Tag Archives: commissioned pencil drawing

Winter in Wilsonia II

This is the second of three Wilsonia cabins in winter drawings. This cabin is across the road from the previous drawing of a cabin in snow. I admit to a strong bias in favor of shingle siding, and this cabin captures the morning light so beautifully that I may have gotten carried away in my photos and drawings that represent this delightful mountain cottage-look cabin.

Yes, I am gushing.

Thank you, Dick and Mel, for having such a beautiful little place, providing the photo and commissioning me to draw it for you.

Pencil Drawing of Wilsonia Cabin

The book The Cabins of Wilsonia is completed, published and for sale.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (where did that saying come from?), I still draw cabins in pencil. (I oil paint too, but that’s a different subject on a different blog, cabinart.net, a blog that covers all aspects of my art business).

Some folks liked my work in the book, but it only contained a drawing of their chimney. They asked me to draw their entire cabin.

It took us over a year to work out the details of what they wanted, We began with a few sketches, which then needed to be discussed and revised.

There were details they wanted to be sure appeared in the drawing that were just too small to appear in the sketches. When they were convinced that I knew all the little things that mattered to them, I was able to begin.

I work from left to right, top to bottom, to avoid smearing.

And finally, finished!

We were all very pleased with the outcome!

Finished Pencil Commission

After a rough start of a missed deadline, wrong address and incorrect face of a cabin, this is the completed commissioned pencil cabin drawing of a Wilsonia cabin.

What a long long sentence. A picture is worth 1000 words.

Do you have a cabin you would like me to draw?

Incompetence and Awkwardness

Last winter, a Wilsonia cabin owner contacted me about drawing her cabin. It was to be a gift for her sweet mama. Getting photos wasn’t going to be easy, in spite of the lack of snow. Cabins are closed in the winter, which means there are shutters on the windows which makes them look quite uninviting.

No hurry, said she.

No worry, summer’s coming, said me.

Suddenly, Sweet Mama’s birthday was almost here. Customer said, “Oops”, maybe you can do a quick sketch or something and send it to Sweet Mama in time for her birthday and here is the down payment on the drawing and here are a few photos.

No problem. I did the sketch, turned it into a birthday card, and sent it off.

TO THE WRONG ADDRESS!

Yes, they had moved and I didn’t make note of which address was correct – from the check or from the envelope.

THE CARD NEVER ARRIVED!

What is an incompetent artist to do in this awkward situation?

Tune in on Monday, August 17 to see what happened next.

While We Are Waiting

I got word on the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia, but until I see it, I don’t feel confident about it. As it gets closer or if there is confirmation of something, then I will let you know.

Meanwhile, back at the drawing board, a cabin owner wasn’t thrilled with the way her cabin will appear in the book. She timidly asked a few questions, because she is kind that way, and I told her that I can redraw it for her any way she would like. Being sweet, she said, “I don’t want to add to your work.” I said, “That’s how I earn my living!!” We laughed, and then she said she would like me to redraw the cabin for her. (This is called a “commission”.)

I took many photos, we had some conversations to clarify details, and here is both the first and the second drawing of her cabin.

As it appears in the book

As she requested it

I completely understand. People like to see their cabins as they envision them. For the book, I showed cabins in part, occasionally in whole, and with many details. This involved cropping. If every page showed one cabin in its entirety, the book would be boring.

Trust me on this. I am a professional. 😎

Fancy Drawing of a Plain Cabin

There is a very sweet woman whom I have never met, but we seem to have become pen pals. We write notes to one another about Wilsonia, particularly about the upcoming book and about her cabin.

She asked me to draw her cabin, and let me know that it is very plain but means very much to her.

Because it is so plain, and because there are more cabins than I could possibly fit into the book and have it be interesting (that is for another post), I opted to not include hers in the book.

She is gracious and kind and honest. She bought 4 books in spite of the fact that her cabin is not in it, and then asked me to draw it for her.

You can see it doesn’t have many details architecturally:

I photographed it at 2 separate times of day, looking for the best light and best angle.

She asked for a collage, which shows different angles, views and details, all in one drawing.

I came up with 2 ideas, both quite pleasing. Now the ball is in her court!

Do you have a preference?

Nothing to See Here, Folks

Several cabin folks in Wilsonia have asked me to draw their cabins. One wasn’t built yet, one is very plain, and one is almost impossible to photograph or see.

Today I’ll show you the one that is almost impossible to see because of the wall of cedar trees. I tried and tried to find the right view for the book and finally said to myself, “Never mind! This is too hard, you cannot include every cabin anyway, so just move on.”

Just move on, folks. There’s nothing to see here.

But wait! There must be something. I did several sketches from different angles, scanned them, and wrote to the cabin owner. No word back yet.

You can see these are just sketches as opposed to drawings. Scribbly, loose, lots of trees pruned or removed, missing detail. . . good thing the owner knows I can draw.

Now, I just need to hear from him so I can begin the actual drawing.

There is one I like the best and hope he picks. Do you have a favorite angle?

Oops

I went through the 2 boxes of finished drawings and counted 258 + 4 that are in the hands of the cabin owners. (They commissioned me to draw their cabins and then I decided the drawings belonged in the the book). That made 261 total.

Then, I went through the book on the computer and counted every drawing. There were 260 total.

What does this mean??

It means that I have done a drawing but not put it in the book.

What is a pencil artist to do??

Ask for help, of course. I spent an hour or so going through the book on the computer and matching every physical drawing in the studio to every virtual drawing on the computer. My husband helped. He likes to organize stuff (except the stuff in the workshop, but he even gets into that once in awhile.)

Look what I found:

A drawing was in the book twice!
A drawing was missing from Hillcrest Road!
A drawing was missing from Lilac!

Wow. I’m glad I thought of doing this tedious inventory task. I wonder what other tasks, checks and balances, quality control measures there are that will make this book turn out to be the best book ever? I sure hope I discover them before it goes to the printer!

As a result of discovering 2 more drawings, I’ve added 2 pages to the book. This means I have to rework the Table of Contents, and that there is more room for the quotes that I’ve been squeezing here and there. It also means that I HAVE TO RENUMBER THE PAGES!!! I’m sure there must be a way to do this automatically on InDesign. Will it take more time to find out how to do this automatically than to simply do it by hand??

While I was looking at every drawing, I found three that just weren’t quite good enough. One has already been redrawn, but my husband made a suggestion that salvaged it. One just needed a touch-up, and it is the stone steps at the beginning of this blog post. The shadows didn’t make sense on the first version. The second one is below – it won’t be in the book, but now it looks good enough to sell.

Wilsonia Cabin Commission

As the book grows, so does my other work. Another commission came for another cabin on another street that has already been completely designed and drawn. No problem! Drawing cabins in pencil is what I do and have done since 1985. Really! (No, I wasn’t 5 years old at the time, but thanks for thinking I’m just a youngster.)

Once again we began with photos, and from these, I made 3 sketches. There was a question of which might be the best angle of the cabin, and sketches seem to be more helpful in deciding than photos.

I had to remove many trees in order to be able to see the cabin, but don’t worry because it was a figurative removal, not a literal one. (Has anyone besides me noticed how many people misuse the word “literally” these days?? “He literally shot himself in the foot.” Really? Can he walk any more?)

B was the choice. Bet you are wondering which sketch is B, since there is no B on the page of sketches. (It is the one that isn’t A or C.)

I waited awhile to begin. There is a large painting on the easel, 2 other commission drawings, and then, of course there is The Book with its revised and loaded up schedule. Finally, I decided it wasn’t going to draw itself, so this is what I did:

Next, I wait to hear from the customers. If they are pleased, I will be pleased and I will spray fix it so it doesn’t smear. If they want changes, I won’t be as pleased, but I will do my best. It will be me that I am displeased with for not getting it right the first time, not the customers.

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.