When a friend turned 50 recently I decided to draw her present – fifty trees, one for each year, as we live near inner-city woods.
I remembered how fun it is to personalise a gift. And there are so many factors you can include in the artwork:
- What colours do friends like?
- Where do they like to spend time?
- What do they value?
- What numbers are relevant to the gift?
Here was my end result, weaving in woods, family life and a journey:
But before parting with it I tried an experiment (below), photocopying my drawing and adding pen to see which version I preferred. I framed the pencil version in the end, but it was great to play with the photocopy as a layer to build on. (I gave my friend both versions so she could choose!)
This ended up being an intricate picture but drawn gifts can be simple – just a flower, one tree or a smiley face.
Here are some ideas for drawings for friends or family:
- A flower with the relevant number of petals for a birthday.
- A sketch of a pet, or of family/friends together
- Someone’s favourite flowers
- Their favourite place
- A simple drawing of a leaf
- Something that represents the time of year – spring flowers, the sun in the sky, autumn leaves or a starry winter night.
- Don’t want to draw? Then write a picture! If your friend is, say, 30, how about 30 beautifully written words that you treasure about that person: kindness, funniness, loyalty etc. One word for each ray from a sun? Or on each petal of a flower?
It can be nerve-wracking giving a homemade drawing (I was very nervous handing mine over as it felt like a risk!) but it can also be very rewarding.
And it’s good practice in enjoying art for the process and letting go of the result. Hopefully they’ll love it, and if they don’t at least you got some drawing enjoyment and experience out of it!
Get scribbling! (If you want!)
Rebekah Curtis 