How to Draw a Fortress, Medieval Fortress

Artist: MichaelY / April 21, 2013

3 votes

Step 1.

To draw a medieval fortress, it's best to start with the horizon line as a point of reference. Simply use a 2H or harder pencil, and with the help of a ruler, draw a horizontal line across the lower portion of your page. Draw lightly so that the line

Step 2.

Let's start from the ground up with this fortress. Our fortress is going to be well protected in that it is built on top of a small rocky island in the ocean. Draw a low level island that is covered with jacked, pointy rocks.

Step 3.

Next, draw two tall towers on the right side of the island. These towers will serve as outer supports for the entrance into the fortress. Use your ruler to draw the vertical towers. I wanted to make things a little interesting by making the towers ha

Step 4.

Next, draw the main entrance into the fortress. Think of it as an edge of a cube protruding slightly from between the two towers. Draw a series of arches along the bottom of the cube and a decorative ledge just above the arches. Also draw a section o

Step 5.

People can't fly or be expected to climb up those rocks just to get inside the fortress, so let's draw a wide staircase leading up to the entryway from the water level. You don't have to draw every single step if you don't wish. At this distance, the

Step 6.

Being that this fortress is in the middle of the water, boats have to be able to dock at the entrance. Draw a square dock at the base of the staircase. The dock should be held up by a series of small arches that disappear into the water. The front of

Step 7.

Now draw a few more towers along the rest of the island. These ones can be simpler than the ones by the entrance. They can simply be cylindrical with round lookouts on the tops. The lookouts should have small triangular shaped supports beneath them.

Step 8.

The most important feature of a medieval fortress is its outer wall. The wall should be very tall and is connected by each tower. The section of wall above the entryway can have an extra segment that rises higher than the rest, just for the sake of m

Step 9.

A key feature of the wall is the notches along the top, called crenellations. You'll need to use your eraser to erase notches along each portion of the top of the wall and tower look outs. Then draw a square notch inside each erased segment. You shou

Step 10.

Let's move on to the inner structures. These can be as simple or as complex as you wish. In this case I drew a cluster of tall cube shapes that connect to one another. To make things interesting, I gave a few of them rounded edges and others square e

Step 11.

Like with the wall and towers, we should draw some crenellations along the top edges of some of the inner structures. You don't have to put notches on every structure, but doing it to a few will add to the uniqueness of the image. It will help make i

Step 12.

We can really add to the image by drawing yet another cluster of structures atop our existing structures. Make these structures taller and thinner than the lower ones. Notice the large notch taken out of the front structure. Add a portion of a cylind

Step 13.

Some of the structures, especially the towers, should have rooftops. The rooftops on top of the cube shaped structures should have 4 sides, whereas the rooftops on top of the cylindrical shaped towers should be cone shaped, similar to the tops of out

Step 14.

To really add character to the fortress, you can add a couple of bridges connecting the structures together. The bridges should have arched supports holding them up.

Step 15.

Add windows to the structures as you see fit. You can be as structured or as random with it as you'd like. It may be a good idea to insert taller windows for the face of larger structures. Do not at windows to the outer wall, as it should be totally

Step 16.

Revisit the entire image and add more details. In this case, I added random bricks to the outer wall and towers, texture to the inner structures, and a flat at the peak of the tallest tower. I also drew more rocks on the island resting against the si

Step 17.

We can add to our sense of distance by inserting random small islands and rocks in the water surrounding the fortress. Draw a large section of island in the foreground on the left side of the pages. Draw clusters of rocks sticking out of the water wh

Step 18.

Now add ripples in the water and some waves crashing against the backs of the rocks. The ripples should be squiggly lines, but they should generally run parallel to one another. However, there should be occasional rings of water circling some of the

Step 19.

Next, fill the sky with storm clouds. The right side of some of the clouds should be fluffier than the left side so as to suggest that they are being blown in by heavy winds. The clouds in the distance do not need to be as detailed as the ones closes

Step 20.

Now that we are done penciling the image, we can ink it using a Micron marker or a brush and India ink. Carefully go over each line with patience. Use your ruler to help you wherever needed. When the ink is dry, erase your pencil marks with a kneade

Step 21.

You can add more depth to the image by giving it heavy shadow. Establish your light source and use black ink or a fat tipped black marker to do your shading. In this case, the light is coming from the left side of the page, so black out the opposite

Step 22.

To help ease the transition from light to dark on the cylindrical towers, we can add a series of hatch lines along the outer edges of the shadows. Simply use your marker and ruler to draw vertical lines next to the shadows. The lines should thin out

Step 23.

If you need to make any corrections, use white ink or opaque white paint. You can also use it to redraw any small details that may have accidentally been blacked out when shading. And that's how you draw a medieval fortress! Thanks for reading!

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Artist: MichaelY
Date Added: April 21, 2013
Steps: 23
Favorited: 2 (view)
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Comments: 1
Tags: how to draw buildings
Description: A step by step demonstration on how to draw a medieval fortress in a comic book style.