Happy New Year. I have a feeling that 2026 is going to be a better year, I hope I am right. I was walking to my favourite Italian delicatessen a couple of weeks back and bumped into Ryder, who had just completed a window painting to celebrate the birthday of Dom Majors Studio.
Ryder, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, December 2025
The retro cartoon style cat is eye-catching and although painted for the celebration party, is still proudly displayed in the window. I have a feeling that Ryder also sprayed some paint on the bench outside, and was a little concerned that people might be sitting on it before the paint was dry. A different kind of piece from Ryder, who I always enjoy chatting to.
Neddy Ned Ned, Jest Soubriquet and Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2025
Ahh, a wonderful triptych of writing either side of a central character by messrs Ryder, Jest Soubriquet (LWT) and Neddy Ned Ned, respectively, in one of my favourite Bristol spots.
Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2025
The writing on the left is by the wonderful Ryder, who doesn’t paint as much as he used to, but still manages to take a break from family responsibilities once in a while. Classic, tidy writing from him.
Jest Soubriquet, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2025
The portrait piece in the middle by Jest Soubriquet, who goes by the name Likeswantu, is a perfect foil for the two pieces of greyscale writing either side. The portrait may not be his best, but it works so well in this situation, and the eyes with drops are really effective.
Neddy Ned Ned, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2025
To the right, the letters WISKA reflect the colours of Ryder’s writing. Neddy Ned Ned is one of those artists who doesn’t seem to paint all that often, but who has a strong presence on the city. The letters are well presented and the 3D drop shadow looking cool in purple and white. The whole triptych is painted on a swirling cosmic background with a touch of green. A fine collaboration.
Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage and Solar, Coronation Road, Bristol, January 2025
I photographed this building way back in January, but never got round to posting it. I am doing so now, because there was a large fire at the site, a former metalworks, in early October. The building ceased to be in use in 2020, and became an obvious opportunity for graffiti, and several writers from around the city duly obliged. I don’t believe that this was any kind of overall collaboration, more an accumulation of pieces over time from Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage, Solar, and one other.
Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage and Solar, Coronation Road, Bristol, January 2025
The top row (the former canteen of the building and most severely fire-damaged part – arson, by the way) is a combination collaboration from Ryder and Rowdy, both of whom are significant players on the graffiti scene in Bristol. Taboo’s dominant epic piece takes up the whole of the middle floor, and some smaller pieces from Sage, Solar (PLB) and Phase (?) occupy the ground floor. This is more of an interesting mosaic than anything else really – iconic in its own way, but now alas, ashes.
Ryder and Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Turnover on the M32 Cycle path has been fairly slow this winter, and I have reduced the frequency of my visits to the spot accordingly. On my last visit, however, I got really lucky and met Ryder and Jaksta, along with some of their friends, who were all painting together to celebrate Jaksta’s birthday. It appears that January is a big month for street art birthday paint jams.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
In this combination collaboration, Ryder has painted the letters RAKE and Jaksta the character. Painted on a good old-fashioned brick wall, this piece looks like a throwback to the 1980s. The graffiti writing by Ryder is superb, spelling out RAKE, and not only celebrates Jaksta’s birthday, but also 25 years of painting together.
Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Jaksta is the cartoon character king, who manages to create incredible caricatures of people both famous and unknown. This is an absolute peach, and one of two pieces painted by the artist during this session. The exaggerated features and overized head are key components of Jaksta’s style, and would not look out of place in Montmatre’s (Paris) crazy art markets. A fabulous collaboration by the RAW duo.
In this last look back at 2019 (for the time being), I am posting five pieces from the wall on the M32 Cycle path, which never made it onto Natural Adventures at the time. There is some poignancy to this post and the feature piece by Mena (Menas), because I have recently heard that Mena is currently recovering from a bad accident she had while travelling in Thailand. She is back in the UK, but quite unwell. This is my small way of wishing her a full recovery, and I dedicate this retrospective post to her. I expect you’ll see a few pieces, from various artists, in the coming days and weeks that will be wishing her well.
This is a particularly fine example of her work, and although she doesn’t paint all that regularly, her pieces are always welcome. I am not certain that all of the following pieces were painted as part of a paint jam, but I suspect they were.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Ryder is most definitely a graffiti writer’s writer, if you know what I mean, he is highly respected in the community and turns out some of the best graffiti writing in the city which he has done for quite some while. This piece is rather more subtle than most of his work, and perhaps doesn’t quite have the impact we would normally expect. I’m not sure these light shades quite work (for me).
T-Rex, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finding anything by T-Rex is always a treat, and this is a classy example of her great work. the writing/character combination always works a treat. The dinosaur always adds a touch of light-heartedness to the edgy nature of graffiti writing.
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Hemper has used a similar colour palette to Ryder, and for me it all just looks a little washed out. There is no doubting the superb skills of the artists, but on this day, I think they chose a weak colour palette, and perhaps that is why I never posted these pieces back in June 2019.
Soker, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finally, and very possibly not part of the paint jam, is this bright and colourful piece from Soker, displaying his graffiti writing credentials to the max. Superb letter shapes and fills mark this piece out, I only wish my photographic skills could do it justice.
Ryder and Inkie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
I am rather tired this morning. I got back late last night from Copenhagen, after a wonderful long weekend there with my 89 year old mother. We packed a lot in to the three full days, and I am still processing much of the trip. I have managed to keep my posts going on Natural Adventures through this period, but might need to slow down a little as I ease myself back into work after two weeks off.
This wonderful collaboration between Ryder and Inkie was actually painted way back in May and for some inexplicable reason never got posted at the time… it happens.
Ryder, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
To the left, and slightly impacted by the shadow cast across the top, is some superb writing by Ryder, which is accompanied by Evil Edna, the television character from the cartoon series Willo the Wisp. There are some great fill colours, oozing confidence, without overcomplicating things. Great to see Ryder managing to paint a little.
Inkie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Inkie is arguably the best know Bristol artist still regularly painting in the city, and this is a sumptuous example of his stylised lettering. The piece is pretty much perfect in every way and like Ryder’s piece is confident and uncomplicated. Both are writers at the top of their games, with nothing to prove, and it comes across in their work.
Ryder organised a brilliantly well attended paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel back in February this year and this is his outstanding contribution to it. While I am used to seeing writing from Ryder, I am less familiar with his character work, so this combination piece was a joy to behold.
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
It is a pity that Ryder doesn’t get out to paint more often, because he is a real class act, and his writing is always out of the top drawer. These beautifully designed letters contained within a yellow outline and small drop shadow are immaculately crafted and contain a nice four-colour horizontal fill. Straightforward, not too fussy and easy on the eye.
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
The character is Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a franchise that passed me by, but one that regularly crops up in street/graffiti art. Ryder demonstrates his skills as not only an exceptional writer, but character artist too. Great work and a great paint jam to celebrate his exhibition in the Farm pub around the corner.
Ryder, Inkie and Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
When Inkie is in town, he will often get together with friends and paint a collaborative wall, and often it is this one in Dean Lane. On this occasion he got together with Ryder and Mr Riks, which is not a trio of artists that would ordinarily spring to mind, but the street art scene is always full of surprises.
Ryder, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Ryder doesn’t paint at Dean Lane all that often, but he has smashed it with this rather condensed burner painted in orange and grey. The RYDER letters are nicely worked, with the orange bleeding out into the background at the top of some of them. The colour palette which includes a dark blue and black isn’t one that I would instinctively chose, but works incredibly well in this striking piece of graffiti writing.
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Most of the time, you pretty much know what you are going to get from Inkie, and this chrome piece delivers in bucket-loads. Great design and precision are trademarks from the gentle giant, who is probably one of Bristol’s most famous street artists after Banksy, alongside Nick Walker and Cheo. Inkie has such a distinctive style, that I reckon he could write any combination of letters and it would be easy to identify.
Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
To the right, another artist with a distinctive style, Mr Riks, has gone for this colourful piece, which is full of energy and joy. Although, not the focal point of the piece, the cartoon eyes are irresistible and draw attention. Great fills and a wonderful drop shadow, this is a fine piece of graffiti writing from Mr Riks.
This collaborative wall brings together three graffiti writers, each with very strong and distinctive styles, opting to paint in colours of their choice, making it a loose collaboration – more like three friends painting a wall together, without a theme or agenda. Great stuff.
Conrico organised a paint jam under the M32 a week or so back, and a great many of the columns there were given a fresh coat of paint, including this banging vertical piece of writing from Ryder. The slogan accompanying this fiery piece is “play with fire – get burnt”, an apt phrase for the graffiti community.
Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Some artists have pure class, which is a gift that can’t be manufactured, and Ryder has class. There is a confidence and assertiveness about his work that eclipses others around him, and this is a great example of that. The fun piece (spelling out RYDER) incorporates character faces into the letters, something Ryder does a fair bit, and has a delicious colour selection with perfect fills, and a steady black outline. This is one of the best column pieces I have seen in a long while. Simply the best.
This is another piece from the archive, and is an absolute classic from RAW’s Ryder. Ryder is at the very heart of everything that is great about graffiti writing in Bristol. His work is consistently brilliant, there is always an element of edge and the style of writing has a really strong local identity to it. If you look at graffiti writing from around the world there are clearly local styles and influences, and Ryder is central to the Bristol look.
Ryder, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2018
Painted in April 2018, in red and gold, the letters RYDER stand out and smack you in the face. It is weird looking at the finished piece, but it feels like the creation was effortless, maybe because of his modesty and lack of fuss. Punchy and direct, this is a no nonsense statement from the wonderful Ryder.
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