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!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Wishes!

Merry Christmas and happy solstice! I did this little sketch of our cat, Lucy, sitting at the window sill at our old place a few years ago. Loved how she was looking out the window as it was snowing. I added the hat, but otherwise the red walls and red and green drapes were actually how we had the living room decorated! :)

As we all look forward to celebrating the upcoming holidays, I want to thank you all for your interest in my blog and wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I look forward to creating more artwork in the new year and hope you will join me for the journey.

Save the Date Postcards! Simple, elegant and unique featuring hand-drawn botanical artwork.

NEW: Save the Date postcards! These elegant, simple and unique postcards can be personalized with your own event details.

See my postcards at Zazzle for more designs!

Tulip Save the Date Postcard 

Rose Save the Date Postcard

African Daisy Save the Date Postcard

 

Sea Shell Thank You Card and African Daisy Invitation Template

Happy Friday!
 
I am expanding my horizons and have been starting create some card designs with text and templates that can be personalized. The first two I have created are below. What do you think?

Since most of you have been around my blog for awhile, I would love to hear what other illustrations of mine do you think would work well on invitations, thank you cards, or other specific cards? I'm open to suggestions, so feel free to comment and let me know!

Sea Shell Thank You Card


African Daisy Invitation

Big Sale at Zazzle until Dec. 20th - iPhone cases, necklaces and premium ornaments

If you still have some shopping to do, check out Zazzle's deal through December 20th:

• $10 off of premium ornaments
• $20 off necklaces
• $30 off iPhone cases

To get the discounts, use the code NEWPRODSZAZZ at checkout. Plus there is Free Shipping on orders over $50 (use the code FREESHIPFORU).

Kinderdijk Windmill iPhone 3G Case

Rose Necklace

Lone Cypress Premium Holiday Ornament

Happy shopping!

Gifts for the gardener?

Need some gift ideas for the gardener? Or just need a touch of spring as we head into winter?

Come by and see some of the new items I recently added in my store featuring my red and yellow tulip illustration:

NEW: Sterling silver pendant necklaces


Tulip Apron:


Or, maybe some unique sandstone coasters?


Thanks for stopping by and stay warm!

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.

Botanical Ornament - American Holly

This is one of the ceramic ornaments that I have recently put into my online Zazzle store. It features a small botanical painting that I did of an American Holly.

The ornament can be personalized on both sides, and I am actually going to add the date and order one for our tree :) They make great gifts for the holidays. 

Keep in mind that you don't have to just choose holiday themes. I have a number of ornaments available, including:

Traditional:

Poinsettia (pen and ink)

Rose (colored pencil)

Noel (calligraphy)

Botanical and Wildlife:

African Daisy (colored pencil)

Camel (graphite pencil)

American Red Raspberry (ink and colored pencil)

Lone Cypress (pen and ink) -- this one is metal, not ceramic.

Come on by and take a look!

Old Christmas Cards...what do you think?

I have sent out a lot of homemade Christmas cards over the years, as I am sure many of you have. I thought it would be fun to show you some of them. Some differ quite a bit from my current artwork, but they are a fun bunch.

Let me know what you think and if you have a favorite among them!