To give a handmade gift to a new boyfriend for Christmas?

[isthisrealorarethosefake]

Relationship of around 3-4 months. Ive not got loads of money so cant justify spending a great deal. We have shared interests that are quite nerdy, gaming, anime, etc. I know his favourite anime and in thinking of hand drawing and watercolour painting the main character, not very big, around A5 size, im pretty good at copying images and characters accurately, and have used watercolours for anime/comic book characters for around 25 years i know so it wouldnt be completely crap. He has a gaming room full of merch, figures, art work etc, streams his gaming so the room is important to him, so its up his alley. But, is it naff? to gift something handmade? I know he has spent around £50 on me, i have bought him gifts at around £30 already too.

Only you know how good you are at such things. If there's the slightest chance you are a bit crap, don't do it. If you also are unsure if he'd love it, don't do it - it's a very personal gift and an eye roll or raised eyebrow about something you've made rather than bought will be taken much more to heart.

Ds20 and ds25 are into all of this. Ds20 recently bought watercolours of his two fav characters from comic con and had them framed. They look really good on his wall.

It's the thought that counts. I for one would be very happy with it

It sounds like he has a room full of tat so what’s one more!

If you think he will like it do it.

Sounds good to me!

If he would like that kind of thing and you're a good artist then its a good idea

I think it's a naff idea. I'm sure the presents you've already got him will be plenty.

Sounds fine to me, if you’re good at drawing/painting. You’ve already bought some other gifts for him so it’s not like it’s the only thing you’re doing for him.

Im not good enough to make a career out of it, mainly because i lack imagination and I can replicate but not create. But im good enough to have gotten a decently good social media following of my drawings and 10000's of likes over the years i have been posting, of drawings/paintings within this genre and style.

That's really quite rude.

Op my DS who's in his 20s is into this too and he'd appreciate something like this. It's very thoughtful and I'm sure he'd love it.

I wasnt asking for opinions on his or my hobbies and interests, just the concept of gifting something handmade in a new relationship. I gave infomation for clear context of what the gift would be.

I think it sounds like a nice idea.

It sounds like you're pretty decent at drawing. It's a good idea- go for it!

I obviously don’t know him, but from the details you’ve given, it sounds as though it’s the kind of thing he would like. And you’ve got him some other bits and bobs too.

Just a slight word of warning to say that people’s reactions to home made gifts tend to go either way. Some people are pleased that another has put a lot of time and effort in, others think it’s a lesser present because it wasn’t paid for. In spite of the fact that you have spent on the raw materials and your time, and the end result may be as good as (or even better than) something from a shop.

I’ve just remembered, an old BF of mine did a sketch of me and framed it. We found it the other day in a cupboard, I’d completely forgotten the man in question, but it was so nice to have that drawing of me.

Yeah, no.
I wouldn't appreciate that.
Opinion only.

No idea if this helps, and it's very outing, but I drew a pen sketch of an alpaca, framed it and gave it to my DSis for a 'big' birthday. She was a bit meh not knowing I'd drawn it and that there was a gift voucher for her and a friend to walk one. She'd always wanted to.

It was lovely seeing her face going from 'oh, nice, ta' to 'YOU drew it?' to 'I'm going to walk an alpaca?!!'.

So if you know that it is something that's close to his heart, you do that. The time you will spend creating it will be worth much more than a Bayliss and Harding shower gel!

What's the worst that could happen?
I am an artist and gifted many handmade things to various people over the years. I don't really care whether they display them or put them in a bin. Once it's gifted, it's no longer my problem.

I think it sounds like a nice addition to the items you have already got them.

I think it’s a lovely, thoughtful gift as it corresponds perfectly to his hobby, and you are also skilled enough to do it well. Hopefully he will appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

Yeesh, some people on here are so grumpy! It might not be up your street, but it sounds great for OP's boyfriend.

It's a lovely idea @isthisrealorarethosefake , far more thoughtful than generic tut.

I think it's a lovely idea, it shows that you have invested your time and effort to make something he'd like. It's more effort than just buying a gift with a few clicks on amazon imo.

Much better that you give something that he’ll love than spending money on tat.

Such a thoughtful idea.

Ignore the grumpy naysayers! I think it's a lovely idea and I think he'll appreciate it too. Go for it.

Sounds like a great idea! My daughter is a good artist and painted an favourite anime character on the back of denim jacket as a gift for her boyfriend. He absolutely loved it. Every time he wears it, people come up to him asking where he got it!