Hot on the heals (pun intended) of yesterday’s post featuring a flame piece by Dibz is this outstanding burner from Fade which was painted adjacent to Dibz’. I wasn’t able to get both pieces in one shot so have presented them separately.
Fade, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
I think that both artists were on absolute top form on the day they painted these pieces, because they are pretty much flawless, and they may have taken their work to another level, if that is even a thing. Fade’s pieces tend to be slightly less busy than his friend’s and sometimes a little easier on the eye. This piece is tight as tight can be and the transitions of fill are to die for. The dog (who Fade is particularly fond of) says hello.
I think that an artist I ought to be more familiar with is Buser, but because I don’t venture out to L Dub all that often, he appears to be completely absent from my radar. I expect I might have photographed his pieces in the past, but not posted them, perhaps not knowing who painted them. Anyhow, this one is an absolute cracker on the Water Company pumping station.
Buser, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
The combination piece of writing and a Hellboy character works really well on mis wall. The writing spells out BUSER and has been put together with a very pleasing colour palette and is rather classy. I have never watched a Hellboy movie all the way through, they simply don’t grab my attention too much. Perhaps I should give them another go. Great work from Buser, and the first of many pieces on Natural Adventures I hope.
Because I don’t go to L Dub (Lawrence Weston) all that often, there is always something new to look at when I do make it. I had been tipped-off to get myself over to L Dub by DJ Perks, before the heavy rains that were forecast flooded the tunnel, which was just the nudge I needed to go take a look. This fine collaboration from Dun Sum and Hypo on the Water Company building.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, October, 2024
Dun Sum is unlike any other artist in the Bristol area. His work pretty much always depicts imaginary creatures, which draw on the anatomy of real creatures, giving them credibility over the fantastical. This bug-like character, sitting on a toadstool, is looking rather glum with its large eyes and downturned mouth. The piece is beautifully painted with affection for the character that comes across in the artwork.
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, October, 2024
Hypo, who has been on fire lately, has come up with this chrome and white piece of graffiti writing that works brilliantly with the contrasting pink background. There is a degree of bilateral symmetry about the piece, especially at the two ends, the ‘H’ and the ‘O’. Hypo has once again smashed it with this piece.
Oh what a beauty! I was beginning to wonder if Grimes might have moved away, as I hadn’t seen any new pieces from him for a little while, and then I came across this stunning new piece at L Dub. I can’t really put into words how good I think this piece is, and it is especially good, as I think it was his second attempt in this spot over a couple of days. The first one I think got painted over almost immediately, which was unlucky timing.
Grimes, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
The intricate fills in the blue letters are worthy of note on their own, but when you look at the whole thing, it is bursting with energy, movement and colour. The letters spell GRIME and are given centre stage through the deployment of a magnificent background of pink checks and an orange plasma beam. Totally brilliant. Bravo!
I enjoy getting to where people paint, and by that I mean, in this example, that although Hypo paints a lot in central Bristol, this is his local spot and somewhere that I expect he feels very much at home painting. I visited this spot on a warm, sunny day, which was as much a nature ramble as a graffiti hunt.
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
I am never quite sure about the colours blue and yellow together, which is curious, because they are the traditional colours of my beloved Arsenal’s away kit, but of course, I forgive my football team anything and everything. The HYPO letters are nice and regular, painted in two tones of blue and decorated nicely with spots and stars. A thin 3D Drop shadow and two border lines round the piece off nicely. Hypo in his natural habitat.
Dun Sum is an artist I’d love to see more of in Central Bristol, but he tends to stick to his home territory of Lawrence Weston. Whether it is graffiti writing or his fantasy character pieces, he brings an originality which is hard to better.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
This extraordinary piece of writing shimmers as if it were molten metal… an incredible effect. The letters spell out Dun Sum and are filled expertly. To me, this looks like the graffiti version of the Terminator character who can morph from solid to liquid. The downside to painting in L Dub is that footfall is incredibly light, and so few people will ever get to see this outstanding work.
L Dub (Lawrence Weston) is a funny old spot, really. It involves a 15-minute walk alongside the M5 motorway on a pathway which runs through a kind of brownfield site of scrub and thickets. The place is absolutely bursting with wildlife, which thrives in and around the drainage ditches, which I presume take excess water away from the motorway. It is interesting that these dilapidated ‘forgotten’ spots are often some of the most biodiverse in the country. The place is festooned with all sorts of interesting plants, dragonflies, beetles and butterflies,,, an unlikely nature hot spot.
It also plays host to a water pumping station which offers several walls for painting, and a pedestrian underpass which takes you under the motorway and some other roads and provides plenty of graffiti opportunities, for those that can be bothered to find the place. Acer One has recently painted a couple of pieces here, away from the crowds.
Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
This is a complex piece, which demonstrates how his mind works (in his own words) and is also a little bit experimental. The letters spell out ACERONE, but are alternately coloured, so it starts with a dark blue A, followed by a gold C, then a blue E and so on. Fascinating stuff that can take a little while to work out and keeps those brain cells ticking over.
It is always a great pleasure to find any writing by Rusk, and this relatively simple piece in the tunnel under the M5 at L Dub came as a nice surprise. There is a nice shout-out to DJ Perks, whose work dominates this spot, and I am guessing that they painted together on this occasion.
Rusk, L Dub, Bristol, January 2024
The bubble style writing is nicely filled with graded browns and a red base. Unfortunately the red paint is a little thin and looks a little patchy. What stands out for me though is the way the little white spots at the tops of the letters, create an incredible 3D effect helping the letters to pop out from the wall. Classy work from Rusk as always.
Urban wasteland, Lawrence Weston, January 2024
It would seem that Rusk took a moment out to leave his mark nearby, too.
I am so pleased that Donz is starting to get more of a presence on Natural Adventures, an unfortunate underrepresentation which is an artefact of the fact that I don’t visit L Dub all that often, and Donz rarely paints anywhere else in Bristol.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, January 2024
This is a fun piece in a typically wacky style from Donz made all the more fun by the inclusion of a character face replacing the ‘O’ in his letters. It is a fact of life in street art writing, that the letter ‘O’ more than any other can be fiddled around with and replaced, for example Biers and his WD40 and Boogie with his double ‘O’s. There is some nice lettering here that bleeds away at the top.
Either Donz needs to come into the centre more often, or I need to get out to L Dub, but until one or both of those things happen, Donz will most likely only make occasional appearances in these pages.
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.