Two gifted paintings

I love painting.

I also love giving gifts. So giving paintings as gifts is something I've done a lot in the past few years! (This blog contains 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 instances of that!) Just last week I completed two painting projects for two different friends. Each painting was specific to each friend and happily for me both were well received.

I paint the way I cook. When I have either the need or the desire to paint or cook something, my first stop is Google. Just like I search for recipes including the ingredients I have in my kitchen, I search for a project or an idea that matches the sort of thing I want to paint. In both instances I look at many models and my final product comes out as an amalgamation of what I saw and what comes from my own head.

While the main idea for this painting came from the internet, I did it in my own way with my own reasons. I was experimenting with the background as I went along and am happy it turned out as nice as it did! I gave it to a friend who had a birthday a few days ago, and whose native country has trees that lose their leaves in the fall, unlike here in Morocco. Thus the fall-colored cut up bits of wrapping paper "leaves" in her painting.

 I found a melted-crayon version of this painting online, whose idea I loved, but whose execution wasn't the kind of project I was going for. So I made this whimsical but evocative painting with my acrylics for a friend who appreciates the meaning behind it.

Since I found my love for painting a few years ago I've been developing my craft a lot, and with each new painting I explore new techniques and themes. Going through the "my paintings" tag on my blog to find the instances of gifted paintings above showed me how I've moved from very rigid or rather sloppy paintings to being able to have more control in recent projects! It's quite satisfying to see. One way or anther, painting is lots of fun and I'm already debating what my next project will be!