Your House Portrait Solution
Inside the Studio: From Photo to Momento
Nicole Hanson
8/24/20266 min read
If you have a home that’s deeply meaningful, why not just frame a smartphone photo? Why interpret your home as art?
A photo is sufficient if you only want to preserve the facts. Snap a quick picture, frame it, and hang it in the hall.
But if you want to honor the season that home represents, if you want to capture the emotions and memories that come up when you see the facade, you must consider art. A watercolor house portrait invites people to study the piece, to notice details they’d missed, to smile when they see it and remember all that that home represents.
And if you’re considering the house portrait as a gift (whether for a housewarming, a moving away, or a closing gift), choosing a watercolor house portrait shows thoughtfulness, that you didn’t pick up a gift the night before, and shows you also care about this moment.
Every home has a story, and a house portrait preserves that story for those whose lives were built with the home as the background. This is why you want hand-crafted art, not a printed smartphone photo.
One way to be sure this story seeps through the painting is to schedule a (no obligation) Portrait Call. While optional, this is a time to tell me the home’s story, tell me why it matters, and tell me the details that make the home special.
This 30 minute video call (booked through calendly) is where I hear your stories and what you hope the painting looks like.
For example, one client asked me to add two small children sitting on the front steps. Another asked me to add her cat to the railing, where he takes his regular naps. These small details are among the many things that make a custom house portrait so unique.
Chatting with me creates no obligation, so you can easily explore the idea, ask me questions, and make sure we’re a good fit. And if you decide we aren’t a good fit, we part ways with no hard feelings.
Realtor Sidebar: Remember, you choose if we chat. To save time and get you back to building client and prospect relationships, many realtors choose to skip the call and go straight to purchasing the portrait.
Once you’ve decided to hire me, you have three choices. I offer three tiers: Basic, Classic, and Signature.
The Basic House Portrait is a perfect fit for people interested in framing their house portrait in their own style. The Basic House Portrait is an 8x10, unframed painting, with a 7-10 day turnaround to shipping. I also provide this link to care directions, since preserving original art takes a couple initial steps.
The Classic House Portrait includes everything in the Basic House Portrait, plus it comes matted in an 11x14 frame, secured with tabs (not tape) to help the painting last longer. This Classic House Portrait is perfect for gifts, since it doesn’t add a to-do item or delay display.
The Signature House Portrait is perfect for the luxury feel, and for gifting. It includes everything in Basic and Classic, but includes more. I wire it for easy hanging, print the expanded care instructions, and send you a link or QR code to a video of me creating your painting. Lastly, I include a ‘Welcome Home’ card, where you can write a personal note to the recipient.
Realtor Sidebar: Most realtors who work with me choose the Classic House Portrait since it is ready to hang. They may display the painting in their new home immediately. When you have a luxury client, consider the VIP Signature House Portrait.
Once you’ve completed the purchase, my first step is to create the drawing, and I make many artistic decisions. I want the painting to feel like the home.
When looking at the photo or photos you’ve sent me, I consider everything surrounding the home. What are the trees like? The landscaping? The fences, yard, and neighbors’ houses? I decide how the foliage and the home best balance each other, and begin drawing.
I also look for opportunities to simplify, so that the focus doesn’t drift to the siding or the landscaping. I delicately balance simplifying the home and preserving the feel.
While drawing, I also consider what to remove. I won’t include things like trash cans, telephone wires, gutters, drain pipes, etc. I may adjust the exact placement of the landscaping to better fit the art, and find several ways to emphasise the important and meaningful areas. If the homeowner didn’t request a specific emphasis, I make it the front door.
Once I complete the drawing and feel prepared to paint it, I pause. I will not move forward until you have reviewed the drawing and sent approval for me to continue.
I do this for two reasons. First, you must feel eager to see my progress. And second, if something feels off to you I need to know. I must fix as much as possible while I can erase, rather than wait until I have painted
Realtor Sidebar: You may choose to skip the approval step. You send me the photo, then I email you when the painting is complete. Many realtors choose this path.
Once you approve the drawing, I begin the pen and paint step.
I use a waterproof pen, in either gray or black, to ink the house, add details, and add shading. When I begin painting over the pen work, it’s back to decision time and intense focus.
Watercolor has a mind of its own, and doesn’t always stay where the artist puts it. It likes to bleed, spread, flow, and bloom. Even so, it is my favorite medium!
I carefully add layers of watercolor. I add shadows to make the painting “pop,” and highlight where the sun hits. I pick a few windows to glow. Gradually, the house emerges.
When the painting meets my standards, I send you a photo. If something doesn’t look right (whether we missed it earlier or there’s something off), you tell me so, and I fix it. When you’re pleased with the painting, it’s time for it to leave my studio and join your family.
If you live in Rochester, MN, I offer delivery to your office, a public place, or your home. Otherwise, I offer insured shipping anywhere in the continental USA.
If you choose a Basic House Portrait, the painting will come shipped in a flat, stiff envelope. If you choose a Classic or Signature House Portrait, the framed painting will come shipped in a box.
If your house portrait is a gift, you may have the gift mailed to you or to the recipient. Speaking of giving the house portrait as a gift, you have the option to include the recipient in the process. If you’re curious, ask me about this on a Portrait Call.
Now, the home and an important part of its story are preserved, ripe to become an heirloom. Displayed art does more for people than a framed photo, having a different emotional appeal.
If you have a home you’d like to preserve in art, schedule a Portrait Call or purchase a portrait today.
Schedule a Portrait Call
Otherwise, you may enjoy reading stories of meaningful homes I’ve painted.
Nicole Hanson Art
House Portriats
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SERVING ROCHESTER, MN, AND BEYOND
Nicole Hanson
P.O. Box 352
Stewartville, MN 55976
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