Category: house portrait

House portrait – pen and ink. Finished!

I just completed another pen and ink house portrait commission. It is a beautiful home that really worked well for this format/style of drawing. This one is approximately 10 x 8 inches and done on smooth Bristol paper using a 3×0 (.25) Rapidograph technical pen.  

There were lots of fun details on this home including the wrought iron stair railing, front yard light post, stone work at the foundation and beautiful plants and foliage which help to soften the overall drawing and give it some warmth and dimension. I hope you enjoy this one!

House Portrait – in progress (final pencil draft)

I think I have finalized the pencil draft of this house portrait. I added the landscaping in the front and actually had to tweak the perspective a bit as the line from the back of the house to the front flower bed was a bit off as I worked. I also finished penciling in the siding – it looks a little rough here, but when I do the final inking I will be using a straightedge for some of it to make sure it stays on track. I did some additional adjustments with the front steps, sidewalk, and also added some foliage to the side beds, working closely with the client.

I should be ready to start inking now. Stay tuned for the final artwork!

House Portrait – in progress (pencil draft)

I have been working on an 8 x 10 house portrait this week. I thought it would be interesting to post some in-progress scans so you can see how the process works. I always try to get as much detail down in pencil before I do any inking. It’s much easier to correct pencil, of course, and so the longest part of the process is getting the pencil just right.

What you see above is the first pencil draft I scanned. Here I am still working on the siding and adding details in the landscaping as well as some details on the home. It is starting to come together nicely, but still needs to be finalized. 

Stop back to see an update on the pencil scan as I finalize it. Then onto the inking!

Condo House Portrait (pen and ink) – finished!

I have finally finished my last pen and ink house portrait commission for the year! The image size is approximately 10″ x 8″. This was a condo/townhouse unit and it was a rather tricky portrait to complete. There is actually a large pine tree right on the corner of the house that obscures most of it, so the client agreed that I could remove that from the final drawing. 
In addition, the front of condo faces another condo with just a narrow walkway in between the two. It was difficult to get a good reference photo, so I did a lot of cobbling together of various photos and angles to get the final view. Overall, it was a very interesting portrait to complete and a good learning experience!

House portrait in pen and ink – finished for Christmas

I have completed the first of two house portrait commissions that I am doing for Christmas this year. This is done in pen and ink on Fabriano Artistico Bright White 140 lb hot press paper. It’s approximately 14 inches wide and 11 inches tall, and will be put into a 20 x 16 double black conservation mat.

One of the challenges of this portrait was the fact that the home is on a larger piece of land with a long, tree-lined driveway. If you took the long view to include the surrounding driveway and barns, the house would end up being rather tiny. So as the client and I discussed different options, we ultimately agreed that this cropped view would be best. It includes part of the long drive, but gives a closer view of the house. I also did something a little different and included the homeowner’s three dogs in the driveway, as they are an integral part of the landscape and family.