Let's talk about size... for House Portraits that is...

Hi there!

As I get quite a few questions about what size watercolor to choose when commissioning a custom "House Portrait" I thought I'd share a few examples of previous house and venue paintings that might help you decide what size painting would work best for you. It's not always about the size of the house, but how much detail you would like to include in the house itself, and the surrounding landscape. Of course the larger the painting the more details I can include.

The following are examples of previously commissioned House Portraits that highlight different aspects of the home's architecture or surrounding landscape.

Including the entire home in a painting

Ranch, or single story homes, in particular, because they are much wider than tall, typically do not show as much architectural detail in a painting. The height of the house shrinks down along with all the architectural elements such as doors, porches, windows, brickwork etc. in order to accommodate the width of the house in the painting. This works well when you have a beautiful landscape you would like to feature such as the lovely ranch with the large sloping lawn in this 12" x 16" painting below.

Painting a portion of the home to focus on details

Below are examples in which I've cropped a portion of the sides of the home or venue in order to feature more of the unique little elements than would be possible if the entire length of the buildings were included.

I've included reference photos in each case.

The tiny "L" monogram wreath on this home's door would be visible if I included the entire home in this 9" x 12" painting. In addition, the slight angle makes for an engaging composition.

The flag , flowers, wreath and the beautiful turquoise door become the focus when featuring a portion of the house in this 9" x 12" painting.

Focusing on the left side of this large wedding venue allows me to paint the elements of the architecture larger and include a little sparkle in the windows. ( Painting size 12" x 18")

As you can see, all are lovely options. The choice is yours as to how much detail you would like to include when commissioning a custom watercolor of your home or a one of a kind gift for someone special.

Until next time...