Turn Your #travelgram into Art

Karl Lagerfeld once said, “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” It’s no secret that this is where the pull of Instagram lies.

Whether you are an avid photo poster or not, the attraction of curating images of your best moments is obvious. Studies of the most popular hashtags show that Travel is a stalwart topic: #travel, #travelgram, #instatravel, #wanderlust consistently hit the top of user lists, out-shined only by Design and Food, and outperforming Fitness and Inspiration.

What if you could take wanderlust #travelgram photos off the screen and create beautiful works of art? 

With summer on the way - and the vacation season about to reach full swing - Paintru wants to show you how to use your favorite #travelgram and turn it into a tangible piece of artwork. We think Instagram is great; many of our best commissions have come from the platform, however, there is something special about turning memories stored in the aether of social media into permanently viewable, physical pieces.

So, happy travels, keep Gramming, and get deciding which travel memory to transform into your work of art!

A Paintru Travel Commission

The Trip of a Lifetime Wall

Have you been lucky enough to experience a Trip of a Lifetime? You know the sort: months in the planning, a far-flung pilgrimage to a place you have wanted to visit for years - the stuff travel dreams are made of. If the answer is ‘yes’ (and we congratulate you!), then we hope you took some excellent snaps in between realizing your life’s travel goals. But now, be honest, how often do you take the time to scroll through those Insta tabs? Almost certainly the answer is ‘not enough’.

The Trip of a Lifetime deserves a special reverence in your home. In fact, we think it deserves a whole wall. One of the most difficult things about transforming your #wanderlust photo into a painting is deciding which image to use - with a travel wall, you don’t have to decide on just one.

A Paintru Travel Commission

We have covered the ‘how-to’ for designing a gallery wall previously, however, there are specific benefits to dedicating this space to travel memories. Expert travel bloggers and team, Yaya and Lloyd, from the excellent Hand Luggage Only describe how they feel about their own travel wall:

“...you’ll almost have yourself this life-sized puzzle back at home, waiting to be filled with travel memories. I’m a sucker for a hanging souvenir (travel masks, hanging ornaments…etc) so having a “travel wall” fits perfectly with the kind of items I bring back home from my travels.”

We suggest taking time to scroll through your full collection of travel snaps. Aim for a variety of perspectives, landscapes, and locations. For a travel wall, there’s no need to focus on Instagram photos that contain people only: the display will benefit from a mix of captured architecture, nature and portraits.

A Travel Wall as featured in Hand Luggage Only

For an eclectic aesthetic, play with the different styles Paintru offers. You could use a Painterly style for the focal, statement painting, followed by Watercolor for some of the smaller scenes.

That Forever Magic Spot

There are plenty of reasons for why a travel snap will signify the memory of a special life event. Location Weddings and Engagements are amazing opportunities to exercise your #instatravel prowess. Californian native Kiki, who runs the travel blog The Blonde Abroad, gives some vacation proposal inspiration:

“There’s nothing quite as romantic as getting away and exploring a new place together. It also makes getting down on one knee an even bigger surprise, because she (or he) will never expect you to propose when you’re in the middle of running from a museum to the beach to the best ice cream shop in town together.”

A Paintru Commission: A Parisian Engagement

If you are planning a Location Engagement, then we hope you are already considering the photo opportunities! Once you have celebrated your treasured event over Instagram, choose your most romantic photo to display in your home forever.

Flytographer is a global photography marketplace where you can easily book a local photographer for a hassle-free photoshoot ranging from 30 minutes to 4 hours or more. Flytographer’s origins are as a vacation photography company but have since expanded to offering hometown photoshoots, surprise proposals, and event photography. 

You can hire an amazing local photographer anywhere in the world with Flytographer. They have amazing photographers in over 350 cities around the world. Then, you can have one (or more!) of these photos turned into incredible artwork with a Paintru artist. 

Get $25 off your first Flytographer shoot booking through our brand partnership with Flytographer, click here to get $25 off >

A great example of a romantic Flytographer shoot photo that Paintru transformed into a painting (below).

Paintru Commission of the Photo Above.

Snaps of couples looking into one another’s eyes work particularly well, and can be hung in bedrooms or displayed over mantelpieces. This way, you will always remember your forever special place.

The Destination Celebration

Have you ever Instagrammed a destination reunion or gathering? Or perhaps you have enjoyed a family and friends vacation? The celebrations don’t need to stop when the trip ends. Keep the party going: go back and pick a photo that fully encompasses the joy of the occasion.

A Paintru Commission: A Family Hike

Photos of multiple people will typically suit a Painterly or Impressionist style painting. These sorts of commissions work well as main, statement pieces in living areas or workspaces.

  
The Wow Factor

We’ve all been there: the sun’s shining on vacation, you turn the corner and...wow! There is nothing like the unexpected, superbly Instagrammable vacation vista. These take the form of a variety of subjects - buildings that are marvels of architecture, cityscapes, mountains, beaches - you name it. However, they all have one thing in common: their breathtaking beauty made you stop in your tracks and reach for your phone.

A Paintru Commission: California Coast Photo Turned Into an Incredible Painting

However, The Wow Factor might not be a vista. The atmosphere of a place is sometimes best captured within the locals. Photos of people have gained in popularity because of the wonderful, unique power the human face and form have to convey feeling and emotion. Portraits like this make a thought-provoking, sophisticated art piece in any room.

Keen traveler Janice Waugh, who runs Solo Traveler, describes how photographing people allows her to hold onto an unforgettable moment:

“...it is the people I meet along the way that I enjoy most about my travels. Yes, spectacular landscapes take my breath away but it is the people who hold a special place in my memories. And when I am able to save their image in a photograph I have a specific moment in time to hold on to.”

Janice Waugh's Photos of People on Her Travels

She describes the etiquette of this type of photography here.

We hope we have inspired you to take a scroll and commission your very best #travelgram to turn an incredible travel photo into a hand-painted work of art. As always, we love to hear about any artistic inquiries and are always here to answer any creative questions. Get in touch!