I haven’t posted much work from Donz on Natural Adventures, mainly because I haven’t seen an awful lot of his work. What I have seen, I rather like. Donz tends to paint with DJ Perks, and mostly, but not exclusively, at L Dub.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023
Donz has selected some beautifully rich colours for this piece, and worked them into his fills most skilfully. His letters are well-designed, and the whole piece has come together very nicely. I fear that Donz is a bit of an unsung hero on the Bristol writing scene, probably because he is not all that visible, which is a pity.
If you want to see any work by DJ Perks, then a trip to L Dub is an absolute must. There must be at least half a dozen of his pieces up there at any one time, and some in the darker reaches of the tunnel have been there for a very considerable time. I met DJ Perks the day I took this photograph, and he had been having a birthday paint alongside his friend Donz. I was to go on and bump into DJ Perks for the next two days, which just doesn’t happen.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023
This as tidy a piece as you are likely to see anywhere. It pops out from the wall, thanks to some superb but subtle white highlights, and the blue shading around the letter ‘R’ is outstanding. The fills are beautifully painted and the whole thing is so tight it might burst. DJ Perks must be the most modest graffiti writer in Bristol, but he is fast becoming one of the best.
Many artists have favourite spots, and Dun Sum seems to like painting in L Dub, in fact I don’t think I have ever seen his work in any of the other Bristol Spots. Because of this, he is an artist who is probably underrepresented in this blog, because I only make it up to L Dub about three or four times a year.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023
This is a fabulous and imaginative piece featuring a monkey, complete with arm rings, and a frog, alongside what looks like toadstools. What is clever about the piece is that it gives the sense of disintegration into a datasphere, with lots of binary zeros and ones drifting away from the edges of the characters. Perhaps a Matrix influence going on here? A lovely and memorable piece from Dun Sum.
The last thing I expected to find on a recent trip to L Dub was this vibrant piece by Hypo. L Dub tends to be the province of artists like DJ Perks, Dun Sum, Donz, Laic217 and a raft of DBK artists, so it is always quite a surprise to find work from central Bristol artists adorning the walls there. This surprise was a pleasant one.
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023
The bright green background immediately grabs one’s attention and the graffiti writing itself fits the typical Hypo model perfectly, with a horizon running through the middle of the letters, a mechanism he uses a lot, and the near bilateral symmetry of the letters HY|PO. Another lovely piece from the artist who is having a very productive 2023.
Another DJ Perks piece from my last visit to Lawrence Weston (L Dub), and another quality piece at that. In a way I am a little disappointed that I hadn’t visited sooner, as the Dun Sum piece underneath DJ Perks’ looks rather spectacular.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
DJ Perks has a natural talent as a graffiti writer and seems to make turning out crisp and clean pieces look absolutely effortless. The fills are beautifully done, the borders tight, The drop shadow is excellent and the little white flashes add depth. Overall, this is an outstanding piece from DJ Perks.
I expect that if I went back into my archives I would find plenty of pieces by Donz, but I have only recently, consciously, picked up on his work, and have some catching up to do. Donz is a friend of DJ Perks and their work is often co-located, particularly at L Dub.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
This is a rather unusual piece of writing, to my eye, because of the colour selections, which don’t seem to follow any convention, but simply hit you in the face. The letters are nicely designed, the fills solid and borders sharp, it is technically very nicely done. I particularly like the inclusion of scrolls at the top of the piece. Great work from Donz.
One of the joys of being a talented graffiti writer or street artist is that you can paint lovely things to commemorate your friends and family with living, contemporary, bold statements of your affection and love, in public, or sometimes not so public places.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
In this lovely piece from DJ Perks, he celebrates his son Louis’ 30th birthday. How I would love to be able to do such a thing (I have tried once or twice, but my skills are rudimentary). The colour transitions in the piece are immaculate and the little white accents create an incredible illusion of depth, helping the letters to pop out from the wall. Finished so cleanly, this is a lovely piece from DJ Perks.
Wxttsart and Rudini Dudini, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
I knew that upgrading my mobile phone was a good idea, not just because my old one was becoming a liability, but because the new one has a camera with the capability of going slightly wide-angle, without distorting images too much. At last I have a better chance of capturing those pieces painted in narrow spaces. This collaboration is one such piece.
Rudini Dudini, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
Wxttsart and Rudini Dudini have joined forces to create this beautifully book-ended graffiti writing piece. The characters at each end of the writing are by Rudini Dudini, and are conducting some form of martial art… Krack!!
Rudini Dudini, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
The cartoon-style characters are fairly typical of Rudini Dudini’s work and are playing out a story. The characters in blue are fighting off the attackers in grey and guarding the writing in the middle.
Wxttsart, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
Which brings us on to yet another stunning piece of stylised calligraffiti writing by Wxttsart, spelling as you would expect ‘MILK’. This really is an exceptionally well executed piece with loads of texture and interest in the letters. From where I sit, he is just getting better and better.
Although DJ Perks does paint occasionally in St Werburghs tunnel and in Dean Lane, he tends to spend more time painting the walls of the L Dub spot, where you can several of his pieces at any one time. It seems very much to be his ‘manor’.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
This is a recent piece , which can be dated to January/February 2023, because there is an RIP shout-out to Shimmer. DJ Perks seems to favour these alternate colour fills for his letters, and I have seen him do this several times before. Everything about this piece is fresh, clean ans crisp, with real attention to detail. the array of dots and spots does enough to add that extra interest. A fine piece (again).
I don’t visit L Dub (Lawrence Weston) very often, and so there is always quite a lot of new stuff to look at when I do make the trip. I have heard DJ Perks talk to me about Donz, a painting friend, many times, but this is the first time I have featured him on Natural Adventures – it will not be the last.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, February 2023
This fresh piece, spelling DONZ, is rather unusual, having white letters and borders of red , blue, pink and green – some nice original thinking going on here. This might sound strange, but I feel that there are some similarities with Benjimagnetic’s work, although a greatly simplified version of it. Perhaps it is the block patterns or the arrows, but there are several components that both artists use. Anyhow, this is a great piece to introduce Donz to Natural Adventures.
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