Monday 29 October 2012

Drawing of Lavenham Market Square

Lavenham Suffolk drawing
Lavenham Suffolk

My wife and I visited Lavenham, Suffolk a couple of years back and stayed in an excellent Guest house called Highfield House, run by a very charming couple. Its a great place to ramble and every street corner greets you with a Medieval building or pretty scene for an drawing of Levenham.

I was particularly taken in by the wall in the Swan Public House, which had scribblings and signatures of allied airmen stationed locally, penned during the Second World War. Some of those brave men of the RAF and USAAF 487 Bombardment Group wouldn't have come back after making their mark even more touching. We remember them - especially with Remembrance day looming.

Fitting perhaps that this illustration captures a memorial in it's foreground.

We enjoyed some of Suffolk's best brew outside the Angel Hotel - Aspall Cider - bathed in a little sunshine in the market square of this quintessential English village. Bliss.

Well worth a visit - time stood still.


Please choose
Illustration of Angel Inn, Market Square, Lavenham, Suffolk.
Hand signed and annotated A4 Print of pen and ink illustration on 90lb watercolour paper £14.99
Original 12" x 9" pen and ink illustration on 140lb watercolour paper £125
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

Thursday 25 October 2012

Kings Head Chigwell Illustration

Kings Head Chigwell painting
Kings Head Chigwell


This scene I illustrated, is possibly the most famous 'Ye Olde Kings Head' ever. 

Or as I like to call it 'The Old Kings Head' in Chigwell, Essex which is said by many to be none other than the inspiration for the Maypole Inn in Charles Dickens' Barnaby Rudge.

Whether that's true (or fiction if you'll forgive the pun), it has stood relatively unchanged for hundreds of years and stands as a constant landmark in Chigwell. It now can boast an (even more?) famous owner who lives close by - our very own Lord Sugar. Beat that Charles.

Pictured at Christmas time it is one of my favourite quintessentially English Pubs.

The original black and white pen illustration for sale on request. Please enquire!


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Ye Olde Kings Head, High Road Chigwell,  Essex.
Hand signed and annotated A4 Print of pen and ink illustration on cartridge paper £14.99
Original black and white pen illustration (approx A3) £125
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Twitter

Just to let you know you can follow us now on Twitter!

 

Friday 19 October 2012

Drawing of St Mary Magdalen, Billericay

Billericay Essex drawing
Billericay Essex

The church of St Mary Magdalen is the 18th century church that dominates the heart of Billericay's High Street. The first time I drew this I was a student at The Billericay School. In 1970 the BBC's Songs of Praise was to be filmed within the churches walls, and my Art teacher (either Mrs King or Mr Brown) suggested that if I drew the church, they would see to it that it was hung in the church office and I would see it on TV along with countless other millions of viewers.

I set about my masterpiece with enthusiasm and from memory it was quite an accomplished piece for my age but it never once made it as far as the cathode ray tube, and I never saw it again.

This drawing is a revisit to the scene many years later. Chapel Street's ever-present cottages disappearing to the left and the High Street and Billericay's shops to the right. The war memorial proudly displays the fallen from the wars the local townsfolk have lost son's to, contributing to all our freedoms.

I think its a pity (aesthetically speaking) that this focal point now is encased in safety railings. Sign of the times.

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St Mary Magdalen Church, High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

Tuesday 9 October 2012

White Hart Billericay illustration

Billericay Essex
White Hart Billericay

The White Hart in Billericay High Street, or "The New White Hart (NWH) in its present guise.

The Post Office sits behind where, as a child, I used to buy my 'First Day Covers' knowing they would be valuable one day. They're not but the memories are.

Nice to see live music now livens the pub up and its a focal point for lively socialising just as any good pub should be.



Please Choose

The White Hart, (now NWH) 138 High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012