Wall Art as a Gift for a Tennis Player

Ideas for someone who plays tennis run out quickly: grips, balls and towels are already in the bag. Wall art as a gift for a tennis player sits somewhere else. It goes on the wall, not in the bag, and it stays there for years. That is also the difficulty: the decision is made for someone else's wall. This guide takes three questions in order: size, theme and delivery.

Who is the gift for, and which wall?

The first question is about the person, not the picture. Will it hang at home, in an office, in a room at the club? If the answer is known, the choice is easier. If it is not, the safest route is a piece that is not tied to one room: a calm palette and a plain composition find a place in a living room, a study or a hallway alike.

How the person relates to the game is a clue as well. Someone on court every week and someone who loves watching tennis do not look at the same picture. The first knows the surface and the lines; the second looks for atmosphere.

Size: choosing wall art as a gift without seeing the wall

The most common mistake with a gift is going large to impress. A large piece obliges the recipient to give up a wall; a very small one gets lost on a wide wall. A medium size sits between the two. At Aurecort the standard size for canvas, acrylic and framed pieces is 50 × 70 cm: enough on its own above a console, a desk or an armchair, and able to sit alongside other pieces on a wider wall.

Portrait or landscape?

If you have not seen the wall, portrait carries less risk. It fits a narrow wall, the space between two windows, the side of a door. Landscape works above a long piece of furniture such as a sofa or a headboard, but you need to know how wide that furniture is.

One piece or a pair?

One piece is enough for most gifts. A pair asks for twice the space on the recipient's wall and leaves the hanging layout to them. If a pair is the plan, the same size and the same palette also allow the two to hang on separate walls. For hanging height and spacing, see the guide to arranging a wall with tennis-themed art.

Theme: the person or the room?

A good gift respects both, but when they pull apart the room wins, because the picture will be seen in that room every day.

The surface they play on

The most personal clue is often the surface. For someone who plays on clay, a composition in brick red feels familiar; a hard-court player reads blue and green as their own court, a grass lover pale green and white. In pieces that view the court from above the link is direct: lines and surface colour bring to the wall a layout the player knows by heart.

Colour and the language of the room

If you know the home, take the palette from it: clay tones in a room of wood and warm colours, blue or green in a space of white and grey. If you do not, a piece built from two or three colours at low saturation suits more rooms.

Material

The same court looks matt and painterly on canvas, glossy and sharp on acrylic. For a gift, canvas is the safer choice: it gives no reflections, so it causes no trouble even when the wall is unknown. Acrylic is for a contemporary room whose light you know. The differences are set out in acrylic print vs canvas.

In Aurecort's Framed Art Series, compositions viewing the court from above and pieces carrying the Istanbul skyline are on canvas, in a wooden frame and ready to hang.

Personalisation: little, and in the right place

A name, a date or a club name makes the piece belong to that person; more than that moves it towards a plaque. Kept at the edge or on the back and not inside the composition, the lettering lets the picture remain a work of art on the wall, while the keepsake becomes a detail its owner knows about. Custom sizes and personal requests are discussed at the quote stage.

Delivery of a gift: think about the date and the address early

A picture is not a gift picked off a shelf and handed over the same day. If it has to arrive for a particular day, such as a birthday, the end of a tournament, a retirement or a new home, give the date in the first message. Preparation and delivery time depend on the size, the material and whether there is personalisation; all of it is settled at the quote stage. So the sound approach is to ask for the quote well before the day.

A few details shorten the exchange: the date the gift will be given, the city it is going to, whether it should reach the recipient directly or the person giving it, and any note to include.

A surprise, or a shared choice?

Surprise is the best part of a gift, but the wall belongs to someone else. When you are unsure there are two routes: ask someone who knows the home, or decide together. The second takes away some of the surprise and adds accuracy.

A small gift alongside the picture

Sometimes a picture is too large a gesture; sometimes a small companion suits it. The Gift Collection holds tennis-themed objects such as a mug, a coaster, a pen holder and a key ring; each can be prepared with a personal note. If the gift is for a team or a tournament and not for one person, the decisions on quantity, personalisation and packaging change; that is covered in choosing gifts for clubs and tournaments.

A short order of decisions

First the person and the wall: where will it hang? Then size: if in doubt, 50 × 70 cm and portrait. Then theme: the surface they play on or the palette of their room. Then material: canvas for an unknown wall. Last, delivery: put the date and the address in your quote request. Followed in that order, wall art as a gift for a tennis player becomes a present that stays on the wall long after the day it was given.

For canvas and acrylic printing and signage outside the tennis collection, see the sister brand Aurecort Reklam.

Aurecort