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In King Ludwig II’s defense, if I had basically infinite discretionary funds, was accountable to absolutely no one, and was king of a country full of picturesque landscapes, you couldn’t stop me from building myself a big gay fairytale castle on a mountaintop either.
This post is spreading and I feel bad about it because it contains misinformation, so for the record: Ludwig II did not in fact have infinite discretionary funds. He only acted as if he did. He never dipped into the public coffers for his building projects, but he spent his own fortune extravagantly and borrowed heavily from everyone he could think of. By 1885, the year before his death, he was 14 million marks in debt.
~ ✨✨ 14 million marks in debt ✨✨~
I always find this inspiring because try to name another prince of a German state. What did the rulers of Hamberg do? The Grand Duchy of Hesse? Gone with the wind, no one knows them anymore. But Mad Lad Ludwig built a top 5 most famous castle in the entire world. Money is fake, castles are real. Go broke and die like a winner.
EXCUSE ME, this is still wrong. He built 3.
Neuschwanstein, literally the inspo for the castles in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella
Hohenschwangau, the practical castle
Linderhof, the final, the smallest, and the MOST fab.
Every room is incredible and the park is beautiful, but shoutout to The Bedroom, the biggest room
The Hall of Mirrors, which he probably wandered by candle light because he was a serious night owl
The Dining Room, with a wishing table that lowers to the kitchen, and rises with a crank, returning magically full of food
The Venus Grotto, constructed for the sole use of Ludwig to larp to his heart’s content
A full artificial cave, it features a waterfall, fake stalactites, and a custom-designed swan boat floating on an artificial lake. The first electricity in Bavaria was generated here, to change the colors of the stage lights and to power Ludwig’s fountain and wave machine.
Now THAT’S ~ ✨✨ 14 million marks in debt ✨✨~
I love that- and I cannot emphasize this enough -none of this was tax money
the public paid for zero of his fairytale castle hobby
rare European monarch W as far as spending money lavishly goes
Ludwig II did not build Hohenschwangau. That was his father, Maximilian II. Ludwig II did grow up there, though he was born in Munich’s Schloss Nymphenburg.
Ludwig II then proceeded to build Neuschwanstein (left) on the next hill over from his parents’ castle (right), a little bigger and a bit higher up:
You can walk from one to the other, quite a nice daytrip if you happen to find yourself in Bavaria.
While Hohenschwangau wasn’t built by him, Ludwig II did build quite a lot of castles. Besides the already mentioned ones, there’s also Schloss Herrenchiemsee:
It’s modelled after Versailles. The gardens are lovely.
There’s also the more modest Königshaus am Schachen:
The “Turkish Room” still packs quite a punch.
He also planned castles that were never built, such as a Neuschwanstein-style one at the site of the ruined Burg Falkenstein, not far from Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.
This was contemporary theatrical painter Christian Jank’s first rendering of that one:
Architects were engaged, but by that point Ludwig II was already in pretty significant financial trouble. A tiny bit of the infrastructure was put up, but nothing more. You can find some of the design sketches in the museum at Herrenchiemsee.
Shortly before his passing, Ludwig II also had plans for a castle inspired by a palace in Beijing, likely to be built in Tirol, and one that was to be more Byzantine-styled, likely near Linderhof.
He also did some lush royal apartments in Landshut and Munich, as well as other new additions to existing buildings, though a lot of that was cosmetic and/or leftovers from his bigger projects.
Fascinating figure.
I feel the need to mention that Herrenchiemsee is a Versailles copy with a slightly longer Galerie des glaces. Because why just copy when you can do better 😄
(via laurenbudoren)
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Sinantropía, 2023
photographs by Txema Salvans
from the collection of Fundación Foto Colectania, BarcelonaSynanthropy is the concept that defines the ability of some species of flora and fauna to adapt to environmental conditions created or modified as a result of human activity. As an example of this concept, we can mention storks, which we have subjected, degrading their habitats to the point of scarcity. We have forced them to colonize structures completely alien to their natural environment, displacing them near landfills and making them coexist with plastics and other waste. - Txema Salvans (abridged)
image credits: Txema Salvans / Fundación Foto Colectania
part 2 of 2
(via nojaloart)
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Pride of Baltimore II during The Great Chesapeak Bay Schooner Race, 2025
(via modmad)
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I went to Iceland in August! I had to paint some of the beautiful things I saw. It was very weird, magical, and inspiring! I will definitely go back one day to see more of the island, but for now, I am revisiting it through my art 🖤
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CHAPPELL ROAN
Edinburgh Summer Sessions (26.08.25)
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RiverFalls Mall & RiverFair Family Fun Center - Clarksville, Indiana (Opened Oct. 1990)
Designed by Bullock, Smith & Partners
Perfect example of the colorful & playful side of the Festival Marketplace design style, trending into Memphis Jr.
“A series of roof peaks resembling circus tents set the festive tone for the unique 750,000 square-foot center, which features a 100,000 square-foot family fun park on its upper level. A full-size, antique-style carousel is the focal point among the many rides in the park, its glittering revolutions visible through the center’s immense 50-foot-high window wall. In addition to the Grand Carousel, River Fair features an 18-hole miniature golf course, a train ride, bumper cars and action rides, a 10,000-square foot video and skill games arcade, and several other attractions. Adjacent to the park is a 10-screen movie theater, party pavilion, specialty retailers, and a food court. "Food Fair” offers seating for 760 and the selections of 11 quick-serve restaurants. Enhancing the exciting atmosphere of the center are liberal uses of bold color in banners, floor tiling, and paint; reflective silver ceiling panels; and more than one mile of colored neon accents. Natural illumination from the center’s many skylights will brighten River Falls, creating an open, airy ambience for customers while promoting the growth of numerous trees and plants.“
Scanned from the book, American Shopping Centers by I.M. Tao (1993)
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hot artists don’t gatekeep
I’ve been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard
Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.
Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.
Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.
Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.
SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.
SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.
Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.
Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of “how to draw” videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can’t make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.
Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.
Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.
Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here’s a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.
Many of these can be also used to help make writing more consistent with characters and settings! I love this!
(via laurenbudoren)
