It’s always nice to find time to create some Christmas art over the festive period. I’ve not actually had time for much art while I’ve been concentrating on getting my Frog’s Bucket List book published and so have been yearning to paint something for a while now. I was thinking back to how magical it was as a child, creating Christmassy pictures, glitter and sequins everywhere. Cotton wool snowmen, ambiguous drawings of Father Christmas and other dishevelled Christmas characters. That’s the energy I was trying to channel into my Christmas art.
Last Christmas
You might remember, I actually created some festive mixed media art this time last year (see Festive Poinsettia in Mixed Media). In that post, I describe how I wanted to explore the benefits of mindfulness art in 2024.
During 2024, I have come to realise that mindfulness art is not about ‘doing art’ but more like ‘being art’ – the state of mind you’re in as you create the art, regardless of the end result. Bear that in mind as I show you my Christmas art!
Snow Bunny
Who doesn’t love some Christmas animals? Simple and understated, Snow Bunny was created using pen and watercolours. Whenever I’ve had a bit of a break from art, watercolours hold my hand while I get back into the zone.
I started by sketching out a rabbit shape using a photograph as reference, and then scribbling around the outline with a 0.3mm black pen. Using a small round brush, I started filling in the fur of the rabbit, and then the background.
I used cool tones to suggest snow, and pale colours to create a winter sky. I’ve played around with complementary colours (colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel) when painting the bunny. I like playing with colours in this way.
Dancing Snowmen
By this time, I was feeling confident enough to crack out the acrylics again. Although unfortunately inspiration was slow to come – I don’t remember “artist’s block” ever being a thing as a child? So I tried to clear my head and think what kinds of things I would have painted as a child:
Christmas tree, Father Christmas, reindeer, stars, Nativity scene, snowmen, stocking…
Wait… snowmen!?
I love a good snowman. They are just so cute.
And why only paint one snowman, when you can paint two?
This composition is purely from my imagination, I made it up as I went along. But I was inspired by a recent sunset which I incorporated into the sky. Wintertime is good for colourful sunsets.
I laid down some base undertones for the snow with blues, purples, pinks and yellows. And then I used a student grade white acrylic paint over the top – the beauty of this being that the colours underneath still come through under the white to give the snow some depth.
Now, the Christmas art I’m showing you is not the culmination of hours of work. These are quick ‘spontaneous’ paintings to try and get the creative juices flowing again.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 2024, it’s that there is value to incorporating time-restricted practice alongside creating more detailed artworks. Ironically, there is a sense of creative freedom when you give yourself a time limit. You immediately remove the need for a work to be perfect – because it’s not going to be in such a short space of time. Instead, the freedom comes from allowing yourself to experiment.
Going back to my snowmen, I think they have a certain charm and sense of movement about them (they look like they’re dancing?). And I like some of the sketchy brush marks as a result of working fast. Overall, I was happy with the snowmen.
There are no mistakes in art
“There are no mistakes in art.”
Phew!
I was fortunate enough to receive a book on mixed media techniques for Christmas and this is the opening line in the book.
It’s apt, because my next two pieces of Christmas art were done in mixed media. And they are far from perfect.
First, my robin:
This is a piece that I’m undecided about.
I do like it, don’t get me wrong. I like the cute festive robin, and the Christmassy colours, and the ‘carefree’ vibes it gives off. However, I was unsure whether it was finished or not? And if it was unfinished, then I was unsure of how to finish it. In the end, I decided not to risk overworking it, and left it as is.
On the creative process – I started by creating a background with various different papers (for example, you can see some old sheet music). I have also used previously painted fabrics and some wrapping paper to create texture in the background. And even a second-class stamp in the lower left corner. Then I applied white gesso over the top with a cheap brush – this allowed me to be able to paint over the shiny wrapping papers with neutral, earthy acrylic tones.
Details have been applied with acrylic paint, pen and brusho powder, and I used an old plastic lid to stamp dark green circles on the right side of the composition.
I might revisit this when I’ve learnt and practiced a few more mixed media techniques from my book.
Christmas stocking in mixed media
My second mixed media piece is a small one – you could even create several and use these as gift tags (if you had the time!).
I actually started this last year, then found it again recently and decided to add a few more details.
When I rediscovered it, I had already created the background with printed materials and a strip of wrapping paper. And the stocking was sketched in with a bit of colour (looks like I used brusho powder).
All I did this year was apply a bit more definition to the pen work, incorporating white and gold marker pens as well.
I’m looking forward to exploring more mixed media art in 2025 – practicing some of the techniques from my new book, which I will share with you as I go along.
Snow Cabins
After the mixed media fun, I went back to acrylic paints for my final piece of Christmas art. Inspiration was flowing a bit more by this point and I had a better idea of the kind of thing I wanted to create.
As for the Dancing Snowmen, I used my trusty flat brushes to paint the winter scene. Again, using blues, purples, pinks and yellows underneath an overlay of white acrylic paint.
I like using flat brushes – I think it’s because you can achieve a range of colours within a single stroke. And I like that style of painting, it’s visually and texturally appealing.
Happy New Year
That’s all the art I have to share with you for now.
After another whirlwind year, being able to find a few moments of creative stillness over Christmas has been restorative.
Now is the perfect time to embrace a fresh start with the arrival of a new year. I have lots of ideas for art projects (including the follow up to my Frog’s Bucket List: Christmas Fun book!) which I will, of course, keep you updated with.
To echo the sentiments of my very first blog post, onwards and upwards… here we go!
Wishing you a peaceful, successful, wonderful year ahead.