Rusk’s fiftieth birthday paint jam on the long wall in Cumberland Basin has turned out some of the best pieces of the year. This is a superb tribute by Hypo for Rusk. It is interesting how he has maintained his style with completely different letters, the mark of a versatile graffiti writer.
Hypo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2026
There is so much colour in the piece and the subtle starbursts create some movement and dazzle. Hypo has been including his little spheres in his work for a couple of years now, but in this piece they seem to have peaked, being perfectly arranged throughout. A pleasing piece, so easy on the eye and full of joy.
Shade One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2026
Shade One is known for his incredibly sharp cartoon-style portrait pieces, many of which have been featured here, and you can see his typical work on this updated gallery. This time, the subject of his portraiture is a spray can with the word Rusk on it.
Shade One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2026
The piece is a birthday tribute to Rusk, and how appropriate it is to feature a can, rather than a caricature portrait. The turnout for Rusk’s 50th birthday paint jam was fantastic, and some superb pieces were painted that day, including this one. More to come from this celebration.
Shade One, Fade, Jody, Jenks, Sikoh, Dibz and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
However hard I try, I am not going to be able to do this large production wall justice. So many artists and so much quality on show in one themed piece. The artists, some of the finest around, are Shade One, Fade, Jody, Jenks, Sikoh, Dibz and Rusk, who has recently celebrated his 50th birthday. The piece is a throwback reminiscence of the video game Street Fighter (humorously labelled Street Writerz above the piece).
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
Starting with the left-hand side, Shade One portrays the character E Honda in this outstanding portrait, painted in greyscale apart from the red striped on his face. A stunning piece augmented with a fine silhouetted scene.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
Next up, is the character Dhalsim, rising high above some fiery letters by Fade. I cannot be certain who from this collaboration painted the character – perhaps someone out there could fill me in. Few, if any, of the elements were individually signed, so it is difficult to put names to all of them.
Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
In the centre of the collaboration is another outstanding character piece, this time by Jody, who has faithfully recreated Chun Li striking a fighting pose. Brilliantly done.
Jenks, Sikoh, Dibz and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
Moving further along the wall several characters come in to view. At the top left is Zanghief, holding a spray can (why not), possibly by Jenks. Below that is some bone writing and the head of Blanka, which I think might be by Sikoh. Top right is writing from Dibz spelling out Guile, another character from the video game, and rounding off the piece Ryu by Rusk.
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
That last character fits nicely onto one frame so Rusk gets a second mention in this post. While this is one of the most dynamic themed production collaborations I have seen, it has been a bit of a tricky one to attribute elements to artists. My apologies if I have got any of this wrong. Superb piece, which I imaging will be around for quite some time.
Dibz, Fade and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026
The Wacky Races cartoon series is deeply embedded in some of my happiest memories. As children, my two best friends and I would watch it every week together, adopting our favourite characters – being the youngest, I got third choice and was Professor Patent Pending, which I was actually quite happy with. Our own fortunes were dictated by those of our chosen characters, and winning the race was joyful and bestowed bragging rights until the next episode.
Dibz, Fade and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026
This is a wonderful combination of writing from Fade and Dibz and the character piece by Rusk. The wildstyle writing is top class, with each piece hanging perfectly in the blue sky. The writing is accompanied by the words “Dibz Dastardly & Fadely”, a direct reference to the characters in Rusk’s character piece.
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026
Rusk has done a great job with Dastardly and Mutley in their flying machine, and has conflated Wacky Races with Stop the Pigeon, which was a spin-off series from Wacky Races. I love this collaboration, a real trip down memory lane – probably 55 years or more ago. Thank you.
Shade One and Rusk, Upfest 2026, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026
Upfest 2026 was arguably the best so far in terms of the number of artists attending and breadth of talent from Bristol, the UK and from overseas. It really was a feast for the eyes, and it was gratifying too for local artists to be able to show off their work to a ‘home’ audience. Two Bristol-based artists, Shade One and Rusk collaborated under the name Stone Crowz, which they have done previously at street art festivals, to create this stunning piece.
Shade One, Upfest 2026, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026
To the left, Shade One painted one of his glorious portrait pieces that have a crossover between comic-book and photorealistic styles. So beautiful to look at. Shade One is an artist who likes to take his time with his work, and This piece took him a couple of days at least to complete. He also painted a smaller portrait as part of the central section of the collaboration.
Shade One and Rusk, Upfest 2026, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026
The central panel is full of Japanese iconography. Lanterns, a Japanese flag and warrior character are all presented in the most incredible detail. I just don’t k now how they managed to paint the dragons on the lanterns – fine work indeed. I think that the bold writing is likely by Rusk, who is a highly accomplished graffiti writer and has done a superb job with these blocky metallic letters.
Rusk, Upfest 2026, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026
The Godzilla-type character stepping through a ‘Hokusai’ sea is by Rusk and shows off his skills as a character artist as well as a writer. I love the bamboo frame to the monster piece. Overall the elements of the collaboration come together in a very pleasing way. Brilliant work from the Bristol duo.
Dibz and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2026
Over the winter, Dibz has been reasonably quiet, but it is noticeable that the frequency of his newly painted pieces is beginning to pick up a little. Here he has teamed up with Rusk to create this fine combination collaboration
Dibz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2026
The collaboration is one of those where the colour palette is what joins them, with Dibz providing the writing and Rusk the character. This was an early birthday piece for Soker, so the letters spell SOKER. The colours blue and gold (yellow) work well together, and as ever, Dibz work is immaculate.
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2026
Rusk has plumped for a character piece rather than letters, but he is equally at home with either. The classic character with baseball cap and spraycan is holding a rather growly dog on a tight leish. The words say ‘every dog has its day’ – perhaps an oblique reference to Soker’s birthday. Altogether a nice piece from the pair.
I enjoy my dog walks alongside the River Avon through Sparke Evans Park, and beside the light industrial estate, all the way to Temple Meads station. The walks combine my love of nature and of street art, and the dog enjoys the smells, and running around the park. These walks are especially rewarding when I come across a piece like this one by Rusk.
Rusk, River Avon, Bristol, December 2025
This is a fabulous piece of graffiti writing by Rusk, and stands out as such on this long wall. The colourful letters are tidily presented in a blue background. Although it is not as polished as some of his pieces, the whole thing oozes class. I believe it might have been to celebrate Vents’ birthday (hence the shout-out) but I am not sure. An unexpected and pleasant surprise.
Minto’s birthday paint jam in the tunnel is the gift that keeps on giving, and I continue the series with this beauty from Rusk, who has had a little burst of activity this Autumn. The combination piece includes a Frankenstein’s monster character in keeping with the Halloween theme for the paint jam.
Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025
Rusk has presented his letters beautifully spelling out MINTO with the monster in place of the ‘i’. The neat and tidy letters with a drop shadow disappearing into the centre is set on a spooky background, which was common to a few pieces in the tunnel. I am loving this Rusk phase, as he doesn’t paint as often as he used to.
Birthday paint jams are an opportunity for graffiti writers to break away from their customary letters (usually their street name) and play with the letters of the artist being celebrated. In this case, the Birthday boy was Dibz as he celebrated his 50th birthday, and the artist whiting his letters if Rusk.
Rusk Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Rusk is a fabulous graffiti writer and takes a lot of care with his work, leaving everything neat and tidy. The colours of the piece tie in with Halloween; purple, orange and green, and the spider webs decorating the edges clear up doubt, if there was any, that October 31 is very much front of mind. This is the first of several pieces from this paint jam.
Another fabulous piece from the ‘high-end’ paint jam honouring Ulow’s birthday a little while back. This one is by Rusk, a graffiti writer whose work I love, but who has been rather quiet over the last couple of years. I expect he is bus6 in other areas of his life, but he still has the skill and patience to turnout superb pieces like this one.
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
The letters spell out Ulow, and are set on the grey-blue buffed wall, which was the same for all of the artists. This is a very special and technically brilliant piece in which the letters appear to be like a hollow framework, into which the colours have been ‘poured’. The two halves in different colours have been separated by a black horizon line, making a landscape effect. Shading on the letter edges provides depth. What an outstanding piece of graffiti writing. Bravo!
