Folk Tale Landscapes – A silent place (#5)

Here’s the next video from my landscape sketching series about folk tale landscapes.

In this painting I’ll take a closer look at an old farm building overseeing a rural landscape. I remember this place from last year as one of the most quiet and secluded areas we came across, and there was something almost eerie about the house and the hills. The loudest sounds were the raven calls and the murmuration of starlings that were passing over us.

For the sketch I focused on the road leading up to the hill, with the farm building in the distance – this is a storytelling device that can help to bring up a narrative into a scene. Here I’m wondering what kind of travelers have maybe come through here, what the people in the farm house are like and what their story (or secret) is, and why the landscape surrounding that place is silent. Maybe someone or something is waiting? I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Again, I focused on a detailed pencil drawing, and then added several layers of watercolor.

I hope you enjoy the video! With this post, I’ll take a short summer break and I’ll be back in a few weeks.

Folk Tale Landscapes – A silent place (#5) video

A bit of background info: In this series, I’m looking for landscapes that could be the background for local legends and folk tales. I’m not looking to illustrate any of the stories themselves, I’m just interested in the mood and atmosphere behind these stories and I’m looking for ways to transport this in a landscape sketch.

For more info about this painting series (and about my background), read on here and here. I started researching and creating these paintings last year and the project still continuing as I’m exploring new interesting places. Current restrictions have slowed the process a bit, but I like the thought of having an ongoing project in the back of my mind.