No. 220: The Boys in the Box

"Little Sailors" by Tom Wills, October 2013, 1' x 2'

This is a very clever gift idea, for which I will claim only half credit.
The creative half!
A colleague came to work a week or so ago with very specific measurements, and an old photo. I was to draw these young brothers specifically to fit into a prescribed space -- the lid of a treasure box.
Now, one-by-two feet is pretty small for a portrait of two people -- even kids.

Land ho!

But I set about drawing them and even managed to include a bit of the sofa they are sitting on.
I put in a bit of the tricky fabric pattern, too.

The following week, the bigger brother showed up with a treasure box. A toy-sized steamer trunk, actually.
Inside of the lid would go the drawing; inside the box would go a host of Christmas goodies for the little brother. Although men grow, we do not completely grow up.  We like our toys, our comic book heroes, our trains and toy soldiers.

Filled to the top!

I suggested covering the drawing inside of the lid with a sheet of clear plexiglass.
On one night, I cut the drawing to the prescribed lid size (his measurements were a little off). I used evenly spaced dots of clear silicone adhesive to make it stick to the box.
The next night, I ordered a piece of plexiglass cut to my measurements (which were perfect).
The fit was nice and snug but I added four dollops of clear silicone adhesive just in case.
The picture is inside the lid in a way that it can be carefully removed at some future point, should the family desire it in a frame.

I had previously put drawings on top of small boxes, and then sprayed over them with polyurethane. But this is a first for the inside, and is an idea worth repeating.
Even if the idea wasn't completely mine.