, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

I have always admired Pekoe’s work and every single time I find one of her pieces I get an endorphin kick, which I guess is why I like finding and photographing street art, it is my rest and recreation. In this portrait piece the lady is either a devil or is wearing a devil hairband. I love the white streaks in the hair, providing gloss, and the lady’s face has a wicked smile. A wonderful piece under the M32.

6711. Frome Side (52)

Jest Soubirquet, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
Jest Soubirquet, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

When I see pieces like this one from Jest Soubriquet (@likes12_art), I wonder how incredible our brains are at normalising and making sense of a patchwork of colour (all the wrong colours) to build an image of a tiger. Our capacity to ‘fill in the blanks’ is awesome.

Jest Soubirquet, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
Jest Soubirquet, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

Equally awesome is Jest Soubriquet’s ability to paint a tiger portrait in a multitude of colours, and he has done a superb job in this challenging spot underneath the M32. I always find it interesting that artists come here to paint, because footfall is practically zero, and these pieces won’t be seen by many people. Perhaps this simply emphasises the point that many street artists paint for the pure joy of it.

6708. Sparke Evans Park (121)

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

This is yet another piece from the very well-attended birthday RBF paint jam in honour of Desi and Even back in January. It is a fabulous portrait piece by the lovely Pekoe. It has been a relatively quiet winter for Pekoe, but I am pleased to report she has definitely become more active this side of Christmas.

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

This portrait is beautifully finished, with superb tight lines, fills and borders. I am particularly struck by the white highlights that complete the piece superbly, on the lips, the eyes and most significantly adding a shine to the hair. The theme for the paint jam was Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation outfit, and I don’t know if the spiders have anything to do with that or whether they are simply random additions. The other character to the left is part of Bbygwya’s adjacent combination piece.

6690. Greenbank (150)

Mind 49, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025
Mind 49, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025

So Mind 49 gets the year off to a cracking start with this fine piece, combining two contrasting styles, demonstrating his awesome technical ability. Mind 49 has always had an activist streak, and many of his early pieces were themed along the lines of animal rights. This one appears to be more about peace, and might be a commentary on the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

Mind 49, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025
Mind 49, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025

The character is beautifully painted, peering over a scarf that covers up the lower half of his face. The folds in the material are superbly painted. Superimposed over the portrait is a crudely drawn cartoon of a gun being snapped in half and a dove of peace flying off. The peace symbol to the right indicates quite clearly what this wonderful work is all about. I’m looking forward to a great year ahead from Mind 49, I also think it might be time for a gallery of his work.

6623. St Werburghs tunnel (468)

Xavier Ren and Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024
Xavier Ren and Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

A little while before Christmas, this excellent collaboration appeared in the tunnel. In fact these pieces, by Xavier Ren and Hypo were two-thirds of the collaboration which included some graffiti writing by Minto, to the left, which I have already posted.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

Hypo has had an extraordinary year, and indeed has been one of Bristol’s most prolific and consistent artists since Covid. This piece underlines his fantastic eye for colourful combinations that create some stunningly vibrant work. The bright letters spell out HYPO, and he has used a clever device to ‘stitch’ the letters together. Really nice graffiti writing.

Xavier Ren, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024
Xavier Ren, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

I know little or nothing about Xavier Ren and so assume he must be a visitor to Bristol, but I really like this character piece. The blue head-and-shoulders portrait piece is full of attitude and moodiness, and presented nicely. It is always great to see something a little different in the city that visitors bring with them.

Shade One

A gallery of extraordinary portrait pieces by the magnificent Shade One.

Instagram: @shad.eone

All photographs by Scooj

Heat One and Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Heat One and Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Shade One, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2023
Shade One, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2023
Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Shade One, St John's Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Shade One, St John’s Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023
Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022
Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022
Shade One, Goldie and 3Dom, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
Shade One, Goldie and 3Dom, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
Dibz and Shade One, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Dibz and Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Dibz and Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Shade One and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020
Shade One and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2020
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2020
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2020
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2020
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Shade One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Shade One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

6597. Upfest 2024 (56)

SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Since the stormy and wet winter weather started up in earnest about a month ago, fewer artists have been out and about, doing what they do best, a pause which frees me up to post a few pieces from Upfest earlier in the year. This one from SEPC is an absolute beauty, and one of the first I saw at this year’s festival.

SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

SEPC is an artist from Manizales in Colombia whose colourful work embodies the connection of people in an urban environment, and his profile on the Upfest website is well worth a read. This was one of two or three pieces that the artist painted while he was in town. I love his humble approach, with plastic bags and boxes full of paint and kit for painting.

SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

In his own words, SEPC combines photorealism with use of colour and incorporates various contextual elements. In other words, there is a lot going on in this work alongside the main portrait pieces, and all of it superbly painted. SEPC’s work was one of the real highlights of this year’s festival.

SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

6568. M32 roundabout J3 (642)

Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

One of the most rewarding things about writing a blog on street art and graffiti is that if you do it for long enough, you get to see new artists burst on to the scene and develop their ideas and improve their technique. An artist who has recently caught my eye is Astrea (formerly HNH), whose distinctive black and white designs are becoming more frequent and elaborate.

Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

This is the first time I have seen Astrea add a portrait to her abstract patterns. The central character is a little bit unsettling, with star eye makeup and a tongue sticking out. The tongue looks like it has stitching running through it. The surrounding swirling design is very much in keeping with what we have seen before from Astrea. Great to see her gaining in confidence.