Castle Drawings

These castle drawings were done with a mechanical pencil and 2B lead. Talk about an inexpensive pastime! Pencil drawing is one hobby that won't cost you much if you want to experiment to see if you like it.

Here is a very basic castle drawing outline to copy for your project.

I ended up doing this drawing for my husband. He had a definite view of how a castle should look.

On my paper, I had lots of scrawled images and outlines, and I experimented until I thought my castles looked as though they were in perspective.

Sometimes, I put a slip of paper under my hand while I'm drawing, to prevent smudging.

That piece of paper had a dual purpose while I was doing these pencil drawings of castles because I used it to guage the lines of the castle walls receding in the distance. They needed to be on an angle to create the illusion of distance from the eye.

I don't use rulers or anything to do the lines because I wouldn't be satisfied if I didn't draw them in myself. It's a personal choice though, there is nothing wrong with using a ruler.

As usual, I will be providing you with some facts about castles. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll be a wealth of knowledge!

The History of Castles

Castles were built for protection during the Middle Ages. Countries across Europe were constantly at war with each other.

A castle was used as a home for a feudal lord or a King, a fortress for the people on the land, a prison, and a place to guard treasure.

The feudal lord and his family lived on the top floor of the Keep because that was the strongest part of the castle.

Castles were built in strategic positions for defense. If they were built on a cliff, the lord didn't have to worry about defending the cliff side.

A lot of castles were built on top of steep hills.

The castles built on level ground were given the extra protection of an outer wall and a moat. A moat is a deep water filled ditch. These castles also had a drawbridge for access across the moat.

The grounds inside the castle walls were so large, villagers could build their own huts to live in.

Depending on their size, castles could house thousands of people.

A wall-walk runs right around the top of the thick stone outer walls. The towers jutted out from the walls, these were built for extra protection. The soldiers or villagers could fight the enemy from three directions from within the towers.

You can imagine how much of a tourist attraction they are today since they are completely steeped in history. I wouldn't like to be paying for the upkeep of a castle though.

This is a drawing of a Spanish Castle, also known as an alcazar.

Each country/culture/century has very different types of castles.

So if this isn't how you imagine a castle, then that's ok. For every person I asked, each one preferred a different castle drawing.

The castle drawings here should provide you with ideas to generate pictures in your imagination though.

I hope you have a go at composing some pencil drawings of castles.

I found I had fun drawing the castle on a hill, drawing the mountains in the background and experimenting with how the earth around the castle appeared.

At this stage, I am not too concerned with being a professional artist. I am happy for you to indulge in this journey of learning with me and to just have fun.