It Never Really Hushes

May 4, 2023 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

A week alongside the Holloway Road

Late last month (April 2023) I hopped on the bus to London.

Leaving Hamilton, just south of Glasgow early-ish on Sunday I was in Golders Green, North London by dusk. This is my second trip by National Express Coach (Avanti train service had engineering works and planned disruptions); this option worked for me.

I like the time spent on a road trip when someone else is driving. It gives me a chance to read, think, look out the window, sketch and sleep. It was also convenient being only a short drive at either end.

There are brief stops at various towns along the route – just enough time to make a quick sketch of what is in view and add some colour.

It’s surprising what you can capture in a few minutes…

*Blast of yellow daffs growing at Tebay Services*

*Coach to London – rest break in Birmingham*

So here’s the reason I’m in London – to look after this wee chappie!

Not to mention a great opportunity to see family and friends and just lose myself in London life.

*Tiny sketches from the top of the 43 bus to Highbury and Islington*

*Fresh blossoms on a shrub outside St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Holloway Rd*

Sketching my favourite time of day in London – when there’s a pause in the bustle, a glow in the sky and the crows settle down for the end of the day.

‘*The moment between the bustle of the day and the London Klaxon night*‘

*On my way to see the exhibition at the Tate Modern – Hilma Af Klint and Piet Mondrian – fantastic!*

*Back to the beginning…Golders Green and heading North*

*Birmingham streetscape from the Upper Crust at the Coach Station*

It was wonderful to have a week in London but I’m always happy to be home again.

Things have been quiet here on this blog so far this year as my attention has been on taking my artwork in a new direction…following the call of our orchard and a year of Professional Development at Paintbox School of Art. If you are on Instagram, you can see what I’m up to @ronniecruwysart …I’m nose down getting a body of work ready for a group exhibition at the Dovecot in Edinburgh

As always, thanks for reading and stay well!

Ronnie 🙂

Lanark, Lanark Heritage, Pen and ink drawing

Cold Skies Warm Chimneys

December 31, 2022 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

A short, sketchy post to wish you all a happy and creative New Year 2023 from here in Lanark!

*Back of Miss D’s, South Vennel, Lanark*

As we say goodbye to 2020, I’d like to close with a few more sketches of Lanark and as always a big thank you for your company here.

*Back of McPhees Snack Bar, Wellgate, seen from South Vennel.*

*Tower and Rose Window of St Mary’s Church, Lanark*

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy evening wherever you are. Slàinte!

Thanks as always for reading,

Ronnie 🙂

Art, Painting,, Lanark, Lanark Heritage, Scotland

The Heat is On

December 17, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

#Inktober is an Instagram challenge to draw daily in ink throughout the month of October. Last year, I took part and drew a series of some 25 vignettes focussed on Lanark. Some of these were framed and went off to be sold at the Tolbooth Christmas pop-up shop. I really enjoyed drawing these on watercolour paper prepared with a thin wash of warm yellow ochre.

With the recent cold weather/strikes etc, a lot of my plans for the busiest time of year have gone adrift so I’ve begun to sort through a pile of past work including these wee Inktober sketches of Lanark.

Not only have we just been through a sharp cold snap, but we’re in the darkest time of year here in the Northern Hemisphere. I was thinking how the recent fiery skies were such an uplifting shot of colour.

*View towards Lanark from Hazelbank, late Autumn skies.*

I decided to see how the Inktober sketches would look if I added the hottest cadmium red to the sky as a flat block of colour and then simply to respond with other colours working over the ink studies as underpaintings.

Here are the first of the results.

*‘Smug Dug’ – formerly known as the Girnin Dug of Castlegate*

More will follow as I play and experiment with these lovely gouache paints. It feels good to try something different.

*Red Skies over Greyfriars Church, Lanark*

Having embarked on a year of Professional Development with Paintbox School of Art, it’s becoming second nature to look at past work with fresh eyes, whether it was done a few weeks ago or a few years.

Sometimes, I’m still happy with the work and sometimes I think ‘What if I changed one thing?’ Or, ‘This all seems a bit flat, how can I perk it up?’

*Old St Kentigern’s Lanark under Indigo Skies*

These drawings were all made on thick, 300gsm Fabriano Artistico watercolour paper and the ink lines are waterproof. If I don’t like the results, this paper will stand up to a tap washing the gouache off. I can press the drawings flat and work over them again. Or use them for studies for paintings. Or cut them up for collage. It really frees me up to experiment and discover new ways of working.

Most of these are now framed and available to buy from the Tolbooth Lanark; (Castlegate will be framed and at the Tolbooth next week). The rest will be available to buy from my Etsy shop as fresh stock for the New Year or if you see something you like, just get in touch – they are all originals and priced between £60-£95.

Thank you all for spending the time with me over here and I wish you and yours a happy, peaceful and loving Christmas/Season of Light and all the very best for a creative and fulfilling New Year.

Love Ronnie x

Burrell Collection, Sketch book, urban sketching

There’s always time for a brew

October 30, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

*Flask on board the 8.01 Carluke to Glasgow Central train*

I like to think that I always have time for a brew – a tea, coffee, whatever’s going. Either taking some time for a chat with a friend, family, stranger or just chatting to myself.

I made a few sketches whilst on a recent field trip to the Burrell Collection, in Glasgow (part of my Professional Development year with Paintbox School of Art) and smiled when I reflected on some of the subjects that had caught my eye, especially since the building is a work of art and there are hundreds of outstanding artifacts.

*Kyathos cup c530-510BC* – *Burrell Collection*

This hand-sized Kyathos cup with its elongated handle reaches back 2,500 years. I love the imagery of the winged horse and the all-seeing eye that decorate the outside. This beautiful, useful object has survived millenia to connect me with someone in ancient Greece who also enjoyed a beverage.

What caught my sketching eye next was this soft leather gauntlet, showing the creases and folds of the hand that once worked with falcons.

The upper part of the glove was meticulously hand-embroidered with brambles and mistletoe – symbolising healing and life.

Here we are back on the beverage theme again and this Worcester porcelain teapot, tea bowl and saucer from c1750-8.

A well-placed bench helped me to decide on my next subject. Numerous historic architectural features are built into the fabric of the gallery walls or placed as part of the overall display. This limestone French window built between 1440-1550 is one of a pair facing opposite each other.

I’m going to have to return to the Burrell as this contains a feast of art that should be savoured.

I paused for a moment in front of this one….

Edmond Duranty, deep in thought, painted by Edgar Degas – you can see the painting here. A brief extract from this link descibes:

‘Edmond Duranty (1833-80) was a close friend of Degas. The two men probably met in 1865 at the Café Guerbois, where Manet was another regular. ….. He (Duranty) also wrote reviews of the Salon and articles on a wide variety of art matters. Manet so strongly objected to one of Duranty’s reviews that he challenged the writer to a duel – fortunately both men survived.‘

At least it looks like Duranty gave considerable thought to whatever it was that he wrote!

As always, thanks for reading and for any Stokies reading, some beatiful ancient pottery just for you!

Ronnie 🙂

Architecture, Lanark, Lanark Heritage, New LAnark

Spires, Chimneys and Finials: Lanark’s Townscape

August 16, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

August is the month when I like to complete unfinished work or perk up drawings or paintings that I think are just missing something.

I’ve had four framed drawings of Lanark townscape packed away but during a recent sort I brought them back into my studio.

I really enjoyed putting these compositions together. I had only planned on doing the one at first, but there are so many interesting details in Lanark’s townscape that I ended up with four different layouts including New Lanark.

The thing that bothered me about these drawings was that they were locked into lockdown time when windows were decorated with rainbows in support of key workers. The images captured an expression of hope at that time but right now I want to look forwards.

All four images have been scanned at a high resolution and I have these on the record so I decided to take the paintings out of their own lockdown. I removed them from their frames and decided to free the rainbow colours from the windows and move the colour elsewhere on the drawings.

I’ve been looking at ways to take my street drawings in a new direction and I’ve really enjoyed searching out architectural elements and details and forming these compositions.

I wrote a post about this change in work here when I responded to the call for entries to enter a local art competition here in Lanark.

*Drawing removed from the frame ready to start work*

Back to the task in hand. Having taken the artwork out of the frames I began by lifting off the rainbows (gouache paint so water soluble) and reinstate the dark blue and build up contrasts.

Looking at each painting in turn, I gradually introduced a range of blues. The colour pops of reds, oranges and yellows brought the warm spectrum colours out into the streetscape.

*Revitalised drawings together before being reframed*

I worked on these during our recent hot spell so I went for that sun-drenched, blue-skies and flaming chimneys look!

Here they are, back in their frames, refreshed and revitalised!

The artwork and cards are all available to buy and shown together here on my main website.

Thanks for reading,
Ronnie 🙂

Architecture, Fenton, Hitchman Street Conservation Area, Victorian Terracotta Tiles

Fenton and Families

July 26, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

The other day I received an email via my archive blog ‘Drawing the Detail’ from a lady who mentioned that her grandparents, the Rowbothams, lived in one of these Fenton houses. I love to hear of personal connections with the buildings and streets that I draw. It brings them to life. This is a name that I can add along with the Hammersley family – more about that on the blog link above.

*Two brick built terraces in Fenton, Stoke on Trent*

I’m often asked why I choose to draw a particular street – this one threw a hook out as I was driving past when we were living in Staffordshire. I had to pull over to take a second look as I couldn’t get over how beautifully thought out it was with all the brick detailing and decorative terracotta tiles.

It also reminded me of the building where I used to work at Horsley Huber Architects – 134 Newport Road Stafford. Here’s the old work family! The photo info states that it was taken 19 years ago, 1 Jan 2003 – it must have been a mild day. There I am in the lilac top front left – still with brown hair!

*Staff at Horsley Huber Architects, sometime around 2003* *I think*

We’re all a good bit older now and we’ve since had to say goodbye to a dear friend Ken (back, 4th from right) RIP.

Returning to my drawing – these buildings are on Victoria Road and Hitchman Street, in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.

You can imagine that it was a real pleasure to draw a street like this – it’s an uncommon find. If you want to discover more about Stoke’s creative tiles, have a look at Ceramic City Stories.

I use a mapping nib in a Brause dip pen. This gives me a flexible line.

Last of all, here’s the final limited edition print with both streets set together within a double mount. Barewall Gallery in Burslem have a framed print in stock which you can buy online here.

As always, thanks for reading,

Ronnie 🙂

Newcastle-under-Lyme History, Pen and ink drawing

Posting a card

July 24, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

I love to receive a card in the post. I think that a beautiful card sent through the post still represents great value and I have a couple of drawers full of my favourites that I’ve kept over the years.

*Set of six cards of Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre*

With this in mind, I decided to make a set of high resolution cards of six of my Newcastle-under-Lyme drawings. You can see them all below.

There is just the one set available in my Etsy shop. Please do have a look!

They are a standard 5 x 7 inch size and would look great popped into a frame!

*Newcastle High Street looking towards Red Lion Square* *and St Giles’ church*

Thanks for reading

Ronnie 🙂

Jura, Sketch book, Whisky

Jura: a surprise trip

July 18, 2022 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a camping trip with Iain. Long enough to have almost forgotten about the many small biting things that are about at this time of year but very excited by the thought of soaking up Jura’s dramatic landscape (dram-tastic all round!) .

We set off on Friday to catch the ferry from Kennacraig to Port Askraig on Islay. It’s then a short ferry crossing to Jura.

I took a load of art kit with me but in the end it was the pocket sketchbook, watercolours and the fine liner pen that were the most portable as we did a bit more walking than anticipated. All well worth it!

Midges are bearable when you have a camping spot beside the Jura Distillery and a few steps to the bar of the Jura Hotel. Plus the midge coils work – thanks Iain!

All this plus the view below.

*View from the campsite in Craighouse, Jura*

At 7am next morning there was only the sound of Iain firing up the stove, oyster catchers and the passenger ferry….

*Saturday morning – view east towards the Cowall Peninsula*

…but this didn’t last! Craighouse was soon all go with nearby grass being strimmed and these lads up working on the distillery first thing.

We packed up and went north of Tarbert and south of Inverlussa and set out on foot to Cruib Lodge Bothy. It was a wee bit more of a stride than aniticpated with wet feet and my best bog language for some parts but it was all worth the effort.

Just a few of the many wild flowers out on Jura including orchids, tormentil, bog asphodel and sundew. Lots of this year’s frogs too and otters swimming in the bay opposite the bothy.

*View towards Caol Ila Distillery on Islay*

Final view of the Paps of Jura from Port Askaig.

A brilliant trip and it feels like I’ve been away months.

Thanks for reading,
Ronnie

acomb york, Pen and ink drawing, York

Acomb: Cats and Connections

July 8, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

93-105 Front Street, Acomb York

I thought it was time to share a look behind the scenes at my drawings of Front Street, Acomb, York – the village where I grew up. Let’s dive into my studio to take a closer look at this first drawing of Front Street, from Nos 93-105.

I start by roughing out the street in pencil then transcribing the outline onto a long sheet of heavy watercolour paper. I’ve always used Fabriano 300gsm acid free 100% archival cotton paper. It has a lovely rough texture. I use a flexible mapping pen nib which gives a variety of line thickness and the paper is sturdy enough to take the paint. It’s also strudy enough to handle a reclining cat!

Josh often lies out beside me as I work – he has done this ever since we first collected him from the North Staffs RSCPA in 2016.

We were told by the RSPCA to be patient as he was terrified of people and it might take him months to come round. That was fine by us, so we brought him home and left him to settle a few metres from my work table.

It was only a matter of days before Josh had to find out what was taking all my attention. I was engrossed in drawing the first of my Eccleshall streets and he couldn’t resist climbing up to see what was going on. Pencils, pens, erasors – all targets for paws. It was our first point of connection and six years on he still jumps up here to greet me.

*Mapping the outline of the buildings in ink*

I’ve always covered most of the drawing apart from where I’m working; newsprint paper protects it from most splashes and spills and I only move it out of the way to photograph. It’s been a handy working practice!

I’ve used a light fast permanent ink here in Sepia (rather than black or Payne’s Grey) as a warmer base colour to complement the rich red ochres of the brickwork. Front Street is full of soft red brick buildings and red terracotta roof tiles; I use earth pigments for these.

*Building up depth of colour in thin layers*

Front Street is in Acomb’s conservation area. Acomb has a stong sense of place and history and you can read ten curious facts about it in a clever blog by the cat crime fiction writer James Barrie. Yes, I did say ‘cat’ crime…

*Brause dip pen used with a mapping pen nib*

As soon as the street is complete, I wrap it in glassine paper and store in a 30cm diameter carboard tube out of harms way until I can scan it and arrange for prints.

*Completed original drawing of 93-105 Front Street, Acomb*

I released the first set of limited edition giclee prints a few weeks ago and they sold very quickly! The next set are listed in my Etsy Shop and already one of these has sold. I’m only releasing a small print run of the Acomb drawings: 30 prints at 60cm long and 10 prints at 90cm. If you would like to order one – please get in touch.

*The four drawings of Front Street, Acomb, as numbered signed giclee prints.*

Acomb Library is also stocking some of my greetings cards – a few examples below.

As always, thanks for reading.

Ronnie 🙂

acomb york

Acomb in a few Sketches

June 28, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

My sister celebrates her birthday in June – a great reason to head south to Acomb to celebrate together and to sketch some of the familiar sights of the village where I grew up.

*Dad used to grow peonies in the old place in Hobgate*

Acomb has a strong sense of place and features in the Domesday Book (1086) when it consisted of some 14 houses. Its name most likely derives from the old English Acum – meaning ‘at the oaks’.

Acomb Green is in the middle edged by mature trees. There’s a slight slope on the land on one side where there’s a childrens’ formal play area. Some 50+ years ago it was a great destination when it snowed – perfect for kids on a toboggan including our family!

*Sketching the Sun Inn and St Stephen’s Church on Acomb Green* – *photo credit Megs!*

Long before this, The Green used to be a sand quarry and there are some great photographs in an article in the Yorkshire Evening Press. Stephen Lewis writes: “The Green was originally known as ‘Yarcomb Sand’oil’, apparently, or the ‘Acomb sandhole’. It is said that this was where sand was extracted for sale in the streets in York – and reputedly for making the glass that went into the great medieval windows of York Minster.”

*The Sun Inn with St Stephen’s Church Tower behind*

The Green is triangular, defined by three roads. This side here shows York Road (B1224) where you can see the profile of St Stephen’s Church tower – the building itself is set well back from the road.

*Lychgate leading to St Stephen’s Church, Acomb*

This is a great vantage point to see further afield. As the notice says, the church has a trig point marking it 33.5m above sea level and you can see for miles on a clear day.

This was a morning for quick sketches so we moved along to Front Street to sketch what used to be the Wesleyan Chapel; it’s now private flats.

Whilst looking up some history of Acomb, I came across a blog ‘Acomb – York Stories’ which although written in 2006 has received comments and Acomb anecdotes for over a decade after. It includes a photo of the Chapel in a former life as Ebor Carpets with white-washed brickwork.

*29 Front Street, Home to WRDunn* *Architects and Building Surveyors*

Just time to sign off with the exciting news that a set of 60cm size limited edition prints of all four of my Front Street Acomb drawings are hot-off-the-press ready to buy from my Esty shop which can be reached via my website here. Only nine prints available of the 90cm size – please get in touch if you would like to place an order.

*Front Street – Love the long views between the buildings*

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie 🙂

Drawing the Street

It Never Really Hushes

Cold Skies Warm Chimneys

The Heat is On

There’s always time for a brew

Spires, Chimneys and Finials: Lanark’s Townscape

Fenton and Families

Posting a card

Jura: a surprise trip

Acomb: Cats and Connections

Acomb in a few Sketches

drawing out the best in our streets