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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 36m

Today (5th October) is the anniversary of my starting work with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in 1981. The beginning of a career drawing old stuff. Although 'retired' I am still drawing old stuff... At a different pace and mostly for fun. #ArchitecturalIllustration

A black and white photo of a young man drawing with a dip pen.

Pen and watercolour sketch of a three storey house drawn while on holiday.

Work in progress on old buildings in a narrow street.

A man standing by a window drawing using a sketchbook and pencil.

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Reposted by Allan T Adams

Christopher Stephen Art @chrisstephenart.bsky.social · 18h

Hertfordshire Hills Watercolour sketch 10x14”

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 19h

On holiday in Northumberland I became immersed in the story of Grace Darling. In 1838 she & her dad William rescued 9 survivors from the wrecked SS Forfarshire in the Farne Islands. She was born in her grandparents house, in Bamburgh in 1815. #ArchitecturalIllustration #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil and watercolour sketch of a small cottage with a single storey lean-to addition.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 22h

The corner of Finkle Street & St Sampson's Square, York. York Minster keeps watch over a narrow street with a predominance of pubs and bars. Cut & Craft on the corner, VJ's art bar & the Roman Bath with bits of a Roman bath house in the cellar. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

A busy street scene with people in front of a number of public houses. A narrow street twists away towards a cathedral, the tower of which can just be seen over the rooftops.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The Aviva Insurance building and a hotel dominate the scene from the top of York Minster. In the foreground the Assembly Rooms can be seen. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

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Reposted by Allan T Adams

In at the deep end @in-deep.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Heptonstall, Yorkshire, UK

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Monk Bar, from the Bar Walls, York. A sketch with a fineliner pen in a Moleskine sketchbook. #ArchitecturalIllustration #PenArt #pen #drawing #ArtShare

A drawing of a medieval gateway with the wall walk of the city wall on the left foreground and modern buildings on the right. The gateway is topped by turrets with sculpted figures on the top.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The passage at 54 Goodramgate, York. This leads to a courtyard behind the shops. There used to be a solicitors office here, as noted on the large brass plate on the open gate. The office is now used by an architect and the gates have been replaced. #UrbamSketch #drawing #ArtShare

Pen and watercolour sketch of a doorway that leads into a ginnel in a 19th century building.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A view of York Minster from the Bar Walls. Kendal Bridge and Bridge House, now Pizza Express in the foreground. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

A lone walker on the city walls with York Minster on the horizon.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The entrance bay of the Grand Hotel & Spa, Station Rise, York. Built 1899-1906 as the head office of the North Eastern Railway Company, designed by William Bell of the NER and Horace Field. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of the entrance to an Edwardian office building.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Flashback to 1st October 2020. What next? Progress on a drawing of the former GNR headquarters building in York. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

A paused pencil with a nearly complete drawing of a large building with an impressive facade.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Pre-Covid pandemic social distancing in Shambles, York. On the right is the shrine to St Margaret Clitherow and several other medieval buildings. A drawing I finished in 2019. #ArchitecturalIllistration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

A narrow street with a small number of people walking past shops that haven't yet opened. The buildings on the left are partly covered in shadow.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The courtyard of the Golden Cross Inn, Oxford. Pizza Hut reckon its been there since 1193. On the left is a 16th-17th century timber frame with wall paintings, to the rear an 18th century range. #UrbanSketch #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

The courtyard of the Golden Cross Inn, Oxford. An inn with a long history, proclaimed as 1193 on the wall of Pizza Hut. On the left is a long 16th-17th century timber frame with wall paintings, to the rear an 18th century range. I met an enthusiastic architecture student while sketching here, sheltering from the rain in the entrance.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A drawing almost finished, 30 September 2020. But sometimes you almost finish a drawing & find you need to go back over it to keep the tones in tune. Grand Hotel, York. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a grand entrance with an arched head featuring a modern glass doorway with the reflection of a window in the building opposite.

Work in progress with a mechanical pencil on a drawing of the grand entrance to a former office building, now a hotel.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The giraffe and the elephant that hang about on the balcony of Southbank Artists Studios in York. #Pen #watercolour #drawing #sketchbook #ArtShare

Drawing of a giraffe on the balcony of Southbank Artists Studios in York.

Elephant head on the balcony of Southbank Artists Studios in York

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Quote with your women art. Some large ceramic ladies on a shop front in York

Tow large ceramic sculptures of women and a cartouche with initials and date of 1908 over an arched window on an Edwardian shop in York, UK.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Heraldry at Micklegate Bar, York. According to FB it's been 10 years since I finished this drawing. The Royal Arms & City of York Arms, c1350 & several iron reinforcement bars, 19th century + some weathered stonework. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of medieval coats of arms on a stone gatehouse wall. They are interspersed with rectangular windows and two cross-shaped arrow loops.

Two snapshots of work in progress on a drawing of heraldry on a gatehouse. There is a key to features in the drawing at the bottom right. A: Arms of the City of York. B: Royal Arms of England c1350-1375. C: Iron reinforcing bars c1827. D: Iron reinforcing bars c1863. E: Acid rain damaged limestone.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Harding's Linen Drapers Shop, 5 Coppergate, York. The 1st floor window of 5 Coppergate has a pair of sculpted figures possibly designed by Edward Caldwell Spruce, chief designer at Burmantofts Pottery of Leeds who provided the faience tiles for this part of the facade. #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a window with two ceramic figures decorating the arch at the top.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

A window with a Gibbs surround and Edwardian wrought ironwork. The Grand Hotel & Spa, former headquarters building of the GNR, York. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Partially drawn facade of an Edwardian office building. The centre piece is a window with a Gibbs surround and balcony with ornate iron railings.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The west towers of York Minster. The south west tower, on the left, holds the cathedral bells and was finished first in 1445. It was badly damaged by fire in May 1840. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Two towers rise above the western part of York Minster. The towers have pinnacles above parapets and tall windows in each visible wall. In the foreground is a row flying buttresses supporting the wall, positioned between large windows with tracery.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

On 27th September 2023 I received my copy of "The Farming Landscape of the Westmorland Dales" with quite a few of my illustrations in it. It had been an interesting commission. #ArchitecturalIllustration #drawing #illustration #ArtShare

Cover of a booklet on the farming landscape of the Westmorland Dales, a part of northern England.

Double page spread of a booklet with illustrations of a typical Westmorland linear farmstead, a turf built seasonal house for shepherds watching sheep on the higher fells, a horse mounting block and detail of a dated door lintel.

Double page spread with a reconstruction drawing of a medieval farming landscape on the left.

A double page spread with a drawing of a 19th century farming landscape on the right to compare with the medieval landscape also in the booklet.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Reminded by FB that it's the anniversary of working on the fiddly bit (some scroll work) beneath the fancy window on 5 Coppergate, York. Probably where the shop name was placed. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtSjare

Pencil drawing of ornamental ceramic tiles beneath a first floor window.

Work in progress on a drawing of a window with large ceramic figures on top of a rounded arch. The figures support a datestone with the initials GWH and 1908 in the corners.

Work in progress on a drawing of a datestone and a large ceramic sculpture of a partly dressed woman.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Something I was working on a while back. Number 5, Coppergate, York. The harder bits are done, just the fiddly bits beneath the fancy window to do. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Work in progress with a Staedtler Graphite 0.3mm pencil on a drawing of an arched window with two ceramic figures and a datestone of 1904.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

A drawing I was commissioned to make was published in September 2025. The lime depot was built in 1840 for the Stockton & Darlington Railway. They were published in Research News 29. historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/re... #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #watercolour #drawing #ArtShare

Cutaway drawing of railway wagons unloading lime for transport by horse and cart

Work in progress on a drawing of railway wagons unloading lime using a 000 paintbrush.

Pencil drawing of railway wagons unloading lime for transport by horse and cart.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Getting engrossed in another challenging study OTD 2020. Modillions and Gibbs surrounds, incorporated into an Edwardian railway building. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Work in progress on a pencil drawing of an Edwardian office building.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

FB reminders of the SAI meeting on Sept 2018, The staircase hall, Brownsover Hall, Hotel, Rugby. The hall designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott c1860. I got it started before the evening gathering and added to it before breakfast on Saturday. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #drawing #ArtShare

Pen sketch of a staircase landing with open, arched arcades and iron balustrades. The staircase hall, Brownsover Hall, Hotel. The hall was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in c1860. The green sofa on the landing serving one of the rear wings was an ideal spot to lurk as I could see two fellow SAI people heading to and from reception, bar and restaurant. I got it started before the evening gathering and added to it before breakfast on Saturday.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The #ADoorableThursday portal that leads to the station buffet tea rooms in Barter Books, Alnwick, the incredible secondhand bookshop in the former railway station. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #drawing #Artshare

Rows of bookshelves leading the eye to a doorway with an arched fanlight with letters proclaiming the room beyond the door to be a station buffet. It is in fact the tearoom of a secondhand bookshop that was once a railway station.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

FB reminded me of what I was doing on 24 September 2022... After drawing Minerva on the corner of Minster Gates I started a new study of a building in Coppergate, York. A bit of Edwardian exuberance. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Using a pencil to draw a window decorated with a life size ceramic sculpture of a female figure and datestone.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Women at work. Studies I made based on William Henry Pyne's 'Microcosm' when working on a reconstruction drawing. Characters that help bring a drawing showing life in the past to life. Wringing out a moon& using a bitter churn. #Illustration #drawing #ArtShare

Sketch of a woman wringing out a mop into a pail, based on a late 18th century book illustration.

Sketch of a woman churning butter, based on a late 18th century book illustration.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Gloster Meteor NF Mk 14, WS 788. Being restored in the Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington. It was built in February 1954 at Baginton, Coventry as a two-seat night fighter. #Illustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a 1950s jet aircraft disassembled in a metal hangar undergoing restoration work.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

For #WindowsOnWednesday a fine bow window on the Westgate Hotel, Newport, Gwent. A sketch from my student days. The hotel was at the centre of a major incident during the Chartist uprising in the 19th century. #UrbanSketch #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #sketchbook #drawing #ArtShare

Incomplete on site pencil drawing of a large city centre hotel building with a large estate car in the foreground.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Number 15 Newgate, one of York's oldest domestic buildings, built 1337. It is part of a row of much altered houses built on the edge of the churchyard of St Sampson's church and was longer until part of it was demolished. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Drawing a row of timber framed buildings with exposed timber work in the end wall.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Some old college drawings that have survived numerous house moves. A bit of Commercial Street in Newport & a printing machine in my art college. The operator of the latter was rather short & sometimes stood on a chair to make it work. #drawing #pencil #pen #art

Pencil sketch of a building covered by scaffolding and some traffic lights.

Ballpoint pen drawing of an offset litho printing machine, drawn c1977-78.

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Reposted by Allan T Adams

Bakuma.Art @bakuma-art.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The Lodberrie, Lerwick, Shetland Most people recognise this iconic spot as the fictional home of DCI Jimmy Perez from the BBC crime drama Shetland, but it is actually a beautiful traditional building. #shetland #lodberrie #sketchbook #travelsketches #pleinair #watercolour #bakumaart #pleinair

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Moving day, 22nd September, 1992. Despite the passage of 34 years we still remember this day all those years ago. From a 3 bedroom terrace to a semi detached house with trees around it & a view of York Minster around the corner. #ArchitecturalIllustration #drawing ##ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a terrace of houses. Each house has a window to each floor with a single doorway. Underneath the drawing are lines indicating the subject of the drawing, annotating 32 Upper Denmark Road, Ashford, Kent.

Bird's-eye view of a suburban street with a corner house rendered with watercolour.

Pen and watercolour sketchbook drawing of a suburban housing area with a silhouette of York Minster on the horizon.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Micklegate Bar, York. The lowest part, including the gate arches, date from the 12th century, with some Roman masonry reused. The upper floors were created in 1350-75 to accommodate a portcullis and gate keeper. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a three storey gatehouse. Two arches have been added through the city wall to the left. There are carved figures on the crenellated parapet and a number of heraldic shields on the central part of the wall. A large house can be seen behind the city wall adjoining the gateway to the right.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Research sketches of cheese making equipment from Yorkshire Dales farmhouses. I was working on a cutaway drawing at the time. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #watercolour #drawing #ArtShare

Cheese kettles, a bridge, a breaker for breaking whey, a grinder and some chesfords or cheese moulds.

A cheese press from a Yorkshire Dales farmhouse.

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Reposted by Allan T Adams

Colin Ventura @colinwoodart.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

A sketch of a Dipper. Which is a small water bird, that gently bounces as it stands. Graphite on hot press watercolour paper. Available, if anyone wants it, but I haven't listed it on Etsy. #drawing #graphite #BirdDrawing #PencilArt #BirdArt #wildlife #GraphiteDrawing #WildlifeArt #dipper

A black and white pencil drawing of a small bird. The bird is shown in side view, a light coloured head back and white, and white breast and a dark underbelly. It is perched on a rock in the middle of water, which shows the effect of rain on the water, with inter-lacing circles. The water is only lightly sketched in.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The rebus of Abbot John Darnton, Fountains Abbey. John is represented by the eagle of St John, which is holding a crozier. On the left are the remains of 'Dern', barely legible, while the eagle holds a tun or cask to represent 'ton'. The right hand scroll reads 1494. #ArchitecturalIllustration

Pen stipple drawing of an eagle holding a crozier it's beak while clutching a barrel in front of an inscribed scroll. It is a form of pictorial inscription or rebus using sculpted images and words to form a person's name.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Sketches as a reminder of a meeting of the Society of Architectural Illustrators. Brownsover Hall hotel, Rugby the venue; reputed birth place of 1st headmaster Rugby school near venue; coffee & KitKat + passengers on train. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #watercolour #drawing #ArtShare

Pen sketch of a corner tower of a hotel building. The entrance is in the base of the tower, beneath an oriel window. Drawn from a bench in the car park, in the sunlight, having arrived early for a meeting of the Society of Architectural Illustrators.

Drawing of a house reputed to be the birthplace of the first headmaster of prestigious Rugby school in 1515.

Drawing of a coffee cup and KitKat on a fold down tray of a train.

Sketch of a crowded train, the head the man nearest showing he is wearing headphones, the next passenger appears to be reading.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

A rare survival from the 1940s, an Austin K2 "Katie" ambulance. They were the standard British wartime ambulance vehicle with room inside for 4 stretchers and an attendant. #Pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a Second World War era ambulance.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

FB memories: teaching recording historic buildings at St Anne's College, Uni of Oxford & a moated manor house. Hartland House 1937 in the college; lunchtime sketch of a medieval manor I was showing students how to measure; a lecture on photography. #ArchitecturalIllustration #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil and colour pencil sketch of a three storey tower-like part of a 1930s building at an Oxford college. It bears the armorial of the benefactor with beaver supporters.

Pencil sketch of a medieval timber framed house with a separately built crosswing that was modified for a later porch that has been removed.

A sketch of students sat around a table listening to a lecture about photographing historic buildings.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Ever feel that some days could do with a bit of help to get started? One of these might help? A Huck's aircraft starter mechanism mounted on a Ford Model T car chassis, a proper wind-up machine.

A modified early motor car, a Model T Ford, with an apparatus for starting biplane aeroplanes. A chain is attached to the vehicle power train to turn a rod that fits the aeroplane propeller to start the engine.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Guthrum's Street, or rather Goodramgate, York. A fine group of late medieval timber framed buildings. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a curving street lined with three large, three storey timber framed buildings.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

A walk on the Bar Walls, York. Tower 23; tower 23 from the next one along, 24 & towers 24, 25 & 26 from tower 27, Robin Hood Tower. These are along the wall from Bootham Bar to Robin Tower (by Lord Mayor's Walk). #ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pen sketch of a city wall with steps by a rounded, open backed tower.

Pencil sketch of a city wall, drawn from a projecting tower and looking towards another tower with buttresses on the outside of the city wall.

A drawing of a medieval city wall with three towers, the wall walk supported on a series of arches.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Practicing my less used skill with a pen, 19 September 2017. Not everyday I draw a rebus. Not indeed do I remember how to describe what a rebus is... #Illustration #pen #drawing #ArtShare

A Rotting 0.18mm pen resting on a tissue paper during work on a stipple/dot drawings of a carved bird and barrel with a scroll.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

We recently visited Cragside, near Rothbury in Northumberland. Plenty to see & draw there, including the clocktower and former estate manager's house. #Cragside #ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #drawing #ArtShare

Pen drawing of a clocktower among tree foliage in the background of a sundial on a stone pedestal with a wooden bench behind. In the formal gardens of Cragside, Northumberland.

A large house with numerous gables drawn from the upper terrace of a garden on a hillside. In the distance the Northumberland hills above the town of Rothbury.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Micklegate Bar, York. The original archway of Micklegate Bar dates from around the early 12th century, with some Roman masonry reused. It's closed now so lorries don't get stuck there. #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil drawing of a medieval gateway with a rounded arch and large buttresses at the base. The sign reads ROAD AHEAD CLOSED.

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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The Ford CMP 15cwt truck at Yorkshire Air Museum. Last time I visited the museum it was in the workshop area in several bits, presumably undergoing restoration. #YorkshireAirMuseum #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

Pencil study of a Second World War military transport vehicle.

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