Give Art For Christmas!

Braniff Airways Manhattan, New York

Perhaps your recipient would enjoy Vintage Art that pertains to their hobby, passion, or interest. The link above will take you to this print and you can explore other prints as well.

Morning Luster

If you aren't already an artist, creating your own piece of artwork as a gift may be a bit intimidating. Once you decide the style of art you are going to give your lucky recipient consider making it yourself. You may surprise yourself at how great you are at it! Let's take a look at a few styles below that you can consider creating before you decide against making it yourself.

Spurs

Photography can be very artistic and very appealing as artwork. Again, consider your recipient's special interests and hobbies when thinking of objects and subjects to give. If they decorate in and collect western art, then photos of cowboys, horses, boots, etc. would be excellent ideas to consider. If you are photo buff, you might visit one of the sites listed below and have your image uploaded as a print. Or you can click on this link and peruse other photographic prints as a gift to give.

View Items Created With 'Ebb And Flow' Painting

Creating with mixed media is taking two or more types of media and combining them to create art. It can be very fun to create art using mixed media. The possibilities are also pretty unlimited.

In the painting above, I started with a flat canvas panel, which you can find at most arts and craft stores in the arts department. I used a Light Modeling Paste and spread it around on the canvas panel first with a pallet knife. You can use an old credit card as well. Once I had some lovely 'hills' and 'valleys', I let it dry for several hours (follow the instructions on the modeling paste). When it was very dry, I played with different acrylic paints and put very thin applications over the panel with a brush. With acrylic paints, you can make them watery like watercolors and when one layer is dry, you can add paint on top. Easy peasy!

The trick can be in knowing WHEN your painting is complete. I advise painting parts of your artwork and then putting it away for several hours. When you come back to it, you will have a more fresh perspective and might see things you hadn't seen before taking shape in your artwork. I didn't even see the face in the painting above until quite awhile later. :)

Mixed media can be as I described above or consider experimenting with pencil and India ink, pastels and acrylic paints, pastels and watercolors, layering decorative papers and acrylic paints, or layers of paper and stamps and acrylic paints. These are just a few of the possibilities of creating with mixed media.

Utitled by Mark Rothko

Abstract art can be very structured or free flowing. It can have many layers or just one. Look at the art piece above and notice how the artist constructed it. Do you think you can create something similar? Why not use this as an opportunity to be adventurous and see what emerges?!

Ask yourself these questions while studying this painting. What surface do you think it was painted on? What was the first layer of color the artist applied to the surface? What was the next color? Work forward with your recreation of this painting. What colors did the artist use? What medium did he use? Was it paint do you think? If so, did he use acrylics, watercolors, or oils? Maybe he used oil paints but who is to say that you couldn't create something similar using acrylics?!

Be bold! You can do this.

You might want to read another article I wrote about Creating Abstract Art. It may give you some more insight and help you to decide what style to choose either for a gift or for something to create.

Here are some examples of ways you can use your artwork and make it unique to your recipient. Each one of these designs started from a high resolution image of an original painted artwork, a photograph, or digitally painted artwork and was uploaded to a site that can print on quality items. You may want to explore these wonderful artists and more at Zazzle.com.

Blue Inside Abstract 4.4 by AbundanceLoveTrip
Make your own digital canvas prints


Wheatens Mean Business fun unique dog art painting by SimpleTerms
View more Soft Posters


Warm colorful landscape painting tree sunny art by SimpleTerms
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Starry Starry Night From Original Painting by Itayasdesigns
See other greeting card templates on zazzle.com


Orange Gladiolas Red Poppy Flower Watercolor by CountryGarden
Begin selling my art prints online for free at zazzle.


Blue Hydrangea Medium Our Wedding Photo Binder by Itayasdesigns
Shop for a custom 3 ring binder at zazzle


Vintage Classic Muscle Car Photograph Print by camcguire
View other Chevelle Photography


Boxed abstract by AbundanceLoveTrip
Shop Zazzle for another pendant