Category Archives: Commissions

Completed Pencil Commission

The drawing is finished, the cabin folks are happy, and the book continues.

Not putting this drawing in the book gave me the freedom to put color in the flag. This little zinger of color makes me disproportionately happy with a simple pencil drawing.

I wanted to do this with every cabin in the book that has a flag. It would make the cost of the book shockingly high instead of just high. And no, I don’t know how much it will cost yet. But thanks for asking – it shows me that you are still interested in the project. 😎

A Commissioned Cabin Drawing in Wilsonia

Park Street (or is it Road?) is completed. There are a number of cabins all in a row, and I had to work very deliberately to not make the chapter full of things that looked alike.

On one cabin I chose their unique entry way door.

Here is an aside: while I was drawing this, I listened to an audio book by Dan Erickson called “A Train Called Forgiveness”. It was a very moving story, and I remember how it made me feel every time I look at this drawing.

The owners of the cabin asked me to draw the entire cabin for them. (That’s called a “commission” – in short, it is custom work for hire.)

In spite of having the pages already finished and no room for additional drawings, I said yes to their request. (Got these habits of needing to eat, put gas in my car, keep Perkins fed and buy yarn.)

We discussed the possibility of putting the flag in color, something I’ve wished I could do throughout the book but it will be cost prohibitive, both for me and for you.

They needed to see sketches in order to decide.

In addition to putting color in the flag, I added a tree to the left foreground. They chose B, and I began drawing.

What is “Commission”?

A commissions is “an order for something, especially a work of art, to be produced”. For many years, I have been accepting commissions to draw people’s homes and cabins in pencil, drawing to the customer’s specifications.

This pencil drawing was made according to the cabin owner’s request, using his photos.

As I work on The Cabins of Wilsonia, I am drawing the cabins and views that suit my tastes and the (ever evolving) design of the book. Those views are chosen to represent both the typical and the atypical aspects of cabins. My choices also are made for the most visual variety on each full page spread of the book.

If a cabin owner asks me to draw his cabin, I say yes.

Saying yes doesn’t guarantee that the commissioned drawing will be in the book. It means the cabin owner has asked for a particular drawing, and they pay me to do it the way that they want.

There are some gray areas. For example, some folks have offered use of a photo that they really like, and given me permission to draw it that way for the book.

Is that a commission?

No. But, they have first dibs on buying the original, when I’m ready to let them out of my studio.

I NEVER want to be pushy or pesky or sales-y. So, I probably have missed opportunities to make money. Making money is part of being in business – without that part, I would only have a hobby. Businesses have customers; hobbies don’t.

So, if you would like to commission me to draw your cabin, I am available. The common sizes are 8×10 – $175, and 11×14 – $250.

The Second Wilsonia Cabin I Drew

Okay, if you start counting with the Gordon’s A-frame, then the Coll-Inn Too is #2 and this is actually #3. But since I can’t remember drawing the Gordon’s cabin, I still think of this as #2.

My friend Sara called to see if the Wilsonia folks could auction or raffle a certificate for a drawing of a cabin at one of the annual meetings. Since I am CABINART (that is the name of my studio because originally all I did was draw cabins), I said yes. She bought a certificate for an 8×10 drawing, and it raised some money for the community.

Jack and Alitta were the recipients, and they were both delighted and delightful!

The First Wilsonia Cabin I Drew

I thought it was Gus and Barbara’s “Coll-Inn Too”. Turns out I drew Pat Gordon’s A-frame on Chinquapin before I knew anything about Wilsonia! I don’t remember, didn’t take any photos, have no memory of it. I’m grateful to Pat for reminding me that I drew her cabin!

However, the first cabin I REMEMBER drawing is the Coll-Inn Too. I don’t remember how Gus found me. He emailed me photos, I asked for more. He emailed those. I asked for more. He send more. I probably asked for even more. For some reason, maybe because I was too busy or too lazy or don’t charge enough for commissions, I didn’t drive to Wilsonia and look at the cabin with my own eyes.

Despite all the difficulty I gave to Gus, we had a great time communicating about the details of his cabin. He and Barbara had a zillion notecards printed with the image, and it is rumored that thank you notes are sent for any and all reasons so they can get those cards used!

I did make Barbara’s happy bear look grumpy. We discovered that he does look grumpy from the angle I drew him! She forgave me, and we are friends. 😎