6822. River Avon (83)

Werm, River Avon, Bristol, March 2025
Werm, River Avon, Bristol, March 2025

Werm is becoming one of those consistent, drumbeat graffiti writers whose work is always there and reminds us what the Bristol street/graffiti art scene is all about. His current style takes us through his playing with symmetry of the letters WERM, forever striving for perfection.

Werm, River Avon, Bristol, March 2025
Werm, River Avon, Bristol, March 2025

In addition to his beautifully presented letters, Werm has set the piece on a pattern of pixelated cubes, adding just enough interest to lift the piece. Unfortunately, the afternoon sun has crept into the right-hand half of these pictures, but that is a daily hazard when photographing street art… and bins, and parked cars etc.

6799. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025

Werm is continuing along his journey, experimenting with bilateral symmetry in his writing. The symmetry in this one is notable, but I think that it might be the colour scheme that initially attracts the eye, with some nice contrasting reds, greens and oranges.

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025

What baffles me about writers like Werm is how they manage to get everything ‘right’ if you know what I mean. For example, in this piece the green drop shadow veers off to the right, but it needs to be perfect across all the letters otherwise something would look out of kilter. I suppose the old adage, practice makes perfect, applies here, but it is still an admirable talent.

6790. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

Today’s posts will have to be the quickest ever. I am staying in Godalming and running a workshop today and forgot to write the blog posts last night, so am squeezing these ones in before breakfast. This is a fine symmetrical piece by Werm on the long wall at Cumberland Basin.

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

At first glance, this doesn’t look too much different from many of his other pieces, but look a little closer and you can see that the subtle fill to the letters is contiguous throughout all the letters, which is a tried and tested technique by graffiti writers, and executed really well here by Werm.

6647. Peel Street Green (36)

Werm, Peel Street Green, Bristol, December 2024
Werm, Peel Street Green, Bristol, December 2024

Werm has had a very good year in 2024, and tried out several new variants of his letters, sticking with some and abandoning others. This was a particular theme that saw him through most of the year, crafting the letters WERM into a bilaterally symmetrical pattern.

Werm, Peel Street Green, Bristol, December 2024
Werm, Peel Street Green, Bristol, December 2024

This one looks like it might have suffered a little at the hands of the weather, or the background wasn’t fully applied, which is a pity, because it distracts a little from the writing itself, demonstrating why backgrounds can be so important. It’ll be interesting to see if Werm moves on from this style in 2025.

6580. Sparke Evans Park (110)

Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2024
Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2024

The Sparke Evans Park wall tends to look rather nice in the autumn and winter, with the browns and golds of the leaf litter beneath it. These colours provide a nice backdrop, and consciously or otherwise, this piece by Werm has picked up on those seasonal surroundings. The other good thing about this wall in the duller months is that it is possible to photograph it without shadows from trees being cast, resulting in horrible dappling.

Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2024
Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2024

The writing, spelling out WERM, is one of the best examples of bilateral symmetry in writing you are likely to see. The symmetry becomes even easier to make out because of the colour regimes Werm has selected, breaking it down into sections, thus making it easier for the eye to make comparisons. The dark green background is just right too. Nice work.

6540. M32 roundabout J3 (640)

Werm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Werm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

I find myself sitting on a Great Western train on my way to London to get to a football match between the mighty Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. The journey has provided me with the gift of time that I don’t get too much of these days, and I am enjoying every second. I am even pushing the boat out with the third street art post of the day, something I am finding increasingly difficult to do.

Werm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Werm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

This wonderfully symmetrical piece by Werm is typical of his style at the moment, and one in which I think he is hitting his best form. The letters in a script-like pattern spell WERM and are filled with two shades of orange. The drop shadow is dark blue and the border green. I feel instinctively that these colours shouldn’t really work well together, but somehow they do. In true graffiti writing style, Werm has included plenty of shout outs around the perimeter of the piece.

6444. River Avon (66)

Werm, River Avon, Bristol, September 2024
Werm, River Avon, Bristol, September 2024

Werm is a graffiti artist who can divide opinion with his carefully thought out and intricate pieces. I am rather enjoying his recent designs though and I consider this to be a first-class piece of graffiti writing.

Werm, River Avon, Bristol, September 2024
Werm, River Avon, Bristol, September 2024

The curves Werm has designed in to the letters take away the stark edges that the letters WERM naturally have. He has also endeavoured to create some clever bilateral symmetry to the piece, which is a device he has been working on for a little while. The fills are coherent throughout the letters, and the colour scheme works well. This is an admirable piece from the versatile artist.

6437. St Werburghs tunnel (449)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2024
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2024

Hypo has been on fire for a couple of years now, re-emerging during Covid, and keeping up a regular rhythm of fine graffiti writing that just seems to be getting better and better. His letters lend themselves to bilateral symmetry like those of Werm, but there the similarity of graffiti writing between the two artists ends.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2024
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2024

The colours in this piece are its crowning glory. Set on a neutral cream background, the wildstyle letters ‘HYPO’ are festooned with a beautifully blended selection of rainbow colours that manage to remain reasonably subtle, and whilst a colourful piece it avoids being gaudy. Very fine work from a lovely graffiti writer.

6426. Brunel Way (296)

Werm, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024
Werm, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

Sometimes wildstyle graffiti writers can be guilty of overthinking their work, and I feel that Werm went through a phase where he did just that, and while his pieces were technically awesome, they were, for my taste, just a little too over-complex.

Werm, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024
Werm, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

This one is a recent work in a series of bilaterally symmetrical graffiti writing pieces that Werm has been focussing on. He tends to work in themes and ideas which he runs with for six months or so, and then moves on to some new concept, constantly evolving and improving. The colours palette is very ‘Wermy’, and by that I mean contains reds and cream, which he uses a often as a combination. This is a nice piece, and well worth buffing the wall to provide a clean background.

6415. Dean Lane skate park (762)

Hypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Hypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

I am really flagging. This is a beauty from Hypo, who I met at the M32 roundabout a couple of days ago. He continues to turn out quality pieces with great regularity, and this one is so full of energy and effervescence.

Hypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Hypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

We talked a little of his penchant for symmetry, and chatted about Werm who is going through a phase of writing his letters with a bilateral symmetry. In symmetry lies perfection… That’s yer lot, back to bed for me.