My OH is quite tricky to buy for and inconsiderately enough, has a birthday in early December so Christmas present ideas are always a challenge…
He’s been into doing small water colours for a while now and is actually quite good but has long expressed a desire to start painting in oil.
So his daughters came up with oil paints for his birthday and I then had the genius idea of an easel for Christmas.
Except, I stupidly made a rushed purchase, didn’t check the details properly and the first one I ordered looked like it belonged to one of the seven dwarves.
So I sent it back, and did some proper research.
And found this. Which was not expensive, fabulously easy to assemble, adjust and transport, takes up no space when not in use and best of all, Monsieur actually likes it.
If you’ve got an amateur painter in the family or just want to provide an easy way for the grandchildren to “Do Art”, I really recommend this!
I feel your pain… Madame’s birthday is December 27th! - and my sister’s is December 28th!
Madame and I agreed not to do Xmas presents for each other this year and only token birthday presents, so I got her a Diana Krall CD.
An easel is a great idea for an artist especially if they like painting “en plein air”.
Somewhere I think we have a wooden one that belonged to my Dad, he liked painting in oils.
I had a go at watercolours 25+ years ago and enjoyed it; I might give that another try when I retire!
Acrylics are another option as they dry quicker than oils and are not as smelly - plus you can use them almost like watercolours if you dilute them with acrylic medium.
You’re in a good place as regards presents if you have an artist in the house as there are lots of bits and bobs that can be bought, plus they will always need paint!
ETA: I don’t know what your Monsieur likes to paint, but this Dutch girl does some amazing work with acrylics which he might find inspirational, if he likes still life and the “Old Master” style…
Another interesting gift option is sets of watercolour pencils, both graphite (small sets) and the larger sets of 40 or more coloured ones like Caran d’Ache. They’re much less hassle out of doors and you if buy someone a set of these, individual colours can be replaced as needed. Whereas once people start painting they tend to replace individual tubes as they run out. Likewise with brushes
By contrast learning to paint competently in oils is a lengthy process (we’re talking years), so if someone wants to learn, they will benefit from tuition and/or joining a club. You also need studio space to able to leave stuff out all the time like below at chez nous. However these days with odourless turps oil paint doesn’t smell like it used too :-
Lumping birthday presents into christmas presents because of chronological alignment is a SIN and can lead to the overuse of shouty upper-case letters on the internet in old age,
DON’T DO IT!
OH’s birthday is the 21st December. To try, in any way, to associate her birthday with Christmas would be a capitol offence. Ever thought how difficult it is to get birthday wrapping paper that close to Christmas?
My birthday is Christmas Eve. My family were scrupulous about giving separate presents, except for the year (about 1959) I had a silver cross dolls pram. It was so expensive my grandparents contributed too! I still have it and it now comes out for the grandchildren to play with.
