Sketchbook Challenge-Shelter

The topic this month for Sketchbook Challenge is "shelter". I almost immediately thought of an ancient, though solid, stone barn in the rugged Yorkshire countryside. I've never been to England, but I have vicariously lived the life of a country vet while reading most of James Herriot's novels, lol! So I found a picture of a beautiful old barn, which is actually located in Swaledale.

I did this colored pencil drawing in a relatively short period of time, but even with LOTS of time I could never replicate the wild beauty of this country. So many shades of green, thousands of individual stones placed one atop another to build the seemingly endless stone fences. The barn itself must have taken a great deal of skill and patience to erect! These old barns often had just a few tiny windows which I imagine helped to keep the fierce winter winds and snow at bay, while still allowing some ventilation and light. Any animal finding itself caught in a blizzard would feel truly blessed to find this shelter and to wait out the storm in its dim interior.

By the way, this sketch is the first one in my new sketchbook! I just finished filling my last sketchbook and this will be my third sketchbook since beginning this blog, though I also have some random drawings in other books. It's been a fun journey and hopefully I'll find some drawing time after school begins!

Shalom!