SketchTravel – visiting the temples in Nikko, Japan

A Torii in the forest

Sketching among the temples

We took the 2 hour+ train ride north of Tokyo to the area called Nikko, nestled in the mountains and surrounded by three peaks known as the Nikko Sanzan. They are Mount Nanati, Mount Nyoho and Mount Taro. We stayed in an old lodge next to the famous Shinkyo Bridge, a UNESCU World Heritage Site.

Temples are challenging to sketch, with their complexity and endless detail and layers of architectural structures. So I opted to sketch a beautiful torii here. When a torii gate has a shimenawa (rope) hanging across it, that indicates it is associated with Shintoism.

My sketch was drawn using brown ink and painted with watercolor washes.

SketchTravel

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