I know that Mr Riks has painted in this spot before, but I was still rather surprised to stumble across this one. There are two notable things about the piece, the first is that there is no buffed wall or background, so the writing is at risk of being overcrowded by the surrounding graffiti, the second is the day glo colours that go some way to mitigating that risk.
Mr Riks, Frome Side, Bristol, September 2025
The nicely rounded letters spell RIKS in his distinctive font, and he has given them a bit of a lift with a deep 3D drop shadow drifting to the right. If I am honest, I think a little bit of extra background would have given this piece a bit more prominence, however, he might have been short of paint or time. Vibrant work.
If ever you want to see wildstyle graffiti writing at its absolute best, then look no further than this outstanding piece by Soker painted on the wall of the Sofa Project in Old Market.
Soker, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2025
Starting with the background, this piece is set on a colourful abstract wash, that has the look of a watercolour, with blended tones and drips. The letters, spelling out SOKER, are presented in a sumptuous palette of red, purple and green with magnificent fill patterns throughout. This enormous piece is a testament to an artist who sits at the pinnacle of his craft.
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.
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.
Another fabulous piece from the ‘high-end’ paint jam honouring Ulow’s birthday a little while back. This one is by Rusk, a graffiti writer whose work I love, but who has been rather quiet over the last couple of years. I expect he is bus6 in other areas of his life, but he still has the skill and patience to turnout superb pieces like this one.
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
The letters spell out Ulow, and are set on the grey-blue buffed wall, which was the same for all of the artists. This is a very special and technically brilliant piece in which the letters appear to be like a hollow framework, into which the colours have been ‘poured’. The two halves in different colours have been separated by a black horizon line, making a landscape effect. Shading on the letter edges provides depth. What an outstanding piece of graffiti writing. Bravo!
Inkie and Mr Riks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
I am a little weary. It is late, last night, and I have been fishing all afternoon, with some success. I will be fishing again tomorrow which means that I have had to write this post in advance. I was lucky enough to catch Inkie and Mr Riks as they were putting the finishing touches to this collaboration.
Inkie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Inkie has painted some classic letters in gold which pop out from the wall with the help of a deep 3D drop shadow. The colours work perfectly and the whole piece shows off the incredible skill of an artist at the top of his game.
Mr Riks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Alongside is a superb piece by Mr Riks which contains letters spelling RIKS, which diminish in size from left to right. The writing is probably best viewed from the right, bringing the letter sizes into some king of regularity. Using the same letter colours as Inkie, Mr Riks’ piece also stands out from the crowd. A wonderful collaboration from two awesome artists.
Inkie and Mr Riks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
It would appear that the Asre comeback is complete. Although he is concentrating his efforts on his graffiti writing, Asre has also left us a couple of his character pieces to enjoy in recent weeks.
Asre, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2025
What I hadn’t realised from his last stint in Bristol, was that he is rather a talented writer. It is interesting that he keeps his writing and his character separate, and I’m not aware of any combination pieces from him. It might be that his large character faces simply don’t lend themselves very well to accompanying letters and are better left as standalone pieces. This writing, in pinks, purples and blues, is very neat and tidy, demonstrating great can control. The reversed-out stars and spots are nicely done. Lots more to come from Asre.
Klashwhensober, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2025
Klashwhensober has been missing in action for months, for very good reasons I am sure, and he has returned with a gentle flurry of pieces appearing all around the town, as if he was never absent.
Klashwhensober, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2025
This is a really nicely crafted piece of graffiti writing, and has a clarity and sense of purpose not always present in Klashwhensober’s work. The letters spell out Sober and contain an interesting selection of colours that shouldn’t really work well together but somehow do. Great to see him back.