Sudeley Castle was decked out in summer roses during my last trip to the Cotswolds.
It’s is one of my favorite places to visit during my Cotswolds workshop. It has it all: centuries of history, a dramatic royal back story, well-tended gardens, a museum, and a gorgeous Victorian Gothic chapel where an English queen is buried.
Since I did two back-to-back workshops last time I was in England, I got to spend two full days sketching at Sudeley. I could have spent a month (or a year!) there and not run out of subjects to paint and compositions to try, but at least I had a chance to complete a couple of pages in my journal.
If you’d like a chance to tour the Cotswolds and sketch Sudeley Castle plus a host of other quintessentially British places, check out my Cotswolds workshop scheduled for May 14-22, 2027.
The rose garden at Sudeley is incredible, and I was there during peak bloom time. It was a feast for the senses! Colors, patterns, intoxicating smells, and bees busily buzzing from flower to flower…I was in heaven.
When it came time to start sketching, there was so much I wanted to include: the castle, the chapel, the gardens, and each absolutely perfect blossom. I couldn’t draw and paint it all, but I managed to capture the essence of my day on a page in my sketchbook.
A gridded page was the perfect choice for fitting in lots of visual information about the estate. I first blocked in the four boxes for the roses then drew the castle and the chapel in the space at the top.
There were simple sketches drawn and painted quickly onsite.
I left room for the Sudeley Castle logo between the two buildings, but I didn’t tackle drawing it that day. It was much easier to print it out when I was back home and then transfer the logo to the page. Why work harder than I have to, right? 🙂
The lettering was done using a calligraphy pen and nib loaded with watercolor. Filling the nib with watercolor instead of ink allowed me to customize the color to perfectly match my sketch.
If you ever have a chance to visit the Cotswolds, I highly recommend spending a day at Sudeley Castle and Gardens.
With its extensive historical exhibit, rambling mansion, and vast gardens, it is more than enough to fill a day. (The easiest way to see it is to join me in May 2027 for my Cotswolds workshop! You’ll have plenty of time to roam and explore and still have time to do your own sketch of the rose gardens.)
In my next post, I’ll share two more sketches that I did on the grounds of Sudeley Castle.
