Warm Great Room

I finally explored the architecture section of my school library and I wish I would’ve done it sooner because I found a bunch of inspiring new ideas. Some ideas I tested out from the book Color Drawing are the wall texture, the reflections and shadows, the wood grain, and the rug. Although it isn’t perfect, I think this is my most life-like drawing yet.

For the walls, I cut up pieces of old colored pencil lead and rubbed it on the drawing and then erased any places that I didn’t want the color.

To add reflections, I first decided that the counter top and the sliding glass door in the dining room were the most reflective surfaces. I lightly added color to them until it looked like the objects around them were reflected in the surface. I attempted to add shadows under the counter top, vase, and bar stools. Next time, I’ll be more careful about where I decide to put my light sources, because the counter top and bar stools ended up with shadows facing different ways…

To make the floor, I first outlined the shape with a yellow marker. Then, I added texture with colored pencil. Lastly, I added wood grain with white pencil. For the dark wooden columns, I used black pencil for the wood grain.

The rug was inspired by a photo I found in an architecture magazine.

Another technique that I learned from Color Drawing was to make a smaller photocopy of your drawing and map out what color you want the furnature and how you want the shadows to go.

The dark orange walls were inspired by the Sherwin-Williams color, Pennywise. The wood accents (molding, columns, dining table and bench) are dark wood. To contrast the rich orange walls and dark wood, I painted the cabinetry a cool blue-grey and the floor a light yellow wood. The ceiling has a hint of blue-green. There are purple and read accents throughout the picture. All of the colors are combined in the artwork and rug.

This great room is perfect for any family because it has a modern design with traditional colors. I had originally planned on having purple or red drapes in the dining room, but I saw these chevron striped ones online and knew they’d be perfect in this room.