7987. Dean Lane skate park (949)

Kool Hand, Werm, Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Werm, Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

I’m glad I caught this bright and cheerful collaboration, because it didn’t last very long, indeed nothing much lasts too long on this particular wall in Dean Lane. It is great to see Kool Hand, Werm and Zake teaming up, with a guest appearance from Hire as a bonus.

Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

To the left of the collaborative wall, Kool Hand has painted a very crisp, neat and tidy leopard holding a spray can. This fellow has a great tail and even a well painted pair of wings. The cherub theme is central to this collaboration.

Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

Next up is a superb piece of symmetrical writing by werm, although the colours are not quite symmetrical, with two different shades of red used in the drop shadow. a green spotty background decorates the margins, and the white buffed wall helps all the components of the collaboration stand out.

Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

The cherubim theme comes into full force with a grotesque cherub on the left, and a rather more conventional one on the right. Both are floating in ther heavenly scene, and are joined by a signature rabbit, also with wings, by Hire. An uplifting and fun collaboration.

7957. M32 roundabout (798)

Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026

Ha ha, this one from Zake really tickled me. It was painted alongside a piece by Hire, and there was a bit of an aquatic and fish theme going on. This ‘monster from the deep’ is straight out of the bizarre horror genre of monster movies.

Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026

The half-human half-fish character is striding towards Hire’s graffiti writing with a little, maybe misunderstood, heart emanating from its mouth. A nice aquatic background scene and some fish round off the story well. Super stuff, and most appropriate while I am enjoying my annual fishing holiday.

7895. Cumberland Basin

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Zake has come along such a long way from his early column pieces under the M32 back in 2018 when I first came across his work. This year he has turned up the dial with a variety of really different character pieces that each tell a bit of a story.

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

In this piece, Zake has painted a cartoonish demonic character playing some mystical pipe. Behind him is a group of hooded characters, looking a little creepy to me, with lanterns held on sticks. Perhaps out protagonist is summoning them to do their evil deeds. Something a little different from Zaake.

7842. M32 Cycle path (319)

Soap, Zake and Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026
Soap, Zake and Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026

It feels like a real treat when the Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew get together as it doesn’t happen all that often since Face 1st left for Herefordshire and Chill also left the city, but every once in a while there is a gathering, and in this collaboration, Soap, Zake and Face 1st have joined forces alongside the M32.

Soap, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026
Soap, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026

Soap has painted a combination piece incorporating an Adventure Time character who appears to be crafting a mini character from his own flesh. The letters, spelling SOAP, have a rather flat presentation and are filled with a highly decorated turquoise colour. This is a highly attractive piece with plenty of detailing to admire.

Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026
Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026

In the middle section of the collaboration, Zake has painted a wild and wonderful beast, modelled on a spider, but not like anything I have seen before. The fearsome arachnid is nibbling away at Face 1st’s letters. This is something quite different and unusual from Zake, but great to see.

Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026
Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2026

To the right, Face 1st has painted his blocky letters with a considerable depth provided by the extensive deep blue drop shadow. I notice that one or two vertical lines might be missing under the C and E, but I am just being picky. A giggling girl makes an appearance inside the arch of the A, and some spider web rounds off the piece nicely. A fabulous PWA collaboration.

7707. Cumberland Basin

Zake and Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026
Zake and Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

I would describe this collaboration by Zake and Hire as unusual, for two key reasons. Zake has painted a character, rather than one of his face caricatures, and Hire, who tends to be a graffiti writer, with the occasional rabbit thrown in, has painted a character, which, without the signature and a conversation with Zake as he was tidying up, I would never have guessed was painted by him.

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

These two seem to have paired up quite a lot of late, especially since the PWA crew has become a little diluted, with both Face 1st and Chill leaving town. Zake has painted a humanoid robot, looking a little sinister, set on an urban landscape. Is this a dystopian future piece?

Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026
Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

Hire, meanwhile, has painted a comic-book style villain (or that is how I see it). The thick-set character with large, brilliantly crafted hands, is holding an old CRT television. Given that I don’t see many characters by Hire, I think this is superb, and hope to see more such pieces in the future. A fine and surprising collaboration.

7678. Cumberland Basin

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026

I forgot to paste this beast of a character face by Zake back in March when he painted it, but found it on a little delve in my archives. Such has been the unbelievable turnover in Bristol this spring, that I have dozens and dozens of superb pieces in my February-April folders that might never see the light of day.

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026

This cheeky face has been stretched out laterally to fill the long rectangular space. The character is slightly creepy, most of Zake’s characters are, but beautifully presented. His command of light and shade to create depth has been put to full use in this piece using a shade of blue to great effect. Nice one.

7647. Dean Lane skate park (922)

Hire and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Hire and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

This is a rather fun collaboration between Hire and Zake in Dean Lane. I can’t remember if these two have collaborated before, they probably have, but this is still a bit of a treat from the writer and the character artist.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

On the left, Hire has written his letters in a rather compact block, which is quite unusual, as he typically spreads his letters out a fair bit. The fills of orange and light blue have been nicely done and work surprisingly well together. A deep drop shadow is bordered with a drippy pink line with light highlights woven in.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

I’m not too sure what to say about Zake’s character piece, as it is all a little bit strange. A bald man with a huge mouth and multiple teeth has a little finger puppet attached to the end of his long tongue. The puppet character, which looks like some kind of lizard monster is spraying pink ‘vomit’ over Hire’s piece, thus creating his drippy pink outline. A great read-across between the two pieces in this collaboration.

7457. Peel Street Green (61)

Zake, Peel Street Green, Bristol, January 2026
Zake, Peel Street Green, Bristol, January 2026

This character piece from Zake almost feels like a throwback to some of his earlier work, which focussed on just the head of a character. Of course, his style has developed since then , but this piece is uncluttered by other ideas and incorporations.

Zake, Peel Street Green, Bristol, January 2026
Zake, Peel Street Green, Bristol, January 2026

This wall is a particularly good spot for character artists, because it is too square for graffiti writers. As ever, Zake has created a face with so much depth created with clever use of shades and tones, and some subtle white flashes. Great grinning work.

7403. Dean Lane skate park (894)

Benjimagnetic and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2026
Benjimagnetic and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2026

This is a rather unusual collaboration, and I can’t quite make up my mind whether it is a collaboration or two independent pieces that are sitting adjacent to each other I’ve not seen Benjimagnetic and Zake paint together before. My guess is that they both turned up at the same spot on the same day, and decided to paint alongside one another, which makes sense on this wall, because both artists tend to occupy squarish spaces, and this wall is a long rectangle.

Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2026
Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2026

To the left, Benjomagnetic has painted one of his customary GRO pieces in his distinctive cryptic style. The colours are a bit compromised because the wall was in shade with a bright sky behind. The shapes and colours that make up the whole are once again perfect.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2026
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2026

The character by Zake is rather more elaborate than many of his pieces, and with more than a hint of Chinese dragon about it. There is a rather unsettling third eye in the forehead, and wispy smoke ‘bleeding’ from the main pair of eyes. Definitely curious and slightly odd, but very nicely painted. The long forked tongue rounds off things nicely. An unusual collaborative wall.

7344. Peel Street Green (55)

Face 1st and Zake, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2025
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
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.