Category Archives: Pen and ink drawing

Leek Sunny Side

November 11, 2016 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

York Street, Leek, North Staffordshire — *York Street, Leek*

I did a double take when I walked past York Street, Leek this summer. The most ordinary row of terraced houses transformed by the green-fingered, creative occupants into a shared garden enjoyed by inhabitants and passers-by alike. What a generous attitude!

York Street, terraced houses of Leek — *Street Garden*

It’s been a while since I’ve drawn a residential street, the last one was Well Street in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Looking back, I seem to be getting a bit more colourful!

This drawing has now been scanned and is up in full on my website Drawing the Street. The first few prints are now ready and they look great, thanks to Simon and Valerie at Smith York Printers, a signed limited edition of only 30 prints, 60cm long and £75 each, ready to go up in Gallery at 12‘s exhibition ‘A Winter Gathering’ at the Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek.

Hope to see some of you there at the Foxlowe Preview on Friday 18th November, at 7:00 pm.The exhibition runs until New Years Eve.

More about drawing the second Leek street to follow soon….

Bury and hilton and terraced houses on York Street Leekt — *Bury Hilton Surveyors on York Street, Leek*

Thanks for reading

Ronnie

flowers on york street leek — *Hearts in the window and flowers on the door*

Pen and ink drawing, Sketching, urban sketching

Gifts

August 10, 2016 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

Gift from John

A few years ago John, our son, gave me a hefty 10 metre roll of lovely thick cartridge paper as well as a concertina sketch book with another 10 metres of drawing paper.

The roll of cartridge paper made me commit to that first long street drawing (you can look back on that here) but the sketch book has remained unopened until last week when I received another gift out of the blue from Laura – some Uniball pens. Now these are the pens I turn to first for my on-the-hoof street sketches as they are waterproof and lightfast and have a range of fine points giving pin-sharp lines.

Last Saturday was forecast fair so I took off to the historic market town of Leek, in the heart of the Staffordshire Moorlands, with my new pens and sketchbook. 1 Leek Church St

Leek has to be the friendliest town centre I’ve drawn in so far. It was a busy Saturday with a lot of people in town and although I was on Church Street, tucked out of sight of the main square, people still came over to see what I’d drawn and to pass the time of day with me. The sketches are pretty rough and ready but should help me get set up for the more formal drawing to follow.

2 Leek Church St Parker House — *Parker House (16th Century), one of a number of medieval buildings in the town.*

I’m planning on drawing a series of streets in Leek which I hope I will have ready in time to go up in a shared exhibition in November at the Foxlowe Art Centre when Staffordshire Artists Cooperative will be putting on a joint display of their work.

3 Leek Stockwell st Foxlowe — *Foxlowe Arts Centre*

4 Leek WHite HArt tea room Stockwell — *White Hart Tea Room*

I travelled light with my kit: a few Uniball unipin pens, a single ultramarine blue watercolour pan, a Pentel black ink brush and a waterbrush pen. I go easy with the brush pens on this paper but it helps to add a bit of shading to the buildings by dabbing some of the ink into a jam jar lid (travel palette) to dilute it first.

5 leek Stockwell.jpg

urban sketch leek — *Sketching on the go*

sky guys Leek — *Not forgotten these two Sky gentlemen from my visit to Leek in 2014 – I will get round to including you on a drawing!*

Thanks for reading

Ronnie

Crohns and colitis UK, London buildings, Pen and ink drawing, Sketching, urban sketching

Porridge at Bill’s

June 7, 2016 ronniecruwys 1 Comment

Bills for breakfast — *Starting the day with tea and porridge at Bill’s, Longacre*

Last weekend we joined up with Crohns & Colitis UK fo their annual walk around London. It’s a great way to see our capital and better still, it gets the word out about the support that’s available for anyone who has Crohn’s or Colitis.

CkFv_QCWYAASh4S.jpg large We set off from Stoke Station in our purple tee-shirts. Once on the train, it wasn’t long before a lady offered us a donation; her sister was diagnosed 50 years ago, but back then it was something that wasn’t talked about at all. I found this a very moving gesture as I think that it is only in recent years that it is finally being brought to light and all credit to those who have worked so hard to raise its profile.

It was a day out for us and yes, I brought my sketch book! I’ve had my head down recently gettting on with my icon diploma work as it’s only four months till our end of diploma exhibition in Shoreditch.

I enjoy sketching on-the-hoof and my favourite sketching has to be the half minute bus/train stop sketches….they’re just thumbnail views of life on the go. Enough words – time for a few pictures!

train sketches 2.jpg — *Train stop sketches*

london bus sketch 3a.jpg — *Bus stop thumbnails*

whitehall old shades — *Whitehall, The Old Shades, gable dated 1898*

no prizes — *Opposite Condor bikes on Grays Inn Road*

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie

Architectural Drawing, Audlem, Pen and ink drawing, Williams of Audlem

Three Sides of a Triangular Square

May 22, 2016 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

Long view The Square Audlem — *From the Lord Combermere to The Crown Mews*

The ink has just dried on The Square, the third drawing in the Audlem series. The Square is in fact more of a triangle which is formed around the T junction between the Nantwich Road (A529) and the A525 (Stafford and Shropshire St). This is the oldest part of the village and its heart. You can read more about the history of the village on Audlem Online

Looking back two years, the first drawing (seen below) stretched from the Post Office to the Methodist Church.

Smith York Printer Audlem Drawing Cruwys — *Simon getting colour matches against the original drawing on the first round of limited edition prints (Smith York Printers, Ironbridge)*

You can just see the southern side of ‘The Square’ in the middle.

The Square Ronnie Cruwys 1.jpg — *‘The Square’ from the first Audlem drawing*

A year later and Cheshire Street appeared. This shows the ribbon of buildings lining the side of the A529 from the edge of St James’s Church up to No 17.

Cheshire Street and Stafford st — *Cheshire St (work in progress) seen below the first street drawing.*

Now I can share the latest drawing which although relatively short, contains the third side of the Square.

The Square Audlem Ronnie Cruwys 1.jpg — *The latest drawing seen in full*

The Lord Combermere.jpg

1 and 2 The Square Audlem.jpg Crown Mews The Square Audlem.jpg My thanks again to Judy of ‘Williams of Audlem’ who is stocking signed limited edition prints of the drawing. I’m only doing a very small print run of 20 from this drawing, available to order in one size 500mm x 200mm. Unframed prints are £54 each.

There are two framed prints in stock at Williams, one in matt black and the other in mahogany, for £125. If you are in Audlem for the festival over the Bank Holiday, call in and have a look – all prints can be seen together as a set. If you can’t get to Williams and would like to buy any of the Audlem series, drop me an email (RonnieCruwys@drawingthstreet.co.uk).

Have a good week and thanks for reading.

Ronnie

Architectural Drawing, Building conservation, Pen and ink drawing

Fetch a bucket – quick!

May 12, 2016 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

This is a flashback to a drawing I did last year following a wintery visit to the walled gardens at Keele. I was slowed down at the time by a few fractures but wanted to record the bothies as soon as I first saw them.

This is just a drawing post today – so hope you enjoy the sketches, all done with Dr Martin’s Bombay waterproof ink, three colours, sepia, terracotta and teal.

1 Keele Bothies Cruwys crop1 Pen and ink drawing of Bothies at keele

4 Keele Bothies.jpg

5 Keele Bothies To see the drawing in full, please visit my website Drawing the Street

Thanks for reading!

Ronnie

Architectural Drawing, Eccleshall Architecture, Gallery at 12, Pen and ink drawing

&Buttons and Flowers

April 24, 2016 ronniecruwys 3 Comments

So here we have the finished drawing of 32 to 56 High Street, Eccleshall, complete with guest appearances by local residents. This has been great fun to include you all and I hope you can still recognise yourselves…

buildings on high Street Eccleshall — *Next along Eccleshall High Street*

Drawing of Sean Hirst Flowers Eccleshall Staffordshire — *“Sean Hirst Flowers” and “&Buttons”, Eccleshall High St.*

man walking dog in drawing of Eccleshall — *Walking the dog*

Caroline on the High Street — *Calling the shots*

pen and ink drawing with gallery at 12 member — *Staffordshire Artist picking up texts after a Gallery meeting*

Eccleshall high Street artwork — *Valentines, Eccleshall*

Greetings cards are now in stock at Gallery at 12 in Eccleshall of this latest drawing. Prints also available to order and you can see the drawing in full over on my website:Drawing the Street.

Thanks for joining me!

Ronnie

Architectural Drawing, Architecture, London buildings, London streets, Pen and ink drawing

Piebury Corner to London Coffee Club

December 15, 2015 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

Holloway Road Ronnie Cruwys terrace — *Fine old red brick Victorian terrace on Holloway Road from George’s St to Zee Zee’s*

Back on the Holloway Road – a short post to share the last drawing of 2015.

3 underpaining holloway rd — *Underpainting in blue permanent ink – a change from the usual sepia*

205 to 261 Holloway Road cargo Cruwys 1 — Piebury Corner to Dorset House

dorset house — *Dorset House drawn as a one-off during the summer*

205 to 261 Holloway Road cargo Cruwys 2.jpg — *George’s Road up to Paddy Power, Holloway Road*

205 to 261 Holloway Road cargo Cruwys 3 — Paddy Power to Zee Zee, Holloway Road

205 to 261 Holloway Road cargo Cruwys4 — Zee Zee’s to London Coffee Club, Holloway Road

Drawing shown in full on www.drawingthestreet.co.uk

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie

Architecture, Moleskine sketchbook, Pen and ink drawing, Sketching, urban sketching

Kindness of Strangers – Part Two

July 9, 2015 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

sketch of ice cream van — Perfect day for an ice cream

Only a few days after sketching my broken down car on the hardshoulder of the M6, I was sketching on the grass verge of Rosemarkie beach. Once again, I began to sketch a vehicle but this time it was Maureen’s ice cream van which caught my eye. I was lost in drawing so it took me by surprise when Maureen herself hopped out of her van to present me with an ice cream!

Following this kind gesture, my family were keen for me to sketch other eateries in Rosemarkie in the hope of free snacks for them too, but there is stiff competition from the local gulls.

Gulliver on the chimney of the Old School House, Rosemarkie

This is our sixth visit to Rosemarkie, a seaside village on the Black Isle, about 30 miles east of Inverness, full of lovely traditional buildings such as the Groam House Museum.

sketch of groam house Museum — Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie

For anyone interested in Celtic design, a collection of the work by George Bain is held here. He published the book ‘Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction’ in 1951, which did much to revive interest in the subject.

I will leave you with a sketch of the view from the Old School House.

Thanks for reading and keep on sketching – wherever you are.

Ronnie

sketch of Moray Firth — Moray Firth from the Old School House, Rosemarkie

Pen and ink drawing, Sketch Book Skool, Sketching

Kindness of Strangers Part 1

July 9, 2015 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

pen and ink drawing of lorries on M6 — Broken down but my pen is still working!

A couple of weeks ago, my car broke down in the midst of a tailback after a pile-up on the M6 northbound. It’s an alarming experience to be stranded in the central lane as the rest of the traffic began to surge ahead around me. As I rang the emergency services, a chap leapt out of his car beside me, beckoned to a few others and they pushed me over to the hardshoulder. It happened so fast that they were back in their cars and gone in a matter of seconds.

My heartfelt thanks to these strangers.

sketch of hardshoulder — View from the hardshoulder

Safely off the road, I had my handbag, sketch book and pen so I got stuck into a few sketches. I never travel without these thanks to Sketchbook Skool.

sketch of weeds and insects — Scratching insect

drawing weeds — Spikey leaves and flowers

drawing feet — Feet make a good subject to sketch

drawing in sketch book of hands — Saddle Sore

Eventually, the recovery vehicle towed me back to the garage shortly before closing. The AA man and Kwik Fit lads pushed my car into shelter in pouring rain ready for Ryan of Rytech to work on it the following week. Thanks lads.

I was supposed to be collecting my American family from Manchester Airport and my husband was supposed to be going to his friend and colleague’s funeral, but none of this went to plan. This day could have felt a write-off but with the kindness of strangers and a sketchbook and pen, I can reflect on it in quite a different light.

Thanks for reading.

Ronneie

Architectural Drawing, Eccleshall Architecture, Pen and ink drawing

Gallery at 12, Eccleshall

June 12, 2015 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

It has been quite a month. Apart from finishing off a few more drawings in between a few fun family events, quite a lot has been happening.

drawings of eccleshall, Micklegate, Keele walled gardens — A few drawings more

First of all, a big thank you to Paul at the Stone and Eccleshall Gazette who found my work on the web and then gave me a fab introduction to Eccleshall with his generous write up. This has been so timely and I really appreciate this vote of confidence. It was published just as I had placed the first framed print of Eccleshall High Street on the wall of Gallery at 12.

Just before this happened, my Instagram site (@ronniecruwys) took off. I have been posting work-in-progress photos for the last 9 months and have been using hashtags to connect with other artists interested in the same subjects, for instance #Eccleshall or #Drawing #Architecture. It has been great to connect with people all over the world and share stages of my work in progress. One drawing (of Audlem) got reposted on to another site and within 2 days had over 30,000 likes. Crikey. Meanwhile, Stone Road Eccleshall is getting a respectable response too.

Screen grab of stone Road Eccleshall drawing work in progress — Instagram approves of the Stone Road

I would also like to give a big vote of thanks to my new Instagram buddies @carolineiam @daveh500 @eddequincey for pointing me in the direction of Gallery at 12, where I have since become a member, and for giving me such enthusiastic support!

What’s more, I actually met @carolineiam last night in Eccleshall, in one of those wonderful moments of serendipity!

So, back to the Eccleshall drawing.

This is now scanned and on the website www.drawingthestreet.co.uk if you want to see it full length.

Starting with the grade 2 listed building home to Wyn’s and the old Sweet Shoppe:

Eccleshall high Street — Katherine House, Eccleshall Pharmacy, Wine Etc, Spencers, the old Sweet Shoppe and Wyns

Eccleshall the old sweet shoppe and Wynns — Close up of the old Sweet Shoppe and Wyns

No 2, on the corner is early C19.

Next along is the Arcade, home of Eccleshall’s artists’ co-operative, Gallery at 12 and the lovley coffee shop The Artisan.

pen and ink drawing of gallery at 12 Eccleshall — The Artisan, The Arcade with Gallery at 12, Eclipse and Little Monsters

clock at james du pavey — Quick sketch over coffee at the Artisan last Saturday – Clock outside James du Pavey

the Bell Eccleshall — No 24, a grade 2 listed building, Eccleshall Library, Francesco Hair group and The Bell listed grade 2, Eccleshall

drawing of Star Pizza and London House — Star Pizza, London House and Nisa

British Listed Buildings Online is a great resource for the history of our streets. The building to the right of London House is listed grade 2, early C19. London House is also listed grade 2, and probably late C17 or early C18.

I do plan to continue with drawings of Eccleshall so please follow this blog if you would like to be kept up to date – or over on Instagram. Thanks for reading.

Ronnie (@ronniecruwys)

drawing out the best in our streets