Folk Tale Landscapes – Church Ruins (#4)

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

Today we’ll visit a gothic church ruin. This was one of the places I felt lucky to stumble across last year, I found it had a very special atmosphere. The remains of this 14th century church sit on a hill at the edge of the small village (Abterode in the Werra-Meißner region), surrounded by old tombstones. There are huge trees growing everywhere, even inside the church hall. The church building has been a ruin since the early 19th century, although the place was still used for service from time to time. It is a beautiful location, and I took a lot of photos, you can see some of them in the video.

For the sketch I decided on a view that shows the choir, a bit of the gothic architecture, and the tree through a dark door frame. I focused more on the preliminary pencil drawing again, and then added watercolor on top. I find I really like this technique right now.

Folk Tale Landscapes – Church Ruins (#4) (video)

Folk Tale Landscapes #4 | Church Ruins

Watch this video on YouTube.

Hope you enjoy it!

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.