The Art of Sok, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025
Now it is the turn of The Art of Sok to celebrate Minto’s birthday with this outstanding piece in the tunnel. The Art of Sok is one of the best cartoon-style character artists out there, creating near-perfection with each piece he paints.
The Art of Sok, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025
I am guessing that the character in this piece is a werewolf, given that there was a Halloween theme happening in this paint jam, and he has a full moon on the back of his jacket. The cheeky character is holding a thick marker pen and appears to be having a lot of fun. Behind is a wonderful silhouetted spooky landscape, which ran through several pieces on this side of the wall. Beautiful artwork and a fun design.
The Art of Sok, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Last year I managed to catch up with The Art of Sok several times, and it seems that the artist crossed the border several times to paint in Bristol. This year his visits have been less frequent, but he has definitely left his mark, not least with this stunner for Dibz’ birthday.
The Art of Sok, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
I wasn’t expecting too many Halloween pieces this year, but as it turned out, there were quite a few. (Note to self – do a Halloween gallery). The Art of Sok has created the perfect pumpkin character painted in his outstanding cartoon style. Everything is superbly balanced and the fills and borders immaculate. This is cartoon character street art at its very best. Bravo!
I only really became aware of The Art of Sok’s work a couple of years ago or so, and thoroughly enjoy his cartoon style. There is a simplicity to his work, which relies on outstanding design beautifully sharp accurate and sharp execution.
The Art of Sok, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025
The Art of Sok has painted a face on a wall, without any outlines of a head, as if the wall itself were animate, looking not unlike something you might see in a Thomas the Tank Engine illustration, only better. The colours and shading are near-perfect and design flawless. A great first Bristol piece of the year.
Kool Hand, Conrico, Pekoe and The Art of Sok, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
This year, Dean Lane has hosted a whole bunch of Halloween pieces, and this is the largest of the lot. The festive collaboration is from a line up of artists I would never have expected, and I don’t think that they have painted as a foursome together before. Kool Hand, Conrico, Pekoe and the Art of Sok have brought four distinctive styles together in this eclectic celebration.
Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Kool Hand starts the wall off with one of his customary baseball cap-wearing orangutans, although there is a touch of menace about the ape. Usually Kool Hand’s characters are rather fun, but this one is sinister, with bloodshot eyes missing pupils and a maggot crawling out of its nose. There is nice use of solid tones bringing light and shadow, and hence depth, to the piece.
Conrico, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
I have no idea what is going on in the Conrico piece, but it looks like a werewolf-type character is leaning against a gravestone on which the words “Here lies graveyard shift… a very naughty…” You’ll have to make up the rest yourself. The character is clutching a carved pumpkin and the whole thing is set in a Japanese landscape. Curious and wonderful.
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Next up is a great piece of writing from Pekoe in an altogether lighter style, where each of the letters is painted in an individual design and colour scheme. The ghost forming the letter ‘O’ is the obvious concession to the Halloween theme. Over the last couple of years, Pekoe’s writing has improved immeasurably and her confidence with it… you can sense there is an ease and comfort with the creation of this piece.
The Art of Sok, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Finally, something evil from The Art of Sok. I have seen plenty of cartoon characters from the artist, but nothing quite like this. The monster looks like some kind of orc-inspired creature and provides edge to the collaboration. The Art of Sok’s style is so clean and crisp… There is a simplicity in his use of solid fills that betray incredible sophistication and skill, transferring cartoon-book sketches onto full sized walls. All in all a superb and varied collection of Halloween pieces from the quartet.
Dibz, Jody, Urge, The Art of Sok and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
This is another stunning production piece, led and bookended by Dibz and Fade, incorporating work from Jody, Urge and The Art of Sok. The themed colours of orange and light blues works exceptionally well in this spot that can have a tendency to be a bit gloomy.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Starting with Dibz on the left (and rather annoyingly, capturing that shaft of light which makes an appearance in the afternoons), the collaboration gets off to a great start, with as sharp and tidy wildstyle graffiti writing as you would expect from Dibz.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
With five artists in the line-up, and three of them writers, the character pieces appear in the second and fourth slots. This astonishing Godzilla piece is by Jody, who has been on fire since joining up with Dibz and Fade over the last year or so (although, to be fair, he is always on fire, but perhaps more so recently).
Urge, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Next up is a piece by Urge, who I know nothing about, but whose writing looks completely at home with the Bristol artists. I guess that Urge was visiting, or passing by, and got invited to join in. I love it that Bristol artists are so welcoming of others from around the country.
The Art of Sok, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
The fourth slot is taken up by the Art of Sok, whose distinctive style of cartoon characters, while so utterly different from the other four pieces, somehow manages to complement them very well. His characters are always beautifully presented in as close to a perfect state as they could be.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Things are rounded off by Fade, who along with Dibz ‘owns’ this manor. His beautiful letters, immaculately filled with two shades of blue and bordered with an orange 3D drop shadow, reflect the writing that comes before it. This is a very classy production piece from these five artists. Bravo!
I think that this piece by The Art of Sok has been around for a little while, but I was pointed in the direction of it by the artist himself, which was lucky, because I don’t visit this spot as a matter of routine. It was painted as part of a collaboration with Smak, which makes sense because they are friends and share a Welsh heritage.
The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok has done here what he does so well; he has created an outstanding comic-book style cartoon of a young man wearing a baseball cap and smoking. The piece is perfectly clean and tight as a nut. Even the smoke coming from the cigarette is stylised, and you can see the two styles meeting where the much more wispy smoke drifts across from Smak’s adjacent piece. Wonderful work from The Art of Sok.
The flurry of The Art of Sok pieces continues with this beautiful column portrait. There is a clarity and clean finish that the artist manages to perfect with every single piece he paints. Everything is exactly where he wants it, the lines are crisp and the fills solid and bold.
The Art of Sok, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
The character in this piece is nicely worked into the tall thin column and beautifully presented on a lilac background. The simplicity and accuracy of The Art of Sok’s work is his USP, and is something we don’t see too much of in Bristol. A really wonderful comic-book style design, with still more to come from the artist…
After a little teaser in Bristol last year at the M32 Spot and on the cycle path with Rusk, The Art of Sok has had something of a bonanza in the city this summer, and even better than that, I have managed to catch up with the artist twice in the space of a month, and what a lovely fellow he is too.
The Art of Sok, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024
This beautifully framed piece, on one of the concrete slabs in the old anti-aircraft gun emplacement, breathes new life into this historic monument, and reflects the freedoms that the nation fought the second world war for. The Art of Sok manages to paint flawless pieces, and takes great care to ensure every detail is exactly how he planned it. I believe this could be described as a Manga-style portrait, and is one that definitely ticks all my boxes.
The Art of Sok and Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
In the seventies I might have described this piece as ‘smashing’, and as a child of the seventies I am going to describe this outstanding collaboration between The Art of Sok and Smak as smashing. I was lucky enough to meet with and chat to both artists the night before they painted this wall as part of a larger jam, at Merny’s exhibition opening, which had a great turnout.
The Art of Sok and Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
The two artists have worked together perfectly to produce this character/writing combination. Smak’s writing is absolutely sensational and in addition to that, he has created a perfect tropical sunset backdrop with The Art of Sok’s character presented in the foreground – beautifully comnposed.
The Art of Sok, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
During his short trip to Bristol, The Art of Sok, who it turns out is a lovely bloke, dropped a few pieces about the place which I will naturally post in due course. The cartoon-style character is pretty much perfect in its precision, which is how The Art of Sok rolls. He told me that he likes to get his finished pieces to resemble as closely as possible his draft, so it is all very much worked out in advance, and he has the skills to execute his plan to the letter. This is an excellent collaboration.
Smak and The Art of Sok, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
The pavilion in Cheltenham is an absolutely perfect place for long wall pieces and collaborations. Set on the edge of a football field, the building plays host to some of the most memorable pieces from the Cheltenham Paint Festival over the last few years. This year, Smak and The Art of Sok painted this awesome collaboration.
Smak, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
To the left is a remarkably tight piece of wildstyle writing from Smak. The sensational colour scheme combined with a crisp design, delineated with white and black borders, contribute to an outstanding eye-fest of colour and form, clearly the work of a super-talented graffiti writer.
The Art of Sok, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
I haven’t come across The Art of Sok before, but I am guessing from the dragon on the character’s chest that there is a Welsh connection. The piece itself is outstanding, so clean and crisp, full of character and movement. The blocked-out colours are very stylised, presenting a highly designed feel to the work. Overall, this is a superb and compelling collaboration. Bravo!
Natural adventures 