This spot is often occupied by 3Dom until it gets bombed. However, Stivs, who is on fire right now, has painted this outstanding portrait piece, worthy of the spot. The combination piece has the calligraffiti letters ST and (I)VS either side of the portrait.
Stivs, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2026
The balance of light and shade used to provide depth and profile to the subject’s face is less subtle than in some of his portraits, but the quite brutal application of colours is in fact incredibly effective. I absolutely love this piece – what an amazing piece of free art for the local community.
It feels like not much has changed in Montpelier Park for a long time, with a very attractive collaboration between j9449j and Lupa dominating the wall. When I returned from my recent holiday I popped up there on the off chance something might have changed. It was worth snooping around, because tucked away in ther far corner was this new portrait piece by Stivs.
Stivs, Montpelier Park, Bristol, September 2026
I think it would be fair to say that Stivs has been on fire this year, truning out dozens of fabulous portrait pieces and calligraffiti writing all over the place. I am not sure if this portrait is of a particular person, or a figment of his imagination, but it is quite beautiful and given that it is painted entirely in shades of yellow/gold, with black and the odd touch of white shaded highlights, a teriffic feat. A masterpiece from a master artist.
Hire and Stivs, River Avon, Bristol, September 2026
This is an interesting and well worked combination collaboration alongside the river from Hire and Stivs. Hire’s graffiti writing is to the left and a combination of writing and a portrait by Stivs on the right.
Hire, River Avon, Bristol, September 2026
Hire writes ODIAH most of the time these days, having moved on from the previous HIRE letters used in the past. The piece does hark back a little to when Hire used to produce very spiky pieces, and the combination of greys, black and red work very nicely.
Stivs, River Avon, Bristol, September 2026
Stivs has painted the portrait centrepiece, which has anime cartoon overtones and is accompanied with the words “If you use your head, even sweets won’t make you fat”.
Stivs, River Avon, Bristol, September 2026
The final bit of writing, spelling STIVS, is written in a soft calligraffiti style adopting the same colour scheme as used by Hire with the inclusion of some blue. A fine collaboration.
Sometimes I just can’t see the wood for the trees, as my grandmother would say. Missing the obvious that is right in front of me. When I first saw this piece, I couldn’t work out the artist. It was familiar, but I couldn’t pin it down. It had something of Noise about it, but that didn’t seem right. If I had bothered to look at the signature I would have seen it was by Stivs.
Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
It took Stivs to point this out to me when I met him at this spot a few days later painting another piece. Slightly awkward. He said it was a birthday tribute for a friend (Boezi?). Of course the calligraffiti letters should have been enough for me to realise. Anyhow it is nonetheless a lovely piece from Stivs.
Stivs has been turning out some sensational portrait pieces lately, and this combination piece on the roundabout is really rather special. Perhaps the most surprising thing about it is that the letters D and S look rather amateurish alongside the portrait.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2026
Although the letters look at odds in this piece, it must have been deliberate, because Stivs is capable of truly great writing, and also, the shadows are perfect, which gives away a talented hand at the helm.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2026
The star of the combination is the portrait of the woman. Stivs has developed this style of near-photorealism with a touch of cartoon to perfection and this is one in a series of stunning portraits. There is some beautiful shading and great use of highlights and tones in this piece. Outstanding work by Stivs.
Conrico, Noise and Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2026
This is a wonderful collaboration painted by Conrico, Noise and Stivs, who were participating in the World Wall Stylers challenge (Chapter 26) on reggae legends. Although these were painted in April, they were still looking pretty fresh in May.
Conrico, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2026
First up is a lovely portrait piece by Conrico of Pablo Gad, a lyricist of ‘when I was a yout’ by Ed Solo. I grabbed that information off Conrico’s Instagram thread, without which I wouldn’t have known any of this. The red, gold and green are well represented, and the portrait presented in Conrico’s distinctive brush stroke style.
Noise, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2026
The middle section is a lovely bit of chunky graffiti writing from Noise that also carried the red gold and green colours that stand out beautifully against the black background.
Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2026
The collaboration is rounded off with an outstanding portrait of Lila Iké by Stivs. His portrait work is hitting new levels at the moment, which makes for very enjoyable viewing. Stivs is a little more subtle with his incorporation of the red, gold and green colours, incorporation them as part of the border surrounding the portrait.
There is a lot of flesh in this combination piece by Stivs, an artist who is not afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to scantily clad characters. Whatever one’s views about such things, the artwork is striking and skilfully presented.
Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026
Cat woman as you might not have seen her, although DC Comics did portray her in very tight catsuits, often with little left to the imagination – Stivs has just taken things to the next level. Stivs has given Cat Woman a couple of playful tattoos saying BAD CAT, and he has corrupted the initials ACAB (All Cops are Bastards) to ACAT, just because he can. D and S in calligraffiti-style bookend this character. Great work from Stivs.Cumberland Basin
Back to some of his Calligraffiti, Stivs has produced a few of these DSC (Dog Shit Crew) burners recently. Stivs is pretty much the only calligraffiti artist left in Bristol at the moment, so spotting his work really isn’t all that difficult. As far as I know Todoaciem (who wrote CIEM) is back in Spain and Wxttsart (who writes MILK) appears to have gone to ground a little.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026
These three letters, presented in a sumptuous red on a dark purple background have a strong impact. The letters and drop shadow are further picked out with a contrasting thin yellow border. This is lovely, neat and tidy work which somewhat betrays the difficulty level. If it were easy, we’d see an awful lot more of it.
Stivs is an incredibly talented artist who is as comfortable painting his character pieces as he is with his calligraffiti. His has been producing pieces at a steady pace over the past few months, but I haven’t bumped into him for a long while… maybe our clocks are on a different plane.
Stivs, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2026
Tucked away in a corner of the DIY skate park underneath the M32, this piece is a classic bit of Stivs Calligraffiti writing. The letters are beautifully presented with a perfect midline providing depth to the letters. There are four shades of pink in the letters for the top, bottom, left and right elevations, which leaves us with a 3D effect, as if the letters are standing out from the hoarding. Skilful work.
A couple of quick ones today, as I have a busy day – happy Good Friday to you. This is one of those slightly confusing pieces where the letters presented, and the artist are not the same person. The letters say OUST, a Bristol graffiti artist but they are painted by Stivs.
Stivs, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2026
In this nod to Oust, Stivs has adopted his superb calligraffiti style. Superb lettering, with a defined midline ridge, four borders in black oranges and yellow, all presented on a light blue background with decorative spots. A truly great piece of writing from a very gifted artist.
