New LAnark | Drawing the Street

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 🙂

New Lanark is a World Heritage Site set in native Scottish woodland next to the River Clyde, here in South Lanarkshire. This Cotton mill village was founded in the 18th century and and has been thoroughly documented with a digitised survey of all the buildings – you can read more about it here. It doesn’t need ‘Drawing the Street’ to record it! However, the interiors are irresistible to draw!

They are full of objects that remind me of my earliest childhood … some from our ‘old house’ and others from our neighbours in York which held hand-me-downs from generations before. Take for example the table above. This could have been Mum’s kitchen table in the mid-sixties. However, I’m not that old….the sketch below is of the Millworker’s House of the 1820’s.

We often go up to New Lanark to walk in the wildlife reserve or to see the Falls of Clyde, once visited and painted by Turner. However, it was when my American family came to visit last year that we did the tour inside and around the mill including the workers’ accommodation and Robert Owen’s House .

I managed to take a few photos knowing that I wanted to sketch some of them later. I only get to notice things when I sketch such as this mouse and the clay pipes tucked behind the packs of tobacco. All reconstructed but still appealing.

Beer, whisky, fish, cheese, bacon ….can you spot the mouse?

Hope you enjoy this inside view of just a few of the sights within these magnificent buildings. It’s a fascinating destination in a beautiful location – well worth a visit.

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie

drawing out the best in our streets

Drawing the Street

Category Archives: New LAnark

Spires, Chimneys and Finials: Lanark’s Townscape

Behind the walls of New Lanark

drawing out the best in our streets