Watercolor portrait 18" x 24"

Sometimes I only have a photograph from which to paint a portrait of a home. Other times I can take my own photos but am just seeing the house for the first time when I do. But in this case, I've known the owners for a long time and walked by their home every morning for years. 

So while I took photos to use for reference, I was inspired by how the light falls on it first thing on a summer morning. We knew from the start this was to be an 18" x 24" watercolor but there wasn't time to finish it before the anniversary it was being purchased for. So I started out painting a small 9 x 12" watercolor that I could complete faster and provide for gift giving while I used it as a reference to paint the larger work.

Both watercolors started with a pencil drawing

Then progressed to their final forms

The sketch reminded the homeowner to tell me to lower the little tree so more of the front porch would be visible, which I did.

This is the stage when I start getting excited about the painting. But also mindful that the portrait lets me know when it is finished. This is the stage I usually show photos to the people commissioning the work to get feedback, since there is still time to incorporate it.

In this case they really wanted the two rocking chairs on the front porch and the second Boston fern hanging in the middle bay.

Watercolor portrait 14 x 24"

This one was commissioned as a gift for a family member and, when learning the pine tree to the left of the home had once been the homeowners' Christmas tree, I composed the painting so that a photo of it could easily be transformed into Christmas cards via digital photography.

Since the house was local, I was able to take my own photographs of it for reference. 

Instead of starting with a pencil sketch, I began with a small acrylic sketch to talk about size, framing, media, and other details wanted for the finished portrait.

This is how I found out about the Christmas tree, that the flag wasn't important, and that more detail was wanted, dictating a watercolor at the 14" x 24" final size. Started with a pencil drawing on watercolor paper.

Then painting and masking out areas...