There are three or four artists who fairly regularly paint in L Dub, and one of them is Donz. His work is always original and often showcases the artist’s good eye for great colour combinations. This piece on the wall of the water company pumping station is a cracker.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, January 2024
Although I haven’t seen a huge number of Donz’ pieces, I consider this to be the best I have photographed. The letters spell DONZ, in a style that is verging on anamorphic, with a clever use of colour and shade to produce huge depth in the letters. This is a much more than decent piece from Donz.
I went for one of my occasional visits to L Dub a couple of weeks back and was greeted with this magnificent ‘Dead Calm’ piece my DJ Perks. I don’t understand the reference, because the only Dead Calm I know about was a film made in the 1980s I think. I guess that this piece has a musical reference.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, January 2024
DJ Perks is a superb writer, and this piece is as clean and tidy as a piece can be. Perfect fills, great colour selection, great background and a stunning gold border. This is a very classy piece from DJ Perks.
Mr Crawls and Mote, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
With this double collaboration from Mote and Mr Crawls, we are treated to some outstandingly creative monster characters, demonstrating that this relatively recent pairing is thriving, and their partnership is becoming one of the most interesting in Bristol at the moment.
Mr Crawls and Mote, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
While I have met Mote on this many occasions, I have not yet met Mr Crawls, but hope that I will catch them painting together before long. The left-hand side pairing of bird monsters are painted in rich colours and superbly designed. The different styles, as always, complement each other perfectly, and to date this is my favourite piece by the two artists so far.
Mr Crawls and Mote, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
To the right, two more imaginative creatures hang out side-by-side, set on a chrome background. As these two paint more often together, they are clearly bouncing ideas off each other and incorporating elements of each others’ work. For example Mote’s monster horns are straight out of the Mr Crawls song book. What a fabulous collaboration.
Nips is an artist I really don’t know too much about and haven’t posted very often. Her work is neat and tidy and I would put her into the same style grouping as Desi, Evey, Maes and Rose (whose work I have not yet posted). The letters are large and clear, no disguises or complacated design work, simply honest and authentic graffiti writing.
Nips, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, January 2023
This is a small one from the J2 roundabout, next to the large Tesco in Eastville. Letters spelling out NIPS are filled with lilac and decorated with orange and white spots. Keeping it simple can be a good thing where the phrase ‘more is less’ can be applied. I hope to see much more of Nips’ work in 2024.
Face 1st, Chill, Kool Hand and Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
The PWA boys have been at it again, for what may have been their first collaboration of 2024 and this one included Face 1st, Chill, Kool Hand (by invitation I think) and Laic217 on one of their favourite walls in Dean Lane.
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Face 1st has come up with something a little different for this piece. He presents us with one of his laughing girls, wearing glasses and holding something in her hands. I can’t quite work out what it is, but in my mind it is either a wrap, or she is rolling a cigarette/joint. Underneath the character is a FACE in bubble writing.
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Next to Face 1st is a wonderfully animated character by Chill, suitably dressed with a woolly hat for a cold January day. The smoking character is really well painted and typical of Chill’s fabulous cartoon style, which captures his tattoo skills and artwork.
Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Next up is a dog character from Kool Hand, who has painted with PWA on a couple of occasions, but I am not sure whether this is as a guest or a member of the crew. I suspect the membership is a little loose in any case. The blue dog is nicely painted with strong solid fills and a clean thick border. The character is missing a mouth, and as am not sure if it is deliberate or whether Kool Hand decided, for whatever reason not to include one.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024
Last up is a nice piece from Laic217, as always. This time he has squeezed on a rather angular skeleton skull face, also wearing a woolly hat for the cold weather and a hoody. The angular sun glasses are in line with the shape of the skull. A lovely winter-warmer from the PWA crew.
There are some pieces that stick in the memory, for one reason or another, and this unusual piece by Minto is right up there, and to be fair, quite a lot of his pieces are memorable, because of his design ideas and concepts.
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
The letters have an organic look to them, almost melting down the wall, like wax from a candle. Accompanying the letters are a couple of characters and a bird’s head. I don’t really know what it all means, but I’m not too sure I need to. The whole thing looks great and has a touch of class about it.
Hitting the slopes hard tomorrow, so heading to bed now (written last night)
It is always a genuine pleasure to find Haka pieces, and this CK One graffiti writing and character combination is a bit of fun under the M32. I don’t know who the character is, but it looks a little unfinished to me.
Haka, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2024
The solid black letters really stand out, however, the white paint drop shadow is a little thinner, and could have done with another coat, maybe. Great work and a playful approach from Haka.
It’s that wonderful Mr Crawls again, treating us to another of his cartoon birds, this one on what’s left of the hoardings along the Bristol to Bath cycle path at Greenbank. This rather jolly bird character is a reminder of the wide range of birds that Mr Crawls has in his armoury.
Mr Crawls, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2023
The blue colour of the plumage decorated with darker dots gives the bird an almost comical appearance. More nice work from Mr Crawls.
Keos visited Bristol not so long ago and left a few pieces, three I think, and this is the second I found. I don’t think I am likely to find another one. I think I got lucky to find this one, because I only rarely visit the Junction 2 roundabout of the M32.
Keos, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, January 2024
As far as I can make out, Keos seems to travel around the country a fair bit and leaves his distinctive letters for all to enjoy. This one is big, bold and vibrant, welcoming visitors to the Eastville Tesco. Great colours, fills and background – always welcome to visit.
Desi and Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
Desi (Veil) and Mr Two Gram paint together a lot, although I have posted far more of the former’s pieces than I have the latter. I think the reason, and it is a rather feeble one is that I keep forgetting Mr Two Gram’s name. I don’t think that this will happen too much more now, and I will need to draw out loads of his pieces from my archive.
Desi, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
This is a lovely fresh piece from Desi, with a nice colour palette and very organised fills. She has also included the incorporation of some background pink in between letters, which is a difficult thing to do. She did miss a little bit, between the ‘V’ and the ‘e’, but I am being picky.
Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
To Desi’s right is a great piece of graffiti writing from Mr Two Gram, whose letters I still struggle to read. The grey ‘O’ or is it a ‘G’? always looks like an ampersand to me. Lovely letters and some superb fills round off this very nice collaboration perfectly.
Natural adventures 