Nice View -How did I do that?

Before I ramble on about the image . . . The Great Hall picture, which seems to be much favoured is going in my Etsy but there is a dilemma: the version you have seen is a web version made for a fansite. The original has a landscape background. If I post both images can you give me your thoughts on which is preferred?

Ok -back to Nice View. The original is an A3 black and white pencil drawing. A lot of detail is therefore lost :( but you can still see two people near the bottom -feet dangling over the edge ... eating sandwiches! Hence the name. I rendered it in colour just for fun but I do get asked about styles and sources of inspiration.

I love architecture and landscapes -different types from middle european medieval castles, Mogul palaces, japanese and chinese secular and military structures, little villages hanging along cliff edges ... the list is endless.

Nice View contains several elements which do typify sources. See if you can spot them -I am having to look myself so I may miss something.

-troglodyte dwellings from Cappodocia

-cliff-side temples from china

-norman castle

-over the top baroque

-japanese castle

-Rhine valley castle

-pueblo dwellings

This wasn't deliberate, vaguely outlined then detailed using soft pencils, erasing shields and cotton buds for a bit of smudging. The only idea was a tall rocky spire which had continuous use for a long time, successively added to where ever possible.

As most of my castles,some people like to trace the paths up, down and around although there are fewer on this one. A few years ago I had some at an exhibition -one couple visited several times to follow the paths around the the 'castle towns' having a heated argument about the route through one section . . .