Custom gift for parents’ 50th anniversary
Surprise your parents with a meaningful sentimental gift!
The majority of the family trees I paint are for couples’ 50th marriage anniversary. Creating each family tree is a unique experience. Every family is different. Each one has its own stories, history, lifestyle. When I learn about a family in preparation for a painting I feel as if I’m reading a book I was commissioned to illustrate. As a ‘family illustrator’ I need to decide which parts of what I learn to keep, and what to discard. I wish I could illustrate every single detail my clients share with me, but I have to be mindful of the format constraints. I also have to make sure that my paintings make sense visually.
Not too long ago I finished a really fun project. My client commissioned a family tree painting from me as a surprise gift for her parents’ anniversary. Her dad bakes. Her mom works for a dog rescue. They are ex-pats living on a beach in Mexico. In my world that alone is already a lot to go by. Truth be told I’ve already painted a number of family trees with the beach as a background. However, I’ve never painted one where the couple set in beach chairs as if basking in the sun. I’m not sure why, but I wanted to do it for the longest time. Of course, I jumped on the opportunity to do it. I already had a visual in my head. The chairs had to be white and blue, and striped. I also wanted to paint the couple with bare feet in the sand.
Cute details and repetitive elements
The couple celebrating their 50th anniversary has 2 dogs of the same breed. Not only did I find this fact cute, but it also gave me an idea for the painting – repetitive elements. Obviously, there already were two dogs, two matching beach chairs, and the couple’s bare feet. I felt that I needed more matching things in the painting!
My client told me that her dad is someone who can fix anything, so I proposed that I paint a toolbox next to him. To have a visually matching element for her mom I painted a picnic basket. Another matching pair of cute details were the apples. My client’s niece is a teacher. Naturally the first thing that came to my mind was to depict her holding an apple. Quite unexpectedly and very fortunately I found out that her husband works for Apple, the company. So I painted him holding the famous Apple logo. Adorable, right?
My client’s parents thought so as well. She told me that her mom had tears in her eyes and both her parents absolutely loved the painting. The best part is that I was actually privileged to actually see a video of them unwrapping their family tree illustration. It totally made my day! What can I say? My clients are simply the best!!!
To order a custom family tree painting please go to the Shop section or contact the artist.
