You see them everywhere when you're driving through the Midwest or the rolling hills of New England. Ghostly structures. They’re leaning at impossible angles, their silvered wood peeling back like skin, exposing the skeletal timber frames beneath. For an artist, these aren't just ruins. They are the ultimate subject. If you are hunting for old barns to draw, you aren't just looking for a building; you’re looking for a story written in cedar shingles and rusted nails.
It’s about the texture. Honestly, most beginners make the mistake of drawing a "generic" barn. They draw a box with a triangle on top. That's boring. Real barns—the ones that actually make a portfolio pop—have personality. They have sags. They have "character lines" caused by a hundred years of heavy snow and the slow, relentless creep of the foundation settling into the mud.
Why Every Barn Tells a Different Story
Before you sharpen your 2B pencil or crack open that expensive watercolor set, you have to understand what you’re looking at. An English Gambrel is not the same as a Bank Barn. If you draw a Dutch barn but give it a New England saltbox roofline, people who know their architecture will notice. It looks "off."
📖 Related: Acme Markets Gift Cards Explained (Simply)
Take the Bank Barn, for example. These are fascinating because they’re built into the side of a hill. Farmers did this so they could drive a wagon directly into the second floor (the mow) from the uphill side, while the livestock stayed warm in the stone-walled basement below. When you're looking for old barns to draw, a Bank Barn offers incredible depth. You get two different textures: the rough, cool stone of the lower level and the weathered, vertical siding of the upper level. It’s a contrast dream.
Then there’s the Round Barn. These are rare. If you find one, draw it immediately. Frank Lloyd Wright actually praised the efficiency of these structures, though most were built because of a folk belief that the devil couldn't corner you in a round room. Practically speaking, they were easier to work in. But for an artist? They are a nightmare of perspective. Trying to capture the curve of those horizontal siding boards without making the building look like a lopsided wedding cake is the ultimate test of your skill.
The Secret is in the Decay
Perfect buildings are for architects. Artists want the rot.
When you're searching for old barns to draw, look for the "swayback." That’s when the ridge beam—the very top spine of the roof—starts to dip in the middle. It happens because the internal purlin posts are failing. This curve is beautiful. It creates a natural focal point.
You also want to look at the "skin." Old-growth heartwood doesn't just rot; it erodes. The soft summerwood wears away, leaving the hard winterwood ridges behind. This creates a tactile, grooved surface that catches the light in a very specific way. If you’re using charcoal, you can capture this by dragging the side of the stick across rough paper. If you’re using pen and ink, it’s all about those tiny, stuttering vertical lines.
Don't ignore the junk.
A barn is rarely just a barn. It’s usually surrounded by a graveyard of old equipment. A rusted-out manure spreader. A stack of collapsing pallets. A tangled mess of barbed wire. These secondary elements provide "scale." They tell the viewer how big the barn really is. Without them, your drawing can feel like it’s floating in a vacuum.
Finding the Best Locations
So, where do you actually find these things? You can't just Google "cool barns near me" and expect a map.
I’ve spent years driving backroads. The best stuff is usually five miles off the main highway. In the United States, the "Barn Belt" is real. Think Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In Pennsylvania, you’ll find those iconic "Pennsylvania Dutch" barns with hex signs. Those bright, geometric patterns painted on the side aren't just for decoration; they were meant to ward off bad luck (or so the legend goes). Drawing a hex sign requires precision, which creates a nice visual break from the chaotic, messy textures of the weathered wood.
If you’re on the West Coast, things look different. You get more of those tall, narrow hop kilns or redwood barns that have turned a dark, moody grey-black. The light is different there, too. It’s sharper.
- Pro Tip: Use Google Earth. No, seriously. Switch to 3D view and "drive" along rural routes in places like Lancaster County, PA, or the Palouse region in Washington. You can spot the silhouettes of collapsing barns from space.
- The Ethics of Trespassing: Don't do it. Just don't. Farmers are rightfully protective of their land. Most of these old structures are actually dangerous. Floors are soft. Nails are everywhere. If you see a barn you love, stay on the public shoulder of the road or, better yet, find the farmhouse and ask permission. Often, they’ll be so flattered you want to draw their "old eyesore" that they’ll tell you exactly when the light hits it best.
Mastering the Perspective of a Leaning Giant
Here is where most artists fail. They try to use perfect two-point perspective.
But old barns don't follow the rules of geometry anymore. If a barn is leaning five degrees to the left, and the ground is sloping ten degrees to the right, your vanishing points are going to be all over the place.
Instead of forcing the barn into a grid, draw the "gesture" of the building first. Treat it like a figure drawing. Is the barn "hunched"? Is it "proud"? Is it "falling"? Use light, sweeping lines to capture the tilt of the walls. Only after you’ve nailed the lean should you start worrying about the windows and doors.
Speaking of doors—look for the "Dutch door" (split horizontally). These are great for adding a dark, cavernous interior to your drawing, which gives the whole piece a sense of mystery. What’s inside? An old tractor? Just shadows? That's for the viewer to decide.
Tools for the Field
You don't need a whole studio. In fact, too much gear makes you slow.
I usually stick to a 9x12 toned tan sketchbook. Why toned? Because old barns have a lot of highlights. If you use tan paper, you can use a white charcoal pencil or a white gel pen to pop those sun-bleached edges of the wood. It’s much faster than trying to leave the white of the paper.
A few waterproof fineliners (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5) are essential for the details. For the big shadows, a single grey brush pen is better than an entire set of markers. You’re looking for efficiency. You want to capture the essence before the sun moves and the shadows change the entire shape of the building.
Dealing with the "Greenery" Problem
One of the hardest things about finding old barns to draw is that nature is trying to eat them.
Vines. Overgrowth. Tall grass. It’s easy to let the foliage take over the drawing. The trick is to treat the plants as a frame. Don't draw every blade of grass. Use "implied" texture—a few sharp strokes at the base of the barn to show where the weeds are choking the foundation. This keeps the focus on the architecture while still acknowledging the reality of the scene.
Real Examples: Barns That Changed History
If you need inspiration, look at the work of Eric Sloane. He was the undisputed master of this. He didn't just draw barns; he studied the joinery. He knew how a mortise-and-tenon joint worked. His book An Age of Barns is basically the bible for this stuff. He argued that the barn was the "cathedral of the frontier." When you look at his drawings, you see that reverence.
Then there’s Andrew Wyeth. His paintings of barns in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, aren't about the wood at all. They’re about the feeling of the space. They feel lonely. They feel cold. If you can make a drawing of a barn feel like a specific temperature, you’ve won.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Outing
Don't just head out blindly. Have a plan.
- Check the weather. An overcast day is actually better for beginners because the light is diffused. You don't have to deal with harsh, confusing shadows. However, if you want drama, go an hour before sunset (the "golden hour"). The long shadows will emphasize every single crack in the siding.
- Focus on the "Small Story." Sometimes the whole barn is too much. Just draw a single window with a broken pane. Draw the rusted hinge of the main door. Draw the way the stone foundation is crumbling.
- Bring a chair. It sounds simple, but standing for two hours will kill your back and ruin your line quality. A lightweight folding stool is the best investment you’ll ever make.
- Take photos but draw from life. Use your phone to capture the details you might miss as the light fades, but do the main work right there in front of the building. Your brain interprets depth differently than a camera lens. A camera flattens everything; your eyes see the "heft" of the timber.
Barns are disappearing. They are being torn down for reclaimed wood floors in suburban mansions or simply collapsing under their own weight. Every time you find old barns to draw, you are performing a sort of visual archaeology. You are recording something that won't be there in twenty years.
👉 See also: Was Winston Churchill An Alcoholic? The Truth Behind the Legend
Start with the silhouette. Watch the angles. Don't be afraid of the mess. The mess is where the beauty lives.
To get started, pick a single county within a two-hour drive that has a high density of dairy farms. Pack a simplified kit: one toned sketchbook, one black ink pen, one white pencil, and a stool. Commit to drawing three different structures in a single afternoon, focusing specifically on the way the roof meets the walls—this is where most of the structural character is hidden.