watercolor family portrait.

i don't really like pictures of myself. nor do i like portrait studio style photo sessions. i think i still have nightmares about childhood family photo shoots (as does my mom probably)--trying to get five kids to smile simultaneously all while wearing matching denim, color coordinating turtle necks or glitter glue decorated christmas sweaters, all before the advent of digital photography---shudder.  because of this, there are very few sharp family portraits. so, with my recently rekindled love of drawing (thanks to #cbdrawaday) and a newly found false confidence with watercolors, i have made what is probably the first official sharp family portrait.

it still makes me smile every time i see it, which is often because we decided to hang it up right by the front door.

this is maybe my new favorite spot in the house. except for the top of the cabinet is rarely this tidy, as it serves as the landing spot for keys, wallets, mail and the like. alas...

i had a really fun time documenting the process over on instagram. i was really late in the game with joining up, but i've really been enjoying the community of creatives over there.

and the super fun part about this all was that i made some digital copies of it before painting to play around with color options, so now i have a 'sharp family coloring page' that margot really enjoys. she has probably asked for me to print one out three times since putting up the picture last week :)

i think it'd be fun to make a new one every couple of years, working up to having a small watercolor portrait gallery wall. and a 'our family through the years' coloring book. what about you? what's your favorite way to document your family?