Allan T Adams
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allantadams.bsky.social
Allan T Adams
@allantadams.bsky.social
1.7K followers 470 following 2K posts
A semi-retired architectural illustrator, drawing buildings & old stuff to relieve stress. Illustration, art, archaeology, conservation, reading. FSA, Fellow Society of Architectural Illustrators (FSAI). No NFTs.
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Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · Mar 25
An introduction as I have a number of new followers on Bluesky. I used to record historic buildings and illustrated their development and former use for a living.

I still draw old buildings & other things to promote understanding, particularly of the past & often of subjects in York, England.
A group of pictures from the recent career of an architectural illustrator. Top row, left to right: timber framed building, Halifax bomber, detail of a window. Middle row: using colour pencils, a man sketching while standing up, drawing a busy town street. Bottom row: a doorway, a man drawing on a mountain top, colour pencil drawing of roof tiles. Text and illustrations of a man drawing an archaeological plan and a house with a field boundary wall. Text from a newsletter with pictures of a man sitting drawing in a bathroom, some iron railings, a man drawing by a window and a cutaway drawing of a farmhouse and barn with weavers in the house.
allantadams.bsky.social
A commoner mocking an aristocrat? Carved figures in the Chapter House of York Minster, completed by 1290. Were the masons having a good time making fun of their patrons?

#YorkMinster #drawing #sketchbook
#ArtShare
#ArtYear
Pencil and watercolour drawing of carved figures in a medieval building. A man in the right appears to be making faces at the man on the left who had a neat beard and carefully arranged hair.
January 6, 2026 at 12:39 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Rievaulx Abbey and the village of Rievaulx, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire.

#PenArt #Pen #drawing
Pen and ink drawing of the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey from the air. Pen drawing of the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey with the village of Rievaulx on the left.
January 5, 2026 at 8:51 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
The shrine of St William in the undercroft of York Minster. Possibly a reused Roman sarcophagus initially formed part of a shrine in the nave of the cathedral. It now has its own dais, candles and railings.

#YorkMinster
#ArchitecturalIllustration
#drawing
#ArtShare
A stone sarcophagus surrounded by candles. In the background a stone vaulted ceiling rises from rectangular piers with a round column with chevron decoration innthe background beneath a window.
January 5, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Allan T Adams
12bbytheseaside.bsky.social
Will never make Great British Pottery Throwdown but air dry clay is fun.
January 4, 2026 at 9:29 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Mad Alice Lane, Low Petergate, York. The Snicket leads to some interesting timber framed buildings & Swinegate. The myth is poor Alice was accused of murder allegedly lived here.

#ArchitecturalIllustration
#pencil #drawing
#ArtYear
January 5, 2026 at 8:43 AM
allantadams.bsky.social
Rievaulx Abbey near Helmsley, North Yorkshire. Drawn after a New Year's Eve walk. The first time my mum visited it, in 2019. She was 93 last week & probably couldn't manage now.

#RievaulxAbbey
#drawing #sketchbook
#ArtShare
The ruins of a medieval abbey church. The view is from the nave with the almost intact, but roofless, transepts and eastern arm of the building seen above the ruins of the nave piers. The ruins of a medieval abbey church. The view is from the nave with the almost intact, but roofless, transepts and eastern arm of the building seen above the ruins of the nave piers.
January 4, 2026 at 4:44 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
A long time favourite drawing of mine. A former manager encouraged me to submit work to the Royal Academy summer exhibition so I entered this. The frame still bears the chalk cross of rejection on the back but we've had it on the wall at home for many years.

#pencil #drawing
#ArtYear
Pencil drawing of a tree, a large part of which has broken and fallen. A new branch appears to be growing out of the stump.
January 4, 2026 at 2:11 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
The undercroft in my recent posts are beneath the part of York Minster on the right of this drawing, under the choir. The Lady Chapel (on the left) was built in 1361-73, the Choir between 1394 and 1420.

York Minster seen from Chapter House Street.

#Pencil #Drawing
#ArtShare
Pencil drawing of the view down a street past a 17th century house to a large cathedral.
January 3, 2026 at 6:21 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Back to the crypt for a third drawing of the Romanesque columns of York Minster and a surviving bit of a shrine to a saint.

#YorkMinster #ArchitecturalIllustration
#drawing
#ArtYear
A painting being done with a very fine paint brush. In the foreground is a deep, stone sarcophagus flanked by several candles on tall, twisted iron candle holders
January 3, 2026 at 2:06 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Echoes of the past, preserved in stone. Parts of the undercroft of York Minster from the time of Archbishop Roger de Pont L'Eveque who rebuilt the eastern arm of the Minster in the 1160s-1180s only for it to be rebuilt by 1420.

#YorkMimster
#ArchitecturalIllustration
#pencil #drawing
#ArtYear
Collage of two drawings of stone columns in a cathedral undercroft or crypt. The pictures show several columns from opposite directions with an incised geometric pattern on one and bold chevron carving on the other. Collage of two drawings of stone columns in a cathedral undercroft or crypt. The pictures show several columns from opposite directions with an incised geometric pattern on one and bold chevron carving on the other. Collage of two drawings of stone columns in a cathedral undercroft or crypt. The pictures show several columns from opposite directions with an incised geometric pattern on one and bold chevron carving on the other.
January 2, 2026 at 8:32 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
For many 2nd January was a normal working day, including our son. We picked him up from work & while waiting for him saw a lovely sunset. The location was Boston Spa, near Wetherby, West Yorkshire. The time, 4:10 pm. Welcome 2026.
The sun setting behind a row of trees, producing hues of yellow and orange.
January 2, 2026 at 8:26 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Echoes of the past, preserved in stone. Parts of the undercroft of York Minster from the time of Archbishop Roger de Pont L'Eveque. He rebuilt the eastern arm of the Minster, after a fire in 1137, in the 1160s-1180s.

#ArchitecturalIllustration
#pencil #drawing
#ArtYear
Pencil drawing of two large stone columns. The nearer one has incisions making a criss-cross pattern. The further one has curving rows of chevrons. A later vaulted ceiling can be seen on the left. Pencils of 0.3mm and 0.5mm and an eraser at rest on an incomplete drawing of a stone column.
January 2, 2026 at 12:03 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
An Eeyore kind of day? Feeling a bit tired and deflated? Maybe staying up to let in the New Year wasn't such a good idea. Didn't stop us putting on a good spread to celebrate my mum's 93rd birthday & ALL the family turning up to join in. 🙂
Pen and watercolour sketch of Eeyore, looking a little deflated.
January 1, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Allan T Adams
landielf.com
I'm super happy with my first attempt at lino printing 😍
#linoprint #makingstuff #hare
Photo of three lino prints and the carved lino block used to make them, sat on a wood desktop.
January 1, 2026 at 5:56 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Another memorable column from the 12th century slowly taking shape in my Moleskine sketchbook. I used the 0.3mm pencil for the incised decoration as the 0.5mm lead wasn't fine enough to show the incisions clearly. It would have been an afront to the masons of the 1160s to draw their work sloppily.
A drawing shown with 0.3 and 0.5mm pencils and a 2.0mm eraser at rest on an incomplete drawing of a Romanesque column.
December 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
My Top Nine of 2025 on Instagram.
A few surprises here. For example, two of them are "work in progress" snapshots. One is a figure study for a commissioned cutaway drawing and all of them are pencil or pen drawings, most of them in a #sketchbook.

#ArchitecturalIllustration
#drawing
#ArtYear
A collage of nine drawings each with a number denoting how many times the image has been viewed on the Instagram platform. Most of the images are of historic buildings, one is of workmen posing with their tools.
December 31, 2025 at 12:59 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Repost with something watery.

A receding tide at Crimdon Dene, Hartlepool, County Durham.
Watercolour sketch of a beach with a timber pier in the distance.
December 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
A labyrinth with many echoes of the past. A row of piers from the 1160s-80s undercroft of the York Minster of Archbishop Roger of Pont L'Eveque left in place to support the arcades the later choir of 1394-1420.

#YorkMinster
#ArchitecturalIllustration
#drawing
#ArtShare
Pencil and watercolour drawing of a row of stone columns in a cathedral undercroft or crypt. Pencil drawing of a row of stone columns with the further columns decorated with chevrons and a cross cross pattern of incisions.
December 30, 2025 at 2:53 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
York has its own Wealden hall house, in Powell's Yard, 51 Goodramgate. It's rare to find these 15th century buildings so far from the Weald of Kent and Sussex.

#ArchitecturalIllustration
#drawing #watercolour
#ArtYear
Pencil and watercolour drawing of a timber framed building in a courtyard. Drawing and watercolour drawing of a timber framed building adjoining a three storey brick building. A person can be seen passing the opening of a passageway through the building. Watercolour drawing of a timber framed house of two storeys. The upper floor of the ends of the house overhang the lower storey wall.
December 29, 2025 at 11:29 AM
allantadams.bsky.social
Watermill House, Benenden, Kent. A large Wealden hall house in the Weald of Kent, built between 1470 and 1510. A rare watercolour of my time in Kent studying medieval houses.

#ArchitecturalIllustration
#drawing
#ArtYear
Watercolour drawing of a timber framed house with a plant growing over the doorway. The two ends of the house project out over the lower storey.
December 29, 2025 at 6:29 AM
allantadams.bsky.social
Christmas is a time for digging things out of the loft, like decorations and left over wrapping paper from last year. That's when I came across some snapshots of the undercroft of York Minster. I'm not sure whether to leave this as a pencil drawing or add some colour to it.

#pencil #drawing
Pencil drawing of part of a cathedral undercroft or crypt. There are three cylindrical pillars in a row. The central one is decorated with a spiral design incorporating a tooth-like pattern in the cut stones. A pencil and eraser resting on an open sketch book with a nearly complete sketch of a cathedral undercoat on the lefthand page.
December 28, 2025 at 1:24 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
A chance to draw some posed figures as we made our Boxing Day visit to my sister-in-law's house. The figures are on the jambs of a fireplace in the sitting room so they can be comfortably drawn from the sofa.

#FigureDrawing
#sketchbook
#ArtShare
Drawing in a small sketchbook of sculpted female figures.
December 27, 2025 at 9:55 AM
allantadams.bsky.social
A wagon in Kent. A bit worse for wear, perhaps it had too much holiday spirit.

#watercolour #drawing
#ArtShare
Watercolour drawing of a semi derelict four wheel wagon becoming overgrown with brambles at the edge of a field with wooden fences.
December 25, 2025 at 1:47 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
A house on wheels for a shepherd to watch o'er his flocks on Romney Marsh, a long way from home at Copton Manor, Sheldwich, North Kent. An age-old practice still in use, though with more modern amenities I would hope.

#drawing
#ArtYear
A pencil and watercolour drawing of two wagons, one with a shepherd hut built on top (and missing a front wheel). The vehicles were parked outside a red brick farm building with one window high on the wall.
December 24, 2025 at 6:49 PM
allantadams.bsky.social
Oasthouse at Dunbury Farm, Chart Sutton, Kent. Close to a medieval farmhouse these large 19th century oast kilns and barn were used to dry hops. This one, like many others, was converted into houses soon after I got the photograph at the end of a day recording the farmhouse.

#pencil #drawing
Pencil drawing of two storey, timber clad barn and two kilns for storing and drying hops. The two conical shaped kilns have tall cowls for ventilation on the top. The barn has a platform at first floor level for access to a door over a wide opening on the ground floor. Several other windows can be seen.
December 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM