Face 1st and Zake, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2025
I am really impressed that Face 1st has kept up with his intention to visit Bristol from time to time after his move to Herefordshire last year. I guess he knows he can paint freely in Bristol, and he probably has plenty of friends here to visit.
Face 1st and Zake, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2025
This is a rather unusual combination piece from Face 1st and Zake, featuring some fancy ‘gold’ letters by Face 1st with an incredibly deep drop shadow, and a (satanic) portrait piece in the middle by Zake. Set on a fiery background, there is a hint that this might have been a Halloween piece, but I am not too sure. Some nice shout-outs to Soap and Chill from the PWA crew.
This puffy-faced character piece is by Zake, painted in celebration of Kool Hand’s birthday, although officially his birthday was a month earlier. It seems almost impossible to exaggerate the features in a Zake piece, but he has managed to do it here, with the result that it is all a little but disturbing, the cheeks in particular.
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
As I have explained many times when writing about Zake’s work, he creates so much depth in his work by playing very skilfully with light and shade, using up lighting and down lighting to cast shadows and to emphasise features. Clever work from a quiet and unassuming artist.
This is an absolute corker from Zake, placing one of his iconic characters into a space suit helmet, adding layers of interest and perspective to this piece on the long wall in Cumberland Basin.
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
I think that the piece was painted for a celebratory paint jam, but I forget now which one it was, there have been so many in the latter part of this year. Great work from Zake, always adding new and interesting ideas to his base characters.
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 don’t really need to dwell too much on haw Zake has been smashing it lately, his skill is matched by his creativity, and in this piece he has really gone to town. I also like the fact that Zake has returned us to the wonderful colour combination of pink and blue.
Zake, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2025
Zake has combined three faces into one, to create something that looks like a primitive deity or something like that. The expressions on the faces, running left to right are contentment via uncertainty to some kind of evil rage. An interesting piece with lots to enjoy about it.
This piece by Zake is something a little different, a variation on a theme from the artist. It is rare to see Zake paint anything approximating to letters, but here we are with an unusual combination piece.
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2025
Two letters and two faces, making up the vowels, are nicely designed and set on a grey background with watery bubbles. For once, I will forgive the use of brown paint, because it is subtle and in keeping with the ‘slatey’, earthy, feel of the whole composition. It is always a pleasure to see artists try something new.
Face 1st, Zake and Soak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
I cannot think of a time when I haven’t been utterly delighted to come across a PWA collaboration, and this beauty filled me with good cheer a couple of weeks back. There is a good chance that the collaboration will; remain intact for a while, as this stretch of wall tends to have quite a slow turnover.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
The three artists contributing to the collaboration are Face 1st, Zake and Soap. Face 1st needs no introduction and is probably the artist who has appeared most on Natural Adventures, and deservedly so. This is a classic theme for the artist, with a laughing girl’s face and big hair spelling out FACE, with some diamonds chucked in for good measure.
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
In the middle is this wonderful cartoon character piece from Zake which also fits into his archetypal style, with so much depth, the face seems like it could roll off the wall and into the pathway. Zake seems to be painting at least once a week at the moment and is smashing it.
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
The triptych is completed with a lovely piece of writing from soap, who doesn’t get out as much as he used to, but still manages to collaborate reasonably often with his PWA chums. His letters and fills are sublime and, as is usually the way with his work in recent years, has an Adventure Time influence with the incorporation of the Ice King. Superb collaboration with a shared inclusion of a colour scheme throughout.
Zake has been smashing it consistently for months and years. His cartoon-style characters peer out from walls all over the city and have become a familiar sight for anyone who chooses to open their eyes.
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025
This is an eye-catching piece in the tunnel, painted alongside numerous other artists, during a paint jam about two or three weeks ago. In this rather sinister piece, the character is wielding a dripping syringe, looking as if there is some ill intent at work. As ever, lots of light and shade creating depth in the character, and a little bit of a story too.
I am used to seeing Zake character pieces that tend to be head-on round faces in a cartoon style with lots of light and shade creating depth, so this is something a little different.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
The profile portrait of an androgenous person draws more on a realistic version of a character than the cartoon style I am used to from Zake. The hair, in particular (most of his characters are bald), is great to see, demonstrating that Zake is far more than simply a one-trick pony. Definitely an unusual piece from one of the most prolific artists painting in Bristol at the moment. I have updated my gallery of Zake’s work so you can see what I mean.
Tucked away behind the iron fence of the swimming pool at Dean Lane is this fabulous collaboration combination piece from Werm and Zake. Werm, more than adequately providing the symmetrical letters, and Zake offering a couple of different cheeky characters peering over the top of them.
Werm and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
The horizontal band colour scheme, painted on an off-white background, works really well, and Zake has cleverly incorporated the band of colour into his characters. I’m not quite sure what it is about it, but this feels like a really classy piece to me, and I really like it.
Natural adventures 