the art of ruddell
Ruddell Art Gallery 4: The holiday skechbook. I read good books on holiday but eventually the sketchpad calls and I go and look for a pencil . .
HB pencil sketch, scaled off a photo I took of the Ottoman Warrior Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, to while away a few hours during our sojourn in the Aydin Province of Turkey
Bodylines were drawn on the front side of the paper, and the mechanicals drawn on the reverse side, so for example if I made a mistake on the engine details I didn't rub out the bonnet lines whilst correcting it!!
it wasn't untill the late 1970s that stencils came into use for lettering, so we did all text printing by hand. On this drawing the lettering is based on my ex-colleague Derek Reaney's immaculate printing style, using a chisel point pencil applied at 45°
Jaguar XJ40 General Arrangement drawing, using 1970s Drawing Office methods: 0.003" Ozalid drawing film, 2H pencil, Staedtler eraser, eraser shield and homemade french curves!!
HB pencil drawing of the Jaguar AJ6 Engine, based on a picture in one of the 1986 launch brochures: this took a while. Considerable use of the erasing shield and hand cut stencils for shading and erasing!!
Christine Keeler looking relaxed, if slightly apprehensive, just prior to returning to England in 1963! Sketched in HB pencil . . copied from a photo
It's quite hard to represent soft leather in pencil . . there is a tendency to draw something that looks more like PVC, which is shinier. Sketched in HB pencil with a lot of Staedtler eraser activity to create the highlights!! Scaled off a photo in TELVA España magazine.
reconstructed Library of Celsus in Ephesus. Sketched in HB pencil, based on my photos from my morning visit to the ancient city.
the final version . . spray can onto a water tank in The Garden Of Hope, painted in memory of master draughtsman and ex colleague Derek Reaney.
using magic marker to colour in the pencil drawing, just to see what it would look like . . .
returning to Body draughting, using 10 lines to create a 50% scale front view of the new Defender. Drawn with HB pencil, the 10 lines (actually 200mm lines!) scaled up from a composited photo created in Photoshop.
reproduction of my 1974 drawing of the Bertone Jaguar XJ40. Drawn with the same H pencil that I used in 1974 and on the original 0.005" Ozalid drawing film . .
although a model for Levis and Louis Vuitton Lea Seydoux is best known as an actress, recently as Dr Madeleine Swann in James Bond's No Time To Die. Sketched in just HB pencil.
a bit of old school draughtsmanship - drawn in 2B and HB . . scaled directly from from Vogue España to while away a few Costa Brava hours . .
HB pencil only. Copy of one of the wonderful Cindy Press pictures, trying to figure out how she creates so much from so little
hidden in the hills above Llafranc. . the beautiful Mont Ras Church side door
sketched on the beach in Alvor. There was nice sense of perspective as the reed parasols disappeared along the empty beach
spotted in Spanish Vogue . . trying to capture Blanca Padilla's wonderful sneer. Nearly got it . .
taking an early morning stroll down through the woods
new sketch pad - I am liking this paper, smoother . . . pots on a wall, copied from the September issue of Maisons Côté Sud
small house behind the cliffs in Lagos, with a moorish feel to it . . .
some seriously bent aleppo pine trees on the costal path near La Forsca
sketched in 2B pencil in about one and a half hours . . . Marie Helvin with her circa 80s hair!!!
HB and 2B pencils. Trying the cindypressart method - fast sketching, not too tight. Quite pleased with the result . .
morning light on the coastal path gate and gateway
a more detailed study of the far end of the platja Castell - the hill which includes an archeological dig
the El Far Hotel entrance - adjoining a medieval church this hotel sits in the shade of the Llafranc lighthouse
the platja Castell - contains some interesting ruins
the Costa Brava is a great coastline, with rocky coastal paths and hidden fishing villages
old Catalan buildings, scorching weather and lazy days
returning to the Costa Brava in 2008, the small towns are still pretty unspoilt.
our quiet little beach in Kefalonia . . steps, gates, steps, more gates . . delightful!
the church in Brem Sur Mer, a small sleepy town by the ocean in the Vendee
en route with caravan - even the rest stops are sun drenched . . . . sketched in 20 minutes
dreaming . . . drawn on a windy English campsite, copied from a book . . . .
sketched in biro on the back of a bus timetable at Pool Meadow when I was out of work . . the title sums up my feelings . .
Swiss chalet we used when ski-ing in Feb 2001, a wondrous rickety wood structure
windswept Furteventura - a desolate and beautiful island
a mysterious house, no doubt belonging to a gangster
the sun and the shadows make the picture
Spanish interlude 1999 - 2000; many of the developments on Mallorca are limited to three or four stories to preserve the environment; drawn from my ground floor balcony in two sittings . .
venturing further south - into Provence, to find quiet mountain lakes and woodsmoke snack bars
one of the Dordogne's many Chateau
a church built into the cliff face opposite the Dordogne . . .
Domme, the magical old town perched on top of a mountain, with commanding views of the Dordogne
looking through the tall trees on the Soleil Plage campsite
on the Soleil Plage campsite you look out directly across the Dordogne River, on the far side of which the cliffs are lined with boxwood trees
the church in Vitrac, a little hidden village in the hillside woods outside Sarlat
a church in La Roque Geraq on the Dordogne
quite a few sketches from the French period . . . right by the campsite at Logis du Brueil
this was late afternoon on a freezing November day catching the last of the sunlight through the trees, I was working in pencil, my daughter was working in pastels: our hands were getting cold 
the lake and Manor at Berkswell, near my home . . nothing has changed here for 40 years . . .
a hotel in the Amazon, drawn in biro, a local child wrote her name on the top of the sketch for me . .
I went to a life drawing class. I thought it was going to be a work of precision . . at least the radiator and the curtain didn't keep moving about . . .
as the Costa Brava undergoes development this is a regular scene - the old and the not so attractive new . 
the remains of a house that perched right on the edge of the cliffs with a fantastic view . . .
Costa Brava; at the far end of the enchanting Tossa de Mar is the old walled town - and hidden behind the ancient tower is this dusty courtyard, sketched in one sitting in about 90 minutes
