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...