Three artists have come together to paint this wall, but I am not sure who one of them is. Zake and Soap are obvious candidates but I don’t know who painted the boat and sea. I fear I ought to do a little more research, but am short of time.
Zake and Soap, Ikea, Bristol, January 2025
Zake has painted a ‘standard’ face with a big expression and plenty of shading which provides depth and character to the portrait. The way the face appears in the sky makes me feel like it could be a sun character. Soap has painted some beautiful letters, where the ‘O’ is a character from Adventure Time, or some other animation of that genre, which seems to be something he really enjoys including in his work. Nice work from the PWA crew.
This cartoon portrait piece by Zake embraces the spirit of Christmas in the subtlest way, with a tiny little Father Christmas hat jauntily perched on the character’s head. It was painted as the central part of a PWA Christmas celebration triptych, sandwiched between Face 1st and Soap.
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
As ever, Zake has achieved an incredible 3D effect in this piece using his well-practised skill of using light and shade, and in this example, using different colours to achieve these contrasts. As a result, the face pops out from the wall in an incredible way. I am really pleased that the PWA crew took the time to spread a little joy this Christmas.
Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024
True to his word, Face 1st said that despite moving to Herefordshire, he would be back in Bristol to have a paint from time to time, and who better to team up with than his PWA partner in crime Zake, who thrives on collaborations. This is a combination piece, with Face 1st’s writing wrapped around an unusual portrait by Zake.
Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st has enjoyed using the block letters idea, which he has used quite a lot to good effect, and here, they frame a rather sinister portrait from Zake. Seeing Zake’s characters with hair always adds a little bit of weirdness, especially in this piece, where the face is green and the hair purple. Although I photographed this collaboration not long after it was painted, the dampness of the wall has caused some damage on the character’s nose. I am so glad to see Face 1st popping down to see us.
Zake bases his work around a cartoon face. A few years ago, the face would usually be just the face, but these days, the face has become the central element to something bigger, perhaps more of a narrative around the face, with things going on. A glance at this updated gallery of his work gives you some idea of his development and growth as a street artist.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2024
This is a curious piece, and all I can think of when I look at it is ‘sperm cell’, a thought very difficult to unthink. I suppose it could be a tadpole, or at a stretch some kind of eel. Whatever it is, it is mildly unsettling and weird. The piece was painted as part of a three-way collaborative wall by Hire, Zake and Ceus, where each piece was utterly distinct from the others in style, colour and content. So the only real element of collaboration was the background and the friendship of painting together.
Noise and Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
One of the reasons that I am able to dwell a little on going back through my archives is that the winter weather is finally getting the better of ‘fair-weather’ artists, and turnover has slowed considerably since the back end of November. Although it is never good to see a slow-down, the upside is that it does give me a bit of a breather and the chance to share some ‘forgotten’ pieces, including this fine collaboration from Noise and Zake.
Noise and Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
I have said it before, that Zake loves to team up with anyone who is willing to paint with him, and in this piece he has combined really well with Noise, incorporating his cartoon character as the ‘O’ of NOISE. The deep stripy drop shadow lifts the collaboration and unintentionally mirrors the teeth of Zake’s character. This is a really satisfying collaboration to see, from two of Bristol’s best artists.
I really like Zake’s enthusiasm for teaming up with any and pretty much every graffiti/street artist in the city. It is probably easier to list those he hasn’t painted with. Here he has teamed up with Hire to create this interesting combination collaboration.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2024
The writing on the left is by Hire and takes the form of his spiky angular letter style The letters, spelling HIRE and painted in a grey colour with rouge tints, has a hint of symmetry about it. I fear that the dark blue background rather dominates the piece and makes it a little hard to pick out the lettering, which would probably look better set on a different base colour.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2024
Zake has painted another of his familiar round-face characters, so full of depth created by clever use of light and shade. The red underglow is so effective. The face is surrounded by plumes of smoke and white dots. The two pieces, although stylistically completely different, complement each other well.
Face 1st and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2024
I have an early start tomorrow to catch the right tide, and so am writing this post late last night, after a long day… forgive any incoherence. This is a wonderful collaboration from Face 1st and Zake in the tunnel, which I think was augmented by Chill, but his piece wasn’t there when I photographed the collaboration.
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2024
The piece on the left is a happy girl laughing face by Face 1st, a classic from the artist. I learned a short while ago that he has moved to Herefordshire, so I expect we won’t be seeing quite so much of his work in the city as we have been used to , but he reassured me that he is not all that far away and will of course visit. He seemed to be very happy with his move, which is a good thing.
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2024
To the right is a fabulous and rather sinister character by Zake, painted in his inimitable style. The light blue shading of the lower surfaces of the face are inspirational, creating an amazing light effect. The pointy nose and large canines point to an evil persona, or at least that is how it comes across. Some great fun from the PWA pair.
I wrote in a post recently that Zake appears to be at his happiest when he is collaborating with others, and here he is teaming up with Werm to create this integrated collaborative piece in the Deaner. Worm’s symmetrical writing has been somewhat disrupted by a mouthwatering (literally) cartoon portrait piece by Zake.
Zake and Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
The colours are all a bit muted because I took the photograph in the late afternoon, and the wall was in the shade. Sometimes collaborations like this don’t work too well, because the elements don’t integrate very well, but in this instance I think the pair have done really well here and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Nice work.
Sait Bare and Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
I think that Zake is not only incredibly prolific, but is also one of those artists who is happy to collaborate with anyone. Some artists are quite particular about who they collaborate with, but Zake, it would seem, just loves to paint with other artists. In this piece he has teamed up, to great effect, with Sait Bare.
Sait Bare and Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
The writing, spelling SA(I)T, is by Sait Bare and is typical of his non-conformist letter shapes and cloudy fills, a style that takes a little getting used to, but which is really growing on me. The ‘i’ is supplied by painted by zake in the form of one of his distinctive cartoon portraits, whose body makes up the stem of the ‘i’ and whose head is the dot on top. This is an unexpected and rather successful collaboration, and I suspect not the last from this pair.
Zake, Noise and Drake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
This is another section of the incredible World Wall Stylers ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, paint jam from last month. I made a bit of a booboo with my photographs of this section, and have included the Jessica Rabbit character by Drake, on the right, and severed it from his piece of writing (to follow), But somehow I felt it worked better bookending the writing by Noise and Zake’s Baby Herman on the left. – this may have been a mistake.
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
Zake has been producing cartoon characters for as long as I have been posting his work, but this is the first time I have seen a character based on an existing artwork. Rather than being a faithful reproduction of Baby Herman, this is very much a Zake take on the little cigarette-smoking infant. Very nicely done.
Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
Noise, as I have said countless times this year, is absolutely smashing it with every piece he paints, and this characteristic writing has very much adhered to the colours of the brief.
Drake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 29024
Finally the character of Jessica Rabbit really ought to be attached to the writing of Drake to its right, but I goofed, so it is here with the Noise and Zake pieces creating a rather nice little Triptych. This particular paint jam proved to be a fabulous showcase of talent. Big ups to Participants and to World Wall Stylers.
Natural adventures 