6742. L Dub (64)

DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025

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
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.

6735. L Dub (63)

Donz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025

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
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.

6519. L Dub (52)

Kool Hand, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
Kool Hand, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024

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, 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.

6492. L Dub (61)

Fade, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
Fade, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024

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
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.

6483. L Dub (59)

Buser, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
Buser, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024

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
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.

6480. L Dub (58)

Dun Sum and Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, October, 2024
Dun Sum and Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, October, 2024

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, 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, 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.

6468. L Dub (57)

Grimes, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024
Grimes, L Dub, Bristol, October 2024

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
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!

6313. L Dub (56)

Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024

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
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.

6290. L Dub (55)

Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024

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
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.

6282. L Dub (54)

Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024

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
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.