Drawing Landscapes for Wine: Behind the Red Label

Since the beginning of May, I’ve been immersed in a very different kind of project: creating an illustration for a red wine label. The commission came from a California winemaker who was drawn to my pen drawings — the way I interpret landscape with quiet lines and intimate detail. They wanted part of their property recreated in my hand, transformed into a bucolic image that could represent their wine with elegance and personality.

To bring the label to life, I worked closely with a design team responsible for the final look of the bottle. My role was to create the illustration that would anchor their design. Each week, or every two weeks, I submitted drawings, received notes, and made revisions to fine-tune the image.

This process was unlike my usual practice. Typically, I enjoy complete artistic freedom — whether working on private commissions or personal studio pieces — but here I needed to adapt, to listen, and to respond. At first the cycle of edits felt unfamiliar, but soon I began to see them as opportunities. Each adjustment made the drawing stronger, pushing me to look with sharper eyes and to draw with greater clarity.

Working within this collaborative structure has made me quicker and more decisive with my pen. It has challenged me to balance my voice with the needs of the client and the design, and in doing so, I’ve grown as an artist. The final illustration captures not only the land but the spirit of place — distilled into a line drawing that will now live on the front of a wine bottle.

Nacra Vineyard Road, 2015, pen and ink on Rives Heavyweight paper, image 8 x 7 inches, sheet 13 x 10 inches

The red label is complete, and the Chardonnay illustration is soon to follow. What stays with me is the reminder that even in a highly directed process, there is space for imagination, atmosphere, and craft — the qualities that make an image resonate.

From sketchbook to vineyard to table, this project has been a lesson in both collaboration and artistry — and a glimpse of how a landscape drawing can travel far beyond the page.

I’m always excited to see where my drawings might travel next. If you’re working on a wine label or another project that calls for landscape illustration capturing not just the look of a place, but its atmosphere — the quiet details that make it memorable — let’s connect.