My Father's House (Update #1)

Status: Current Work-in-progress

I am a big fan of doing Architectural pieces. I like the idea of being able to capture a piece of history. So often we take for granted the landscapes we are familiar with, but it is ever changing and its only when we look at an old photo that we can actually see how drastically things have changed.

Two buildings that I have always wanted to work on was that of the Lothians Plantation House, an old plantation house that was around in the early 1900s, which I shall describe in a next post; and the Old House that my father and his siblings grew up in.

When I was younger, my uncle would tell us stories of both. It was quite sad to me that the only thing left of them were a single photograph of each of the buildings and his stories. That was where the idea began, to maybe record his rich life and write a book so his many adventures and stories would always remain, as well as to try and illustrate both houses and capture them as they were.

Now that I have some free time, I decided to begin work on the "Old House". My uncle had this old photograph in his album. Apparently this photo was taken after they no longer lived in it, and modern day amenities like washing machines and running water were available. 

Photograph of the Old House

Sketch #1

In Sketch #1, my Dad and I sat down together and he explained to me how the house really looked when he and my uncle both lived in it, as well as the landscape of the time. 

Imagine, galvanized spouting to collect water into a large copper tank, outhouses/latrines and pitch oil lamps.

After we ironed out the fine details, and we were both satisfied that the image was as authentic as possible, I did Sketch #2 on Watercolour paper.  

Sketch #2

So far I am having a little bit of difficulty with the cylindrical copper water tank at the side of the house. The photo was not clear about it, but thankfully the tank is still around. It is still in use in my neighbours' yard. So I shall try to take a good peek over the fence tomorrow when there is better light :D

The next step for this, is to remove all the extra pencil lines on the drawing and begin painting with watercolours. I usually like doing black pen & ink detailing after all my architectural pieces, but this time I think I will hold off til I am finished to see if I am partial or not to it.

Stay tuned for more updates on this piece tomorrow!

EDIT: Click here for the most recent update on this piece --> My Father's House (Update #2)