Merry & Bright
Happy December Friends! ❄️
We’re entering the last slow days of the year and to be honest, it felt like we’d never make it to 2021. But here we are! I hope this month has been a joyful one for you, however you celebrated it.
It’s a tradition of mine to read a festive book throughout the month of December, and this year that book was Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild. As I worked my way through the pages I soon felt the urge to do a little painting of the three Fossil Sisters celebrating Christmas on a crisp December night. The book is so sweet and nostalgic, I thought it would be a perfect illustration to capture the cosiness of the winter season. I began with this rough sketch which I scanned and resized in Photoshop (the original sketch is tiny!) then traced it onto smooth white paper.
I intuitively tinkered with the composition until I was happy with how the sisters looked, pulled out some deep green and red shades and set to work on adding colour. As you can see I decided to use a mixture of pencil crayon and gouache, as I wanted the colours to be rich, but still keep some of the line work visible. I usually try to make most of my decisions at this point, but somehow the images still manage to change between this stage and final piece. For example, I didn’t include a background in the draft, but in the end decided that it would be better to include the tiled floor for context and perspective. I also changed the bunting to paper chains, and tweaked the patterns on Pauline and Posy’s dress.
In the end, I’m pleased with how the final illustration turned out. Although I painted it just for fun, I still had bouts of low self-esteem whilst working on it, questioning whether it represents my style or if it’s even ‘good enough’ to share. As this was to be the final illustration I’d make in 2020, I had hoped it would be an easier ride! But I have a feeling that will probably never happen. Letting go of expectations has been a major theme of 2020, and it was only when I let go of expecting this painting to be anything less than perfect that I finished it with ease and was proud of how it looked.
So what do you think of it? I hope it does the book and the characters justice, and evokes the smell of hot ginger and fir pine on a wintery December night. Magical.
And that’s it for 2020! I wish you all a warm and joyful New Year,
Catherine x