Home, a Birthday Gift

~ stephanieabower

I love sketching interiors of where friends and family live. The things we surround ourselves with are so important to us, a reflection of who we are, and I love capturing this in a personal sketch. I often give these sketches as gifts, a way to say thank you…I did this a lot as a way to thanks friends who helped my mom.

This is a birthday gift for dear friends and neighbors who are so generous, so supportive. It was important to give them a gift that was unique!

Here is something of the process.

This is on 8″ x 16″ Fluid 140lb. CP watercolor paper. I start by blocking out the walls using the two vanishing points that I squeezed into the drawing. You can also see my eye level line connecting the two VPs. I had to start this over maybe 5 times (!!) to get everything to fit and to put the image high on my page so as to capture more elements on the floor, less of the ceiling.

Using the VP’s and working left to right (I’m right-handed), I start to fill in more big shapes, eventually working my way to the details. Once the linework is done, I start to paint the big shapes as an underpainting, using yellow ochre and a gray made by french ultramarine and burnt sienna.

The yellow and gray start to indicate planes that advance or recede…notice the kitchen is dark, the stairs get darker the further away they are. I paint straight up and down to get a sense for reflections in the floor.

And here again is the final version, delivered yesterday!

Published by stephanieabower

15 thoughts on “Home, a Birthday Gift”

  3. Amazing!

    It feels like a panorama!

    Did you include the left VP without moving your head to the left?

    Thanks

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  7. I enjoyed seeing your thought process! It is very lovely. I especially liked the prominent stuffed sofa in the foreground and how you use color so selectively. Thank you, Stephanie! Denice Rodaniche

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