It would seem that Taboo doesn’t paint all that often these days, or at least, not in the places that I frequent. Dean Lane Hardcore (DLH) is an annual opportunity for street/graffiti artists to do their stuff in a one-day skate festival atmosphere, and I think that Taboo painted this and one other piece at this year’s DLH.
Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2025
Wall space might have been a bit of a premium, who knows, but Taboo has instead painted the floor of the skate park – perhaps with a view to his work being more likely to appear in skate videos. Taboo’s letters are written back to front (nothing is straightforward with this artist) but rather more conventional than his typical anti-style pieces. Great to see his work after a while.
This tidy little piece of graffiti writing is Dirtygypo’s contribution to a tribute wall painted in honour of Dorns recently. I betray my lack of knowledge at times like this when I say that I am not entirely sure that I ever met Dorns nor featured any of their work in Natural Adventures. What is clear from this wall is that Dorns was well-loved and respected by many in the graffiti community in Bristol.
Dirtygypo, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2025
What is deeply frustrating from my perspective is that I find it quite easy to read the letters DORNS in this piece, but I can’t decipher the letters used in Dirtygypo’s normal writing. There are some great colours in this piece, and a rather special 3D drop shadow in purple with pink dots. A thin white highlight enhances the feeling of depth. RIP Dorns.
Benjimagnetic, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2025
I rather like this piece by Benjimagnetic on the cycle path, with its orange and green stripes for a background, it has something of a psychedelic look to it. The GRO letters are beautifully ‘sculpted’, with layers of geometrical shapes stacked one upon another.
Benjimagnetic, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2025
The piece was painted alongside Hemper, and looking at this with hindsight I really ought to have posted them as a pair, as they shared a colour scheme. The piece is really neat and tidy, and the sharp lines are softened, ever so slightly, with the floating bubbles, a clever device. Great work from Benjimagnetic.
One of the very best character portrait artists in Bristol, who doesn’t paint as often as I’d like is Shade One. Fortunately the draw of joining a Ulow birthday celebration was enough to bring him out to create this absolute beauty.
Shade One, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Shade One is a specialist at painting caricature portraits, where the subjects are completely on point, but don’t fall into the realm of photorealism. The girl, wearing a bucket hat, painted in greyscale, is absolutely beautiful. Her expression somewhat moody as she glances to her right. Shade One is surely an artist at the very top of his game.
The Lucky Lane Bristol Mural Collective paint jam last month, is a gift that keeps on giving. Although I missed the pieces being painted because I was out of the country, I have been able to enjoy them completely and utterly. This is a wonderful shutter piece by Yoliws.
Yoliws, Lucky Lane, Bristol, September 2025
I love Yoliws’ characters that have a sense of freedom and joy about them, and the colours she selects have an upbeat feel. Unfortunately, I think that the shutter is working against Yoliws in this instance, and perhaps some stronger colours might have brought out a bit more contrast. There is a lovely message here for all who care to look at it… ‘Feelin’ lucky to have met you’. Fabulous stuff.
This door, at the back of a light industrial estate alongside the River Avon, has to be one of the most decorated in Bristol, although most of the time the quality of work is fairly poor. This superb cat by Daz Cat is an exception, and just shows what a good piece of artwork can do to a scruffy door.
Daz Cat, River Avon, Bristol, September 2025
Daz Cat has filled the space expertly with a blue faced cat wearing a white-collared orange top. Although the piece looks like it might have been painted quickly, the detail in the face of the cat is neat and tidy. There is lots of depth and contours on this three-quarter profile portrait… great work.
Umbrelle, Emchoux, Kid Crayon, Tera and El Ruby Tattoo, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2025
The DoorDie club have painted a few collaborative walls this year of which, this might be the best. We are familiar with Kid Crayon and Tera’s work but perhaps less so with the remaining collaborating artists, Umbrelle, Emchoux and El Ruby Tatoo.
Umbrelle and Emchoux, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2025
We start with an eye-catching black and white vampire portrait from Umbrelle, which includes a fine pair of bat wings. Alongside this character piece is a smaller vampire by Emchoux. Both artists are tattoo artists, which explains their work as resembling tattoo flash sheets.
Kid Crayon, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2025
Kid Crayon, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2025
Next up are two pieces of writing from Kid Crayon in a Gothic style, resonating with the vampire theme, which spell out ‘do’ and ‘die’, he didn’t have room to paint the ‘or’. It is unusual for Kid Crayon to write letters like this, but he has done a great job.
Tera, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2025
Taking up centre stage is a satanic piece by Tera. It is worth noting that Tera has only been spray painting for a few months, and is already turning out epic pieces like this one. There is a bit of glare in the photograph which is a little unfortunate.
El Ruby Tattoo, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2025
The final piece in this collaboration is by El Ruby Tattoo, featuring a character who looks like a female fawn, complete with horns and pointy elf-like ears. A perfect end piece to this impressive collaboration.
This is another gorgeous piece from the Bristol Mural Collective paint jam in Lucky Lane. It is by Zubieta, who is no stranger to Natural Adventures. There is a door in this wall that gives a sense of scale to the piece, which is quite large really.
Zubieta, Lucky Lane, Bristol, September 2025
Zubieta has painted a Japanese lucky cat (maneki neko), one of two in the Lane, the other one was by Paper Walls. This particular cat is sending out love to some rats and a caterpillar, I’m not too sure why, but it makes for a nice scene. A night sky with stellar objects and a flower complete the composition. I love the door in this piece, and Thursday Door lovers will see this photograph again in due course.
Mr Crawls and Mote have been at it again with these tunnel-end pieces on each side of the archway. The pigeon by Mr Crawls is his latest character favourite, and is getting better with each rendition.
Mote, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025
On the other side, Mote has painted this unusual moustachioed character. I haven’t seen too many people portrait pieces by Mote, and it is interesting to see how his style comes through. Looking forward to seeing more of these sophisticated pieces from him.
Natural adventures 