If ever you wanted an example of contemporary wildstyle writing at its best, you wouldn’t need to go any further than this exquisite piece by Dibz. The subtle tones and dark background are in harmony with this piece being a tribute to the late Tickz, hence the ‘rest in peace’ writing to the top left.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025
Everything about this piece is near-perfect. All the lines are sharp and clean, the fills tidy and unfussy, the white highlights consistent and bringing about a uniform 3D effect across the whole piece, and of course the halo in contrasting yellow. As tribute pieces go, this is about as good as it gets.
There were a lot of ‘out-of-town’ artists who converged on St Werburghs tunnel for Wispa’s birthday paint jam, many of whose work I haven’t seen before, including J Archer. I know little of the artist and haven’t been able to find out very much either, so I will stick to what I can see.
J Archer, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2025
This is a beautiful portrait of a woman in blue and purple tones. The proportions of the face are all good, and the features nicely picked out with light and dark shading. Although the portrait doesn’t look very big, It is probably about 7-8 foot square, which is actually a decent size. The squiggles through the face break up the piece and add to what might be a straightforward portrait. A fine tribute to Wispa – there were so many on the day.
There are a few artists who are synonymous with the Lawrence Weston (L Dub) spot, including DJ Perks, Hypo and of course Dun Sum. This is one of his fictional creatures, a monkey -type character conjured up by his fertile imagination.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
There is a lot of expression and movement in the piece, with the monkey appearing to be yelling or screeching, in the way that chimpanzees do. The shaded tones in the animal’s fur and on the teeth and tongue are expertly done, creating loads of texture and depth. This is a brilliant wildlife character piece from Dun Sum.
There is so much more to this piece than first meets the eye. For a start, Conrico could have simply written his name on the wall, but no, he has treated us to an entire landscape into which his name fits.
Conrico, Stapleton Road, Bristol, June 2025
The landscape looks like something out of The Lord of the Rings, Mount Doomesque. The meeting of the water and the sky in a dramatic fiery battle provides the perfect setting for the lime green 3D letters. The whole composition is balanced and exciting, and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Great work from Conrico.
One of the downsides of working from home (and to be frank, there are mostly upsides), is that I don’t get to wander around the streets of the centre of town as much as I used to. I am leading up to an excuse about why I haven’t posted this piece before, and the simple answer is I haven’t found it before. I am only human and can’t be on top of everything.
Irony, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2025
The beautiful Siamese cat on the door is by Irony – one of the best artists in the UK, in my view. The piece was painted for/curated by Upfest, and it is a rare expansion of Upfest’s sphere of influence into North Bristol. The piece is looking a little tired, and I would have loved to have found it sooner – I am guessing it is several years old. So happy though to bag another Irony piece, they are the best.
Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025Lupa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025Lupa, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025Lupa, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, October 2024Lupa, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023Lupa, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023Lupa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023Lupa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023Lupa, Purdown, Bristol, May 2023Lupa, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023
It has been enjoyable to watch as Astrea becomes more bold with her artwork and the spots she is choosing to post. She seems to be settling on a style that is all her own and quite Gothic in its appearance.
Astrea, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025
Using the colours red, black and white, which contrast superbly (a combination much used by Decay in his early days), she has created an attractive abstract design. Tucked away on the edge of a long hoarding, I would expect this piece to be around for a while. Great progression.
Hannover Place is probably most famous for the Banksy ‘girl with a pierced eardrum’ piece, which is still there, albeit with some paint damage. Just opposite is this shutter piece by Ejits, that absolutely made a lunchtime walk I took around the Harbourside a couple of weeks back.
Ejits, Hannover Place, Bristol, June 2025
I rarely walk around this area, so I’m not too sure how long the piece has been here, but it still looks in pretty good condition, so is probably months rather than years old. Ejits has a wonderful cartoon style that works so well on large or small walls. I am not too sure what is going on in this story piece, but it looks like there are many hands manipulating the central character. This might be a reference to the stop-frame animation technique used by Aardman animation studios, which is around the corner from this building. It is always great to find work by Ejits.
I am writing this post (last night) in a lonely hotel room in Warrington. Tomorrow, I am attending the launch of a new National Nature Reserve just outside the town, something I have been working on for a few months. It will be great to see the partnership project come to life.
This piece by Zake is a superb example of his work, and he has really managed to keep the whole thing very neat and tidy. Although it doesn’t look like it, the piece is quite large, and on a wall he decorated back in August
Zake, River Avon, Bristol, June 2025
As with all of his portrait pieces, he has created great depth using light and shade to lift the face from the wall, deceiving the eye. Big teeth and a lack of pupils in the eye, give the character a sinister appearance, which is a bit of a Zake trademark. Below is his previous piece in this spot.
I think I was about five or six years old when I was given my first Asterix book. My mother was having her hair done and bought me ‘Asterix the Gaul’, to keep me occupied for the very boring two hour hair appointment. Not only did the distraction technique work, but it began a love affair I have had with these cartoon adventure books ever since. I still buy (in hardback) every new edition that is published, even though both the original author and illustrator (Goscinny and Uderzo) have now died. Imagine my excitement when I came across Dibz and Fade while they were painting this epic piece in Dean Lane.
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025
I can’t really add much commentary about the artists that is new, and I have run out of superlatives to describe their work. The writing on the left, by Dibz is about as tight and sharp as you can get with wildstyle graffiti writing. The orange letters with a deep 3D drop shadow, which has a metallic sheen to it, spell DIBZ.
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025
To the right hand side of the collaboration, Fade has adopted the colour selection for his piece, but, although subtle, his letters and style are a tad softer than Dibz’. A notable change in this collaboration is that the artists have swapped sides from their usual preference, which must feel a little bit like sleeping on the wrong side of bed. Maybe?
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025
The centrepiece of this production is a near-perfect rendition of the druid Getafix, who makes the secret magic potion that gives our protagonists, Asterix and Obelix, their strength. The artists have been so true to the original artwork, Uderzo himself would have been impressed. This really is a remarkable collaboration and shows off Dibz and Fade at their very best. I’ll forgive them for the ‘Geta-graf-fix pun.
Natural adventures 