If you looking for a really personal and unique gift for a special birthday then look no further! A beautiful custom illustration incorporating favourite places or memorable moments, to commemorate achievements or a life so far would be the most wonderful gift to receive.
A 60TH BIRTHDAY ILLUSTRATION
I had the pleasure of creating a wonderful 60th birthday present for lovely Ann, that captured all the notable buildings through her life. It started with where she was born, where she went to school, her first home, the church she was married in and their family homes. Here’s a little insight into how it came together.
initial rough sketch
The initial sketch was incredibly rough to illustrate to the client how it could work and agree the layout of the page. There was a bit of back and forth to agree the details and make sure the order was correct. It was important to work out how the spacing would work to allow all the different elements to fit on without looking too busy.
FINAL SKETCH LAYOUT
The next stage was another sketch based on the first, this time as a more detailed and completed drawing that would be the base for the final illustration. Each building was drawn from a photograph and the locations and dates added below. There were a couple I had to draw again as I wasn’t happy with the spacing and this is the time, while it’s still in pencil, to make those changes!
INK AND WATERCOLOUR
After the client was happy with the personalised sketch, it was time to work back into it. As with all my illustrations I went over the pencil with a fine line black pen, before erasing the pencil, then watercolour paint was added to each bespoke illustration. You can find out a bit more about that here in my blog post on Creating Your Bespoke Illustration. I worked on the piece as a whole, painting all the houses and buildings to a certain point, then working back in to them with more detail. This allowed me to make sure the overall look was consistent and none were more detailed or in a different style to another. Finally I added the calligraphy hand lettering and foliage details around the edge.
COMMISSION YOUR OWN
This a bit of a dream project for me, I love creating such special personalised pieces. Bringing together different elements to create a completely bespoke illustration especially for that person (or people) is an absolute pleasure. If you have an idea and would like to discuss it with me, or just ask my opinion about something I would be delighted to help and you can get in touch via my contact page here. If you’re looking for something equally special but perhaps a little simpler, then one of my custom house portrait illustrations could be just the thing. You can see more of these beautiful pieces on my illustrations page here. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts, so if you have any comments just let me know!
