I had a theme going for a few years in the early 1980's when we moved to Saskatoon. I drew people's homes and other buildings, and as I remember, charged a modest $35-$40 per drawing. Friends and family got theirs for free.
My business strategy included tacking up a homemade poster with sample drawings in the Mister Print shop near our home. That free advertising brought in enough business to keep me busy until my enthusiasm for the project gradually waned, and I moved on to spending my time chasing toddlers.
I drew dozens of buildings before I quit. There were commissions from home-owners who then printed note cards, which is why I still have the examples shown here. One family with an impressive two-story brick home wanted a personal party invitation for their New Year's Eve celebration. Several businesses (including a funeral home) liked the idea of a hand-drawn image for their advertising, and one guy who saw my poster requested a sketch of his sailboat. There was even a real estate agent who became a repeat customer and commissioned drawings as house-warming gifts for his clients.
Portraits of our own homes became our baby announcements too. The "gender reveal" event didn't happen until delivery in those days, so I had both pink and blue pencil crayons packed in my hospital suitcase. The blue was used first in 1984 to colour our antique carriage, and the pink one in 1986 for the stork blanket.
I always liked this drawing of a rented country home in Normandy, France, where I accompanied the Lefort family on fall weekends in 1980 as their au pair/nanny for their little sons Mathieu and Nicolas. I sat on the front lawn and did the whole picture one free afternoon.
That was the only time in my life I signed my name Jeanne. I was in Paris, I had no choice, I had to feminize my name!
Forty years later I've revived this interest in architectural drawing. I'm now trying to do looser, more expressive work and adding a cheerier dimension with watercolour. I'll post the results of some Swift Current buildings when I get around to finishing a few more.
Maybe I can go into business again with prices adjusted for inflation and increased artistic maturity?!
