Wedding Tree

My little Bro is getting married (gasp!) on Saturday. In Italy. To a lovely Italian lady, who I like very much. I will be here in New Mexico, thinking of them, and wishing them the best. And hoping to see them soon, but knowing it will be some time before I make it to Italy.

Alice requested a Wedding Tree to have at the wedding/reception, and so I drew one to send to Italy. Unfortunately, I don't know if it will arrive in time, as I got it sent late enough that unless there is some sort of divine intervention, it's likely to get stuck in Italian customs. I'm still crossing my fingers, though!

The basic idea is a bare, branched tree that becomes leafy as guests of the lucky couple add their thumbprint to the tree; Pinterest has a plethora of trees to get inspiration from. So, my photos are of a bare tree, but if it makes it to Italy in time, it should be quite covered in foliage by the end of the wedding event. I chose to make this one a bit on the small side since I was shipping it, so I think pinky fingerprints will be the best.

Part of the reason it was sent on the late side was that I actually did two. The first one... sucked. I planned and sketched and practiced with ink and brushes, since that was what I was seeing around the internet. But, I like drawing. After letting the icky painted tree sit a few days, I finally faced that I was going to have to redo it. Probably in part due to the pre-planning and execution of an ugly tree, the drawn one came together very quickly and I'm soooo much more satisfied with it. The lesson for me is that right now, I love the doodling and ink drawing, so I should stick with it.

Hand lettering, on the other hand, I should probably spend more time practicing. I chose to only go with initials because I was pretty sure that "Chris and Alice" would have resulted in travesty.

Congratulations to my brother and his Italian amore! I send kisses and hugs– and I look forward to seeing the pictures afterward!

Alice is pronounced Ah-lee-chey, which makes her even cooler.