Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree painting locations and how to solve each

Finding the painting locations in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is perhaps even more challenging than it was in the base game. For those who don't remember, these artistic renditions of locations in the game world challenge you to find the place where they were painted. You've got to use your knowledge of landmarks plus your map smarts to puzzle each one out.

That said, they're a bit of a pain if you're not one for puzzles or map-reading, especially as each painter drops a special reward when you track them down. Below I've listed the three Shadow of the Erdtree painting locations, where to find their painters, and what reward you'll get when you do. 

The Sacred Tower painting location

The first of the Shadow of the Erdtree paintings is found in a cave to the north-east of the Scorched Ruins in Gravesite Plain. Another helpful direction might be that it's directly east of the wandering Furnace Golem boss. 

Even though "The Sacred Tower" is likely the first painting you'll find, it's actually the last one you'll be able to locate the painter for. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the location you're looking for doesn't exist on the map until later—it'll be obvious once it does.

When that happens, you'll want to: 

• Head north from the Moorth Ruins in Scadu Altus, go through the cave behind the Marika statue, and continue on through the poison Gravebird-filled area to find the Ancient Ruins Base site of grace
• Now travel west along the valley with the two golems, hugging the left side. You'll come to a sealed Spiritspring. Find the stone pillar you need to smash to open it a little further up the cliff, behind a low wall. 
• Use the Spiritspring to jump up onto the plateau with the Northern Nameless Mausoleum and head south past it, descending along the cliff edge at the far end to find the painter

Get close to him and he'll disappear, leaving behind the Spiraltree Seal casting item that buffs the Spiral incantation spells used by the Hornsent of the tower.

Incursion painting location

The second Shadow the Erdtree painting is far easier to solve than that first. You'll find "Incursion" in the Artist's Shack on top of the rocky rise at the southernmost tip of the Cliffroad Terminus area in Gravesite Plain. If you haven't been here, you have to head south-east from the Main Gate Cross site of grace in front of Belurat, Tower Settlement and follow the rocky trail up the cliff filled with bats. 

Once up there you'll find the Cliffroad Terminus grace, then it's just a matter of travelling south and climbing the rocky outcrop at the far end to grab the painting. To solve Incursion you need to:

• Head west from the Greatbridge, North site of grace by the Abandoned Ailing Village in Gravesite Plain
• Cross the water, being careful not to wake the Ghostflame Dragon, and carry on a little way to find the painter in front of a familiar looking archway that you can see in the foreground of the painting

Get close to him and he'll disappear, dropping the extremely pretty Serpent Crest Shield that excels at blocking fire attacks.

Domain of Dragons painting location

The third Shadow of the Erdtree painting is found in the Shadow Keep in Scadu Altus. Enter the keep via the front entrance and continue on until you reach the courtyard with the burning boats. Descend the ladder on its east side and head behind the waterfall to find "Domain of Dragons" shortly after.

This painting actually requires you to complete a fair few steps in the Igon quest, so he's worth finding if you haven't already. Essentially, you'll need to

• Enter the Jagged Peak area via the Dragon's Pit dungeon to the south of the Pillar-Path Waypoint site of grace in Gravesite Plain. Follow the road with the headless dragon statues.
• Climb Jagged Peak by heading directly east from the Dragon's Pit Terminus site of grace, past the Jagged Peak Drake boss
• You'll need to defeat the duo of Jagged Peak Drakes further up the mountain, as well as the Ancient Dragon Senessax boss, before arriving at the Jagged Peak Mountainside site of grace
• Travel west along the cliff edge, but instead of using the Spiritspring to jump up onto the ledge above, use it to jump up onto the rocky outcrop a little further on by the dragon corpse
• You'll notice that the storm immediately dies down when you get up here and a little way on you'll find the painter

Step near him and he'll drop the Rock Heart item. This is a little similar to the Priestess Heart item that turns you into a humanoid dragon until death, except this one buffs Dragon Communion incantation spells when you're in that state.