Good Food, Good Mood: Painting Sisters Café in Clarkston

A 5x7 painting sounds small until you realize it contains approximately one thousand pieces of tiny lettering and zero patience for shortcuts.

This little ink and watercolor commission features Sisters Café in Clarkston, Michigan, created as a birthday gift for the owner—who, according to her family, spent 20 years in the food industry before finally opening her own café as the chef. The restaurant absolutely leans into a warm and cozy vibe with its “Good Food, Good Mood” slogan and "Start your day right with feel-good cooking" messaging, the kind of place where you want to meet your girlfriends for brunch and a little too much gossip.

Even though this is a smaller illustration, it ended up being one of those “don’t be fooled by the size” situations. The building is full of detail—stonework, siding, brick, and a metal overhang element that all needed to be individually defined so the structure still felt dimensional at a reduced scale. Then there’s the lettering, which quietly became the main character: two signs reading “Sisters Café,” smaller text for “Breakfast & Lunch,” and an open sign in the window that is, frankly, doing the most work at only a couple centimeters wide.

In the reference photo, the front bush wasn’t in bloom, but the client’s mom loves purple flowers, so we brought them into the composition as a small personal detail. It’s a simple addition, but it changes the feeling of the entrance entirely.

Every time I think a 5x7 will be quick, I’m immediately reminded that small doesn’t mean simple—it just means I’ll be working on lettering the size of an ant’s handwriting for longer than expected.

Learn how to commission a hand-painted watercolor house portrait ➜