Custom Name Paintings (Athena)

Besides the two paintings I made for friends who got married last year, I also made a single-name custom artwork for my cousin, who gave birth to a baby girl named Athena in December. I created this painting with a fun purple and metallic gold color scheme, to play up the royal/goddess origins of her baby's name.

As with my other paintings, I first traced the name onto paper and then taped the paper to my work table.

For this one, I chose to keep the letters white (the color of the paper), so I painted around the outlines I'd traced. I used highly pigmented purple and metallic gold inks in addition to purple, pink and yellow watercolor paint for this piece.

The above pictures were taken while the painting was still wet. Once it was dry, there were some interesting abstract watermarks that remained on the paper, giving it an authentic, artistic look.

Here is the finished painting, in a gray frame:

On the back of the painting, I wrote:

If you would like to order a custom name painting like this to gift to someone in your life, you can check out this Etsy listing in my shop!

Custom Name Paintings (Couples)

In 2017, I created three name paintings as wedding and baby shower gifts. The two that I'm featuring in today's blog post were for old friends who were getting married - Vikram & Laura, who got married in June, and Kerri & Matthew, who got married in October. For each of these couples, I created a unique watercolor painting of their names, which I then framed and gifted to them to hang in their new homes together. :)

I forgot to take step-by-step photos of the above painting as I was creating it, but I did take a few for the next name painting I did, just to show off the process.

First, I traced the names onto the paper and then taped the 8x10 watercolor paper to the table (to keep it flat while the paper was subjected to lots of water).

Then I started building up layers of color in the background and for the names, even splattering different colors onto the paper to give it an artistic look.

Here is the final painting:

If you would like to order a custom name painting like this to gift to someone in your life, you can check out this Etsy listing in my shop. I can do these paintings in any color combination you can imagine - in fact, for an exciting purple and metallic gold color scheme, check back in a few days for another new blog post, featuring a painting I made for my cousin's new baby! :)

Mark's (Second) Custom Bouquet Painting

In December, I had the pleasure of creating a second bouquet for someone who'd purchased a custom wedding bouquet painting over the summer as a gift for his wife. Mark and his wife loved the bride's bouquet so much that he commissioned me to create another one - this time of the bridesmaid's bouquet - to be displayed in their home next to the first painting.

(Check out the first painting I did for Mark in this blog post.)

The bridesmaid's bouquet was more colorful than the bride's bouquet (as they often are), with lots of pretty orange/coral/pink shades. I tried to make the style as similar to the first painting as possible, since they were to be hung together, while also being true to the more colorful flowers in this bouquet.

I started by tracing the provided photo onto 8"x10" watercolor paper.

Then I added some light initial washes of color, just to block out where the different shapes were.

I started going in with smaller brushes to add in details, and building up layers of color:

Then, as a final step, I used white acrylic paint to lighten up some areas of the bouquet.

Here's the final painting (on the left) with the photo provided (on the right) for comparison.

I love making these paintings! Not only does it give me a chance to play with watercolors and see lots of beautiful bouquets, but it makes me happy to know that people love giving and receiving these custom watercolors as thoughtful, romantic gifts. :)

Order your own custom watercolor bouquet at this listing in my Etsy shop.

Train Map - Custom Graphic Design

My uncle has a model train setup in his basement, complete with railroad tracks, natural features (mountains, rivers, ponds, trees), and little buildings and people. This past Christmas, he asked me to design him a 18x24 map, which he could display on the wall near his train setup. He sent me a rough sketch of what he was thinking, along with a list of town names or important stops along the route, and some picture of his setup for inspiration.

Since he is into baseball (and the history of it), he gave the towns the names of historic baseball players, and named his fictional railroad company "Cobb Valley Railroad". His favorite colors are orange and dark blue (Detroit Tigers colors), and he wanted there to be more color than on a "typical" (boring) train map - such a green background, and colorful artistic-rendering "snapshots" of certain areas of his setup.

I designed it in Adobe Illustrator and printed it for him at FedEx Office for his Christmas present.

Here is the digital version of the design:

And some detail shots of the "snapshots", track layout, and CV logo I created:

He had a 18x24 black frame he wanted to use, and was so excited about his Christmas gift that he immediately went and got the frame to put his new map in. :)

I am available to create similar custom graphic design posters for other projects, as well! If you'd like to talk to me about your ideas or commission a poster, you can email me at afrownfe[at!]gmail.com.

Bathroom Color Scheme & Artwork

A big project we undertook in 2017 was to have our guest bathroom renovated. This is the nicest, largest bathroom of our house, but one that doesn't often get used (yet). We also have a powder room on the main floor and a small bathroom off the master bedroom (which just has a standing shower - not a tub). We replaced the toilets and vanities in each of the three bathrooms, and completely overhauled the large guest bathroom with new tile, new cabinets and counters, new sinks and faucets, a new tub, new lighting, new toilet, new mirrors, and new paint color. With the exception of the paint color, which we did ourselves, we had a company in our town manage the project. It took twice as long as they originally estimated, putting us out for two months - but the end result is beautiful!

I wanted a gray/white/purple color scheme, with white tile, sinks, tub, and toilet, medium/dark gray cabinetry, and purple walls. I had them lay the square floor tiles diagonally, and the matching "subway" style shower tile in a herringbone pattern - because I love how dynamic those lines look when they aren't set up in the typical boring parallel/perpendicular way.

For the paint color, I didn't want to go too "girlie" with the purple color - but I still wanted something bright as a contrast to the neutral white/gray everywhere else in the bathroom. I tried to pick a purple that had some gray in it, and one that was also light enough that it didn't make this windowless bathroom too dark - since the gray cabinets already added to the darkness.

Finally, I finished up the bathroom with some matching purple rugs and towels, and by creating a custom piece of art for the wall.

And now (since you're dying to see them, I'm sure!), here are the photos!

Before the renovation:

At the start of the renovation, after they tore everything out:

The finished room - with awesome tiles and more cabinet space!

I decided that I needed some vertical artwork for the wall near the bathroom/tub, and when I couldn't find anything in the colors/style I wanted to, I made it myself.

I picked out a white frame that would hold four small paintings. Then, using some small pieces of paper torn from a watercolor sketch book, I went about making the paintings. Even though my frame would only hold four, I made six small pieces - knowing that some would turn out better than others, and that I would want options to choose from.

I wanted to do an abstract style, and I wanted to incorporate the white of the tub, toilet, tile and counters, the light gray veins in the tile and counter, the color of the darker gray cabinetry, the color and shiny chrome texture of the silver faucets, towel racks, and lighting fixtures, and a nice purple to go with the purple color we painted the walls. I also really liked the abstract leaf-print shower curtain we found (which had simple leaf-shapes in shades of purples and grays), and wanted to incorporate some leaf-like shapes into the design as well.

I taped down my six small pieces of paper with masking tape, so they wouldn't curl up too much when I got them wet with paint.

For the first layer, I used black India ink, super pigmented purple ink, and iridescent acrylic medium - which you would usually mix with acrylic paint, but which I just used straight from the jar for a sparkly/metallic look.

Then, I just went to town. I layered wet washes of ink with thinner brush strokes. I used the iridescent medium to just smear some areas with shine, and I used the black and purple inks to write/draw curvy lines and the hints of some leaf shapes.

I threw some cotton makeup rounds on there just to soak up some extra moisture while they were drying.

For the next layer, I used white pastel chalk, metallic silver and pink markers, and a thinner metallic silver pen to "collage" more leaf-shapes onto the paintings, and add visual interest.

Once I was satisfied and everything was dry, I pulled the masking tape off and chose which four of the six I would put in my frame.

Here's the final piece hanging in the bathroom!

I had a lot of fun "experimenting" with the abstract style for the artwork, and playing around with some art materials I don't usually use. It's exactly what I wanted to finish off our new bathroom.

Do you have a space that needs some custom artwork? I'd love to help you out! Leave a comment below or send me an email at afrownfe@gmail.com to let me know what you're thinking of. :)