Tag Archives: pen and ink drawing

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 🙂

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 🙂

Newcastle-under-Lyme History, Pen and ink drawing

The Brampton – Where Broom Grows

June 22, 2022 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

Drawing of the Brampton Museum, detail of the red brick elevation, by artist Ronnie Cruwys — *Three storeys of beautiful red brickwork*

Broom grows outside my kitchen window here in Scotland – I love the intense yellow after the greys of winter. Broom links me to my next drawing in my red ochre series: the Brampton Museum in Newcastle-under-Lyme. The name Brampton means ‘place where broom grew’ – I wonder if any still grows in the park?

The Museum is located just outside Newcastle-under-Lyme’s town centre in Brampton Park, surrounded by mature trees and shrubs.

Drawing of the Brampton Museum, detail of the eaves and windows, by artist Ronnie Cruwys — *Deep overhanging eaves of the Brampton Museum*

Long before this became a park, this was common land grazed and cultivated by the town burgesses. Eventually, the field was sold and Victorian villas were built – including ‘The Firs’ in 1855 and ‘Pitfield House’. The gardens of these Villas now make up the present park. You can read more about the history of the park here.

Drawing of the Brampton Museum, Newcastle Under Lyme, detail of the windows, by artist Ronnie Cruwys — *Detail of a former doorway*

Twenty one years after ‘The Firs’ was built, Newcastle’s first museum was born just off the Ironmarket in Lad Lane. This consisted of a public library, a reading room and museum.

It was during the early years of WW2 that the Borough Museum was founded in the Lancaster Buildings. Eventually it moved to its current location in Brampton Park. You can read more about the history here – written by Neville Malkin, 9th June 1976.

*The Market Cross and the Russian Canon*

Here’s the drawing in full. You can see the rest of my red ochre series of Newcastle-under-Lyme on my website Drawing the Street or browse my Etsy shop where the originals are for sale (available to buy at the time of writing).

*The complete drawing of the side elevation of the Brampton*

The second drawing of the Brampton shows the side towards Pitfield House, with some of the garden and more of the wonderful roofscape.

I’ll sign off with a picture from the 2019 exhibition at the Brampton ‘Capturing the Past’. I was delighted that my collection of street drawings were included in the exhibition – they’ve been part of the Museum archive since 2018.

Thanks for reading

Ronnie 🙂

Lanark, Tolbooth Lanark

Step Inside for some Tolbooth Art!

December 17, 2021 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

Let’s have a look around the Tolbooth main gallery area at ground level. The side windows face up the length of the High Street and it’s worth taking a look in every few days as work is sold and new art brought in.

*Beautiful wooden bowl by Willy Watson, jewellery by Ann Ross, abstract painting by Allan Wood*

Lovely hand-made hats and textiles by Beth Fleming as well as this wee chappie’s bandanas. This is Boothby, the Tolbooth dog. He was given a bit of a fluff-up and a new outfit from Beth and now models the bandanas and tasty dog treats.

*Wooden birds and deer by Willie Watson and necklace by Ann Ross*

*Brilliant designs by Dave Randall and Andrew Rennie*

*Santa hat cat cards and ‘Feline Groovy’ – some of the exciting work by Kirsten Harris*

Look out for artwork by Jean Mellin, Kirsten Harris, Pat McKenzie and Jane Charlton.

‘Mill Man’ *Creative genius of Andrew Rennie*

Below, some fun wee pirates and elves by Dianne McNaughton – check out her amazing paintings here. Hand-crafted wire-wrapped jewellery by Hanne Harris and necklace by Jean Mellin. A variety of beautiful pottery by artist/ceramicist Richard Price. Glass robins by Sian Press.

Second row Annie Stillman‘s hand -painted hearts, evergreen glass mistletoes by Biggar Glass, stylish glass Christmas trees by Carol Shoel and the wee cottages by Nikki Lambi of Material Geeks.

Selection of gifts at the Tolbooth Lanark

Bottom row we have hand sewn fabric coasters by the multi-talented artist Evelyn McEwan, walking pebble figures by Gemma Lamara, wee bear (with mask in pocket) by Lisa Ritchie, glass stars by Carol Shoel.

This year, there is a focus to raise funds to improve access to the first floor of the Tolbooth. The Tolbooth is supported by a team of committed volunteers who know what a good thing this place is for the town. Even buying a pack of cards helps!

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie

Architectural Drawing, Lanark, Lanark Heritage, Tolbooth Lanark

West Port – Gateway to Lanark

December 9, 2021 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

Many years ago Lanark had four town gates: West Port, East Port, Wellgate and Castlegate. There’s no sign of the gate that once stood at West Port – it’s long gone, demolished sometime in the late 1700’s, but the name remains.

West Port, Lanark is the sixth in my series of street drawings of this Royal Burgh. Here’s a clip from the part of the street where it meets Friar’s Lane.

My street drawings are flat-faced elevations – it keeps things simple and allows me to relate cleanly from one building to another in a way that can be read with ease in future. It shows the relationships of eaves and rooflines, heights and widths of properties and the general fall of the ground. It also gives clues as to what might lie beyond – take for example the chimney stacks. Here you can see the lines of stacks but no idea of the extent of their scale….

Let’s take a closer look at the stacks that sit on this early 19th century part of the street. I’ve recently drawn a series of sketches of the town for #inktober – looking at some of the less familiar views. Here though, this is a view you will see as you head out south from the town.

Look at these rows of chimney pots! Each one will service a fireplace somewhere inside these buildings.

Below is a close up of the West Port B&B which is one of the Instagram #inktober series (you can look these up on my Instagram page @drawingthestreet). The original is now framed and on sale in the Tolbooth, Lanark.

Moving along the street, let’s look at these two fine early 19th C buildings. The one on the left listed grade C, the one on the right grade B.

Moving along West Port, we move poetically from Mucky Paws to the Police Station…

*Mucky Paws (left) to the Police Station (right)*

The last part of this section of the street drawing is shown below.

Here’s the whole street drawing – from Friar’s Lane to number 43 West Port. You can see the drawing in more detail on my website drawing the street along with the other Lanark streets in this series including the High Street, Bloomgate, Broomgate and Wellgate.

As I write (9th Dec 2021), there’s one limited edition print, 104cm x 36cm, signed, framed and ready to hang on your wall, available from the Tolbooth Lanark. There are over 40 artists displaying their work there at the moment, so if you can’t see it on the wall, it may be awaiting its turn! Please ask at the Tolbooth reception or just email me: ronniecruwys@drawingthestreet.co.uk

West Port original from the 2021 Instagram #inktober series

I’ll sign off with the final framed original of West Port from the #inktober series which is also available to buy from the Tolbooth, Lanark.

Thanks for reading

Ronnie 🙂

Framed West Port – part of the #inktober series 2021

Framed original artwork of West port now available to buy from the Tolbooth, Lanark.

Audlem, Listed buildings, Williams of Audlem

Warm Glow in Audlem

December 8, 2021 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

There’s always been a warm glow from this much loved shop on Shropshire Street in Audlem, a village which can trace its ancestry back to the Domesday book when it was known as Aldelime. It’s located next to the Shropshire Union Canal where you can find a run of 15 locks designed by Thomas Telford to lift the canal by 28m from the Cheshire Plain to the Shropshire Plain.

Williams of Audlem was established 159 years ago – a record to be proud of! Whilst I was living in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme, I drew most of the street frontages of this fascinating place and recorded them on my website Drawing the Street.

Williams of Audlem stock some of my signed limited edition giclee prints and there are currently two unframed prints of ‘The Square’ in stock, featuring the family run pub and restaurant ‘The Lord Combomere’.

*The Lord Combomere, The Square, Audlem*

*1 and 2 The Square, Audlem, formerly ‘The Crown’*

You can see the rest of this drawing here.

Head north west from The Square and you reach Cheshire Street where you’ll see this lovely red brick Georgian town house set against the backdrop of the 13thC church of St James, listed grade one.

*Boots the Chemist, Cheshire Street, Audlem*

There is one framed giclee print available in Williams as I write (8th Dec 2021). Here’s a close up of the some of the buildings that make up this side of the street.

A few more cropped images from the street drawing below:

You can see this side of the street in full on my website here.

I’d like to close with a wee thank you to Judy Evans of Williams of Audlem who has been a loyal supporter of my work for many years and to pay a tribute to her beloved Dad Derek, seen here putting out the morning papers for the good readers of Audlem.

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie 🙂

Architecture, Lanark Heritage, Tolbooth Lanark

Wee Mans and Wee Dug of Castlegate, Lanark

November 30, 2021 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

There’s a node of activity surrounding St Nicholas Church and the Tolbooth, Lanark. The ancient Castlegate converges with the High Street nearby and it’s easy to miss the history when you are concentrating on the traffic. Castlegate is one of the town’s oldest streets as it once led to the castle, the heart and origin of what was to become the Royal Burgh of Lanark.

If you glance down Castlegate from the High Street you should catch sight of the wee Girnin’ Dug – looking down from his parapet above Castlegate.

If the Wee Dug was alive today, I’ve no doubt he’d make his way to the Wee Mans below for conviviality and snacks!

Castlegate was originally a very wide street when it was once the location of the early medieval markets. However, it reduced in size when the Broomgate was constructed in the 18th century.

This October, I joined the Instagram #inktober2021 challenge to draw daily in ink throughout the month. There were various given themes but I chose to draw some of the less familiar views of Lanark.

Looking up Castlegate towards High Street, Lanark

Castlegate, St Nicholas Church and the High Street, Lanark

There are a few of older cottages on the Castlegate which remain from the 18th century – I don’t know for sure but these below look similar to the old weavers cottages dotted around the town.

All the original drawings and some prints are now available to buy from the Tolbooth, Lanark where every purchase made contributes to the upkeep and future growth of this town treasure!

At present the Tolbooth is hosting the creative works of some 40 artists in South Lanarkshire, from fine art original paintings to hand-made, palm sized gifts, perfect to post abroad or to put on your tree – a feast to behold and a fantastic destination for Christmas gifts!

As always, thanks for reading.

Ronnie 🙂

Burslem conservation, Uncategorized

Post Me a Letter

September 27, 2021 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

I’ve been making my way through a long list of unfinished jobs – gradually bringing things I’ve started to completion. A theme in my drawings caught my attention as I noticed several post offices and letter boxes feature in the streetscapes. I like to include some of the street furniture – bus stops, telephone boxes etc to bring some context.

My most recent street drawings of Acomb, York are now up on my website. I started a set of four drawings back in February 2020 and it has taken 18 months to get them scanned. I return to my former workplace to do this – it gives me the chance to see my old workmates at HHA in Stafford (see later on in this post) . I will write more about the Acomb drawings in another post but wanted to take a moment to look at post offices on my streetscapes.

Lets scroll back through my work …. here we are in Lanark, 2019 on West Port. The Post Office is now on Bannantyne Street but this letter box remains outside the location of the old PO on West Port.

Mucky Paws now settled in Lanark’s former Post Office

*Post Box on the corner of Greenside Lane and Hope Street, Lanark*

There’s a rare Victorian (VR) letter box built into the wall outside Christ Church on Hope St, Lanark, well maintained in painted pillar box red.

Post Box – VR Victoria Regina – outside Christ Church, Lanark.

Moving down to Eccleshall in Staffordshire, I picked up the Post Office on Stafford Street, where there is a substantial ‘ER’ post box outside.

*Post Office, Stafford Street, Eccleshall*

You can see the rest of this street here on my street archive blog.

Next up is a sketch I made of the letter box on the platform at Stoke-on-Trent station.

*Post Box on the platform at Stoke-on-Trent station*

This is a bit of a personal favourite as it has a connections to old friends in Staffordshire. This one is a ‘GR’ – George Rex.

Stepping back on the Drawing the Street time line, we reach Audlem, Cheshire. Back in 2014 there was a Post Office here on Stafford Street.

*Post Office (long since gone) Stafford Street, Audlem, Cheshire*

Last of all, is Market Place in Burslem. This too was drawn in 2014.

A regular double sized ‘ER’ post box sits outside the PO Burslem. Here, I included one of my work colleagues, with a bag inscribed ‘HHA’ (Horsley Huber Architects), which marked that the office had been involved in some repair work on this building back then.

I love these little details. They bring the drawings alive!

Thanks as always for reading,

Ronnie

Lanark Heritage, Sketch book, Tolbooth Lanark

The Tolbooth: from Jail to Jewel of Lanark

September 8, 2021 ronniecruwys 2 Comments

A recent post by Tolbooth Arts has prompted me to look a little further into the history of this significant Lanark landmark. It sits at the bottom of the High Street with the Provost’s lamp (from the 1890’s) standing outside. The lamp is a relatively recent feature in it’s history – the third of the Tolbooth buildings to have existed on this site since the early 1400’s.

Lanark is one of Scotland’s oldest Burghs and back in the 12th century it was a favoured hunting ground for the Kings of Scotland. Over the years, the town has been a creative hotspot for shoes, gloves, saddlery, weaving, oil, and knitwear whilst the Lanark markets traded in livestock and agricultural implements. A walk through the Closes of Lanark give a great insight into the layers of history woven into the town.

Information boards on the wall of McKenzie’s Close – drawings by Kirsten Harris Art

The Town Council would have had a Council Chamber – a ‘Tolbooth’ in which to hold their meetings and to serve as a base for their officials, the treasurer and town officer. The Tolbooth served as a point for collection of customs or charges imposed on all goods brought in to the town for market. The ‘Customer’ or ‘Tacksman’ based here had control of the weights and the ‘Tron’ or public weighing machine located nearby.

The first building referred to in Lanark records was located approximately on this site and is thought to have been built around 1400. By 1571 it was in a ruinous condition and was replaced by a building which survived until 1778 but the Council didn’t have the funds to repair it.

‘Gentlemen of the Tolbooth’ – Volunteers Ernest, Tom and Millie, Christmas 2019

However, this was when the “Gentlemen of the County” stepped in and offered to pay for erecting a new building entirely at their expense with the one condition that they were allowed to use the Upper Hall as a gathering place. This is the Tolbooth building that exists at present.

There is plenty more on the history of the Tolbooth on the Discover Lanark website and on the Canmore website.

In 2017 The Tolbooth Trustees embarked on the redesign of the ground floor unlocking the buildings potential as a gallery, heritage centre and arts hub open daily manned by a dedicated group of volunteers. For the past few years that I have been living near Lanark, the Tolbooth has indeed been a creative hub and I’ve been delighted to have participated in several exhibitions with many happy hours spent sketching inside and out – a few examples follow:

*Richard Price giving a pottery demonstration in the Upper Hall*

Lanark’s town pigeons settling down to roost for the night

The Tolbooth Christmas shop has been a growing success over the past few years and artists are well underway preparing new work for this year’s stock, myself included.

Skilled creative work of local artists in the Christmas Shop

Lanark’s town Crier taking shelter in the Tolbooth, wearing Thomson Blue Tartan

Look out for the next exhibition – ‘Clyde Valley – Garden of Scotland’ coming very soon to the Tolbooth – more on that in the next post!

In the meantime, I will sign off with this drawing of the Tolbooth Lanark. It will be in the Christmas shop from November, or get it touch with me or a volunteer at the Tolbooth. Price is £225 framed (20 x 17in) which includes a commission towards the upkeep of this fantastic community hub.

Thanks for reading, Ronnie

Eccleshall, Eccleshall Architecture, Gallery at 12

Eccleshall Glows Red

December 19, 2019 ronniecruwys Leave a comment

High Street, Eccleshall with the Arcade – home to Gallery at 12

Gallery at 12 in Eccleshall is a firm supporter of the work done by Shape Arts . Each December the Gallery holds a charity day to fund raise for them and this year it tied in with ‘RED’, their winter-themed exhibition by all the co-operative membership. I’d love to say the words ‘Beam me up Scottie!’ and be transported back to the Gallery for the day but in the meantime I got out my red oxide ink for some fresh sketches of Eccleshall and posted some new work to the Gallery from their long-distance guest member.

These are cropped images from four little original drawings of Eccleshall, all mounted ready to frame. I’ve also made sets of cards of these as handy stocking fillers.

You will always get a warm welcome in the Gallery and Eccleshall is such a picturesque place to visit – if you live in the area, why not head over.

If I don’t post again before Christmas, here’s wishing all my readers a very happy one and hope you get many peaceful sofa moments!

drawing out the best in our streets