There are a few artists who are synonymous with the Lawrence Weston (L Dub) spot, including DJ Perks, Hypo and of course Dun Sum. This is one of his fictional creatures, a monkey -type character conjured up by his fertile imagination.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
There is a lot of expression and movement in the piece, with the monkey appearing to be yelling or screeching, in the way that chimpanzees do. The shaded tones in the animal’s fur and on the teeth and tongue are expertly done, creating loads of texture and depth. This is a brilliant wildlife character piece from Dun Sum.
Most of the artwork at L Dub is painted by a handful of trusts and one of the most visible of them is DJ Perks, and I was fortunate enough to meet him while he was painting a different piece on this trip. I think that it is the first time I have ever met anyone actively painting at L Dub.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
This piece looks very much like a tribute piece, perhaps a birthday or something for Tisha. I am taking a wild guess that she might be one of his children, but whoever it is, it is a very fine piece of graffiti writing indeed. Some beautiful fills, and the subtlest of white highlights adding a little 3D vibe. Very nice work from one of the most modest artists in Bristol.
A graffiti artist who writes, and has been writing for some time in Bristol, is Vesar, and it is something of a mystery that in ten years of blogging about Bristol street art on Natural Adventures, this is the first time I have posted a piece by him. Shame on me. I have no explanation.
Vesar, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
I would say that I have noticed a significant uptick in the quality of his work lately, and that might account for this post and I hope some more to come. Vesar has selected the winning combination of pink and blue tones, which is always going to get noticed by me at least. The writing is neat and tidy with three horizontal blue strips interfaced with bubbles. A yellow border separates the letters from the pink cloudy background, which itself has a darker pink border. Very nice work, and welcome to Natural Adventures.
More from L Dub, this time by Donz, who, like Dun Sum, seems to favour this spot over any of the other Bristol graffiti haunts. Donz is notable for his colourful pieces that use strong and contrasting colours that he works well together.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
The letters in this piece are nicely done, and I particularly like the orange star over the ‘O’ of DONZ. Donz has taken care with the presentation of the piece, starting with a nicely buffed white wall and an interesting yellow glow around the letters. I see, all of a sudden a fried egg, and once seen it can’t be unseen (sorry). The letters are finished with a deep two-tone 3D drop shadow, to help the letters pop. A colourful extravaganza.
I have to keep reminding myself what ABC stands for, and it is, of course, Art Beat Crew, which is a collection of friends and artists who operate mostly out of Lawrence Weston. This is a really funky cartoon-style portrait piece by the fabulous character artist Dun Sum.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
Although he occasionally makes the journey into Bristol centre, Dun Sum paints most of his pieces on the subway walls in Lawrence Weston. It is a quiet backwater, with plenty of wall space and little disturbance. It also has a very small footfall, mainly graffiti artists and dog-walkers, so few get to see his talent. This is a beautifully presented character with big hair and beard, although cleverly Dun Sum has painted the moustache and eyebrows in a slightly different tone and style. Reflections in the goggles add a nice touch. A bit of fun from Dun Sum at L Dub.
I mentioned in my last post (Mr Draws chromie in the tunnel) that the colours blue and pink make perfect bed fellows. It is a bit of a cliché, but it is also true. DJ Perks has used the two colours to great effect in this recent piece in Lawrence Weston. I guess to be more accurate, this piece is pink and mauve, but the same applies.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
DJ Perks has produced some very flat letters and by that I mean he hasn’t tried to give the letters depth with accent lines, instead preferring a straight forward drop shadow to project the letters out from the wall. The graffiti writing is accompanied by the letters ABC (Art Beat Crew). As ever top drawer stuff.
Stivs, Fade and Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
A common collaborative presentation, which so many of my posts feature, is a three-way triptych between two writers and a character artist. Dibz and Fade have played out this structure with numerous fellow collaborators, often Jody. In this piece, however, it is Stivs who performs the honours with consummate skill.
Stivs and Fade, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
The three artists have taken over the entire corner wall of the pumping station with a bright scene incorporating the film/TV/merchandise franchise ‘Transformers’. On the left Stivs and Fade share the space, with a large robot character on the left by Stivs, and some beautiful ‘flat’ lettering from Fade (with the ‘A’ upside down?), all set on an urban silhouette scene.
Stivs and Dibz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
On the right-hand elevation, Stivs and Dibz have combined with the ‘Bumblebee’ character to the left and some classy bright writing from Dibs in the middle. To the right of the writing is a ‘metallic’ emblem, so beautifully crafted, with the letters THK fashioned into a robot mask. A very impressive piece by these three artists in a place that receives very little foot-fall, so seen by relatively few people.
There are a few ‘sure things’ in the Bristol street art world, and one of them is that you will always find pieces by DJ Perks in the Lawrence Weston spot. This is partly due to some legacy pieces that just never seem to get painted over, but also because he paints there frequently enough for me to find new pieces each time I visit.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
I would consider DJ Perks to be a natural, when it comes to graffiti writing. He is so incredibly modest, but his work is technically excellent, and always nicely presented. Here he has painted the letters ABC (Art Beat Crew) with blended blue fills, and a nice pink ‘ribbon’ running horizontally through the piece. The scarlet background dusted onto the wall offsets the piece perfectly.
Donz is an interesting graffiti writer whose combination of letter shapes and, in particular, colour selections and fill patterns is quite unique. His work is further highlighted in this piece with the incorporation of a clean contrasting background buff.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
The letters in this piece spell DONZ, and are beautifully contained within a clean black border. I think that what sets his work apart is his approach to his fills which are not blended, but rather, they are applied in contrasting splodges and decorated with complementary little circles. All I can say is that this is a very Donz look. We also have an introduction to the Art Beat Crew (ABC), which I haven’t noticed before.
At the L Dub spot, there are two main areas for painting. There is the long tunnel that runs underneath the M5 motorway, and at the southern end is a disused water pumping station. Each of these offer different opportunities, with the tunnel lending itself more to graffiti writing, with the low long wall, and the pumping station offering more opportunities for character or other artistic pieces.
Kool Hand, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
Kool Hand has taken advantage of one of the taller walls on the pumping station to create this combination piece. The orangutan character has grown a couple of Shrek ears and is resting on top of the words ‘Last radical souls’ which is the name of the LRS crew. Great use of the space, and a nice tribute to the crew.
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