Couple outside their house

This is a drawing that was commissioned as a Christmas gift for the gentleman in the photo. His wife sadly passed away and their children decided to gift their father a memory of them two outside their home, which they shared for many years.

I worked from several reference photographs to create one composition. I had a separate photo of the couple with their granddaughter. Firstly, I removed the little girl from the image. Secondly, my client chose a photograph of the house her parents lived in to use as a background. I suggested drawing her parents slightly cropped and further away from the house. This created some more depth in the photo and allowed me to create a larger version of the couples’ portrait.

portrait drawing reference photo — The reference photos I used for the portrait

Jennifer, my client, was very happy with the finished drawing:

Hi Ivana! I love it so much! I’m actually quite emotional looking at it. Thank you so much…The drawing arrived today. Its fantastic, thank you so much.
Jennifer upon receiving a scanned image of the drawing and the actual portrait in the post, county Westmeath, December 2026

The drawing is 20 x 30 cm and due to its small size it was challenging to capture the detail in the couple’s faces and indeed the house itself.

elderly couple portrait drawing on paper from photo — Detail of the portrait of the smiling couple

I started with a detailed sketch of the couple and their house. This is a very important step for me in the portrait process. It allows me to capture not only the likeness, but also the right proportions as I am stripping down all the detail and seeing the composition in itself.

artist drawing couple portrait with their house — Photographs of the drawing in progress and in detail showing the pencil in my hand

Once I was happy with this sketch, which did take quite a long time due to the small size and detail required in the drawing, I started to shade the entire page. I worked with the most important darkest spaces first making sure not to smudge as I went along. I use a tissue under my hand for most of the time and rest my hand on the bar stretched across my draughting board.

pencil drawing on paper of a married couple outside their countryside house — The finished drawing on paper with my signature and year of completion

When finished with shading, I inserted the drawing into a neutral coloured mount. Before this I scanned the drawing and emailed it over to Jennifer, my client, for approval. No changes were required, so I applied a thin coat of a spray fixative. I posted the drawing well wrapped in a cellophane cover and lots of cardboard to my client in Mullingar in county Westmeath.