New home portrait for Boise Idaho has been mailed

Finished

My second home portrait Christmas commission is finished and gone.  As it was a new build, I enlarged the landscaping and greened up the grass to help it settle into the landscape.  It was kind of fun to do a portrait from a far away place that I had actually visited near.

I did hear from the client that it safely arrived and that she was delighted.  I had wrapped it so that she couldn’t see it directly on opening the shipping box and she said it was like her own Christmas!  So happy she is happy.

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Boise home commission

Little house in the foothills

Inked in

Shortly after I received the OPO commission, a second Christmas house commission popped up.   Unbeknownst to this client at the time, I have a personal connection to Boise, Idaho, where this home was just built. As some of you may know, my son and his family moved out there last year for a new job and we have visited them several times already.  It was fun to draw this home located in the foothills of Boise which I have hiked in ever so briefly while I was there.

Since it was a new build, the client was able to get me the paint chip number for the siding paint.  It was much easier to get the color on the exterior right with that reference as the colors in a photograph are not always true.  Watercolor next.

Final of three

Finished two story

This one made it by Christmas, too.  It was for the client’s grandmother and she was thrilled.  So many memories were held by that simple front porch, it seems.

In a funny mix-up, I got paid twice for the painting.  I shipped it to my client’s father for wrapping, but he thought the packing list was a bill and sent me a check for it!!  We all had a good laugh –  and then I shredded it.

Final of 2

All done

The watercolor of number two was sky blue and white.  I ended up adding some flowers in the front for a little pop of color.  This was a well timed gift.  The parents closed on selling their longtime home on December 23 and their adult children were able to give this to them on Christmas day.  I am so glad it worked out that way.  USPS really came through for me this holiday season.

Christmas commission 2

Pencil drawing

Pen before the watercolor

December commission two was medium sized at 10×8, but it too needed to have the landscaping cut back some.  The two trees in front covered most of the upper story so I moved the right one over a bit and lessened the spread of the left one.  Also, that let me show the bench and woodpile on the left part of the porch.

Lots of grass blades here so while I waited on some questions being answered, I went ahead and started those little strokes that seem to take longer than the rest of the landscaping put together.  I don’t mind it though.  I find it’s kind of relaxing creating all that randomness.

Christmas commission one

Pencil up

Inked

Happy New Year to all!!  After the set of five commissions was completed, I started on the first of the Christmas orders.  In the middle of working on the larger set, I started to get inquiries on what I might be able to get done by Christmas.

This was a little 7×5 that didn’t take very long.  The biggest problem was that the major photo I had to work from had the garage and the inner corner at the left totally blocked.  After a little back and forth, I managed to work out all of the eave placements and heights.  I also trimmed back the greenery and added some flowers.  In the end, the client was so pleased about her gift that she said she was going to have me draw her own house as a gift for her husband’s birthday.  A project to look forward to later this winter.

All five, finished

Florida 1

Florida 2

Georgia

South Carolina

Florida 3

All the portraits are done and were in the hands of the buyer well before Christmas. I received a photo of them framed and hung at the base of her stairway, where they can be viewed daily. The 8×10 with frame was the perfect size for the area and they look great, if I do say so myself.

While very fun to do, each portrait had its own difficulties attached, not the least of which was color. The Floridas 2 and 3 and the South Carolina house were related to me as muddy taupe, but the photos showed mostly a pinkish tone to everything.  And what the heck is taupe anyway?  I should have asked her to go to one of the big box home improvement stores and pick out a paint chip, but, alas, I thought of that too late. Fortunately, my guesses must have been okay because the buyer was pleased.

Florida 1 had a mixture of landscaping and paint combinations that varied in the reference photos, so I had to find out what was apropos for when she lived there.

The Georgia house had lots of flowers (potted and otherwise) and bentwood porch furniture to add.  The house color was to be a brownish yellow, but the flowers were to be the special feature.

All in all, it was the largest commission I have ever done, but it was well worth all of the difficulty and hard work.  When the buyer saw the pictures she cried with pleasure.  It’s one of the reasons I love my work.