mega drawings by olivia kemp illustrate mythical landscapes in great detail

british artist olivia kemp has a knack for drawing incredibly detailed, large-scale illustrations that sprawl the walls of her studio. in their entirety, they depict mythical landscapes built from photography, observational sketches, and her own memories of discovered destinations.

melita, maleth

choosing to forego any color, kemp focuses on the rich details and textures she can achieve using lines. she painstakingly outlines and shades every element of her drawings, with each monumental sketch taking several months to complete. in kemp’s latest piece, only then, we’ll leave the woods, she imagines a dense forest, home to a network of treehouses linked together by bridges and walkways.

only then, we’ll leave the woods

some of kemp’s other works include landscapes inspired by the artist’s travels to malta and bavaria. ‘ascending the high pass’ is inspired by kemp’s drawings of bavaria’s castles, and depicts a hillside city composes of towers, cliffs, and a series of arches, bridges and tunnels that connect the various structures. for the malta-inspired landscape drawing, titled melita, maleth, kemp focused on the mediterranean island’s exotic plant life. she illustrates in great detail a wild garden of cacti and flora at the foreground of an ancient fortresses town.

ascending the high pass