As we wound our way through the Western Highlands, clouds whispered over mountain peaks, quietly cloaking the sleeping giants. We were in Kyle of Lochalsh, and Eilean Donan was our first stop of the day before we crossed over the bridge to Skye. The Castle seemed to appear out of the mist as we rounded one of the of the many curves that bent around the contours of Loch Duich. It was 10:30 a.m., and crowds of people had already descended upon the self proclaimed “most beautiful castle in Scotland.” I had only been to one castle (Cawdor Castle was lovely, but the gardens were the most breathtaking part) at that point in our travels, and I agreed that I had never seen a castle exude as much beauty and history and mystery in one look. Eilean Donan is no stranger to the spotlight for this very ability to evoke the feeling of being in Scotland, and so you’ve definitely seen her if you’ve seen “Highlander”, “Rob Roy”, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and even Pixar’s “Brave”. The lack of p

As Doune Castle came into view, I had visions of Claire Randall first walking into Castle Leoch; Ned Stark, Jaime Lannister, and Robert Baratheon standing across from each other in front of Winterfell; and an ill-mannered and quick-witted Frenchman with an "outrageous accent" shouting down at King Arther in Monty Python and the Holy Grail .  It's hard to believe a single castle could contain all these wonderful moments and stories, not to mention the real history that has taken place there.  But it's no wonder that so many filmmakers have chosen Doune as a setting.  With a keep that towers above you, an open courtyard, classic stone walls, and accessible wall walks, it seems both awesome and familiar, like a castle you imagined when playing as a child. I got chills (admittedly not the world's greatest challenge) multiple times as I walked round the grounds following in the footsteps of Claire, listening to Jamie Fraser speak to me (Sam Hueghan narrated part

Check out a little behind the scenes look at my process for drawing coloring pages based on 15th and 16th century artwork. Click below to watch!   Drawing for Coloring Books 1