6679. Brunel Way (309)

Haka, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025
Haka, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025

One of the favourite books of my youth was Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs, an illustrator and author who wrote some of the finest and most touching comic strip books of the time. Fungus the Bogeyman spanned the generations very cleverly, and is full of witty puns and literary references. On starting this post, I have been searching for my copy of the book, but seem to recall I leant it to a cousin years ago. I might just have to buy myself a new copy.

Haka, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025
Haka, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025

Haka has captured the essence of Fungus the Bogeyman perfectly in this piece, and the spot itself is exactly the kind of place that you’d imagine the character to lurk on a damp, foggy night. As with all of his pieces featuring children’s characters, Haka has remained incredibly faithful to the original illustrations. My favourite piece of the year so far.

4930. St Werburghs tunnel (335)

Wispa, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022
Wispa, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022

There was a little bit of an RBF crew party in the tunnel just before Christmas, with a great turnout, and one of the artists, whose work I have not seen much of, is Wispa. Her writing and character might have been the pick of the bunch on account of the snowman, I mean who can resist this guy at Christmas?

Wispa, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022
Wispa, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022

Wispa is clearly an accomplished writer who typically writes WISP and occasionally adds a character, and with this piece she has smashed both. The letters are nice ones to play with, and give plenty of scope for fills, curves and straight lines. The triple border works really well, picking out the letters and helping them to stand out from the wall.

Wispa, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022
Wispa, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022

Raymond Briggs, may he rest in peace, would have loved this faithful rendition of his loveable character, right down to the cross-hatching on his hat and scarf. This is a fabulous Christmas piece from Wispa. I hope she comes back to Bristol soon with more great work.