Happy Christmas!

Here’s my Christmas card this year, best wishes to you all, and hope everyone has a restful and refreshing holiday season.

Mariko christmas card 2019 copy.jpg

I started this design with some rough sketches of ideas to show the family home in London, and we chose the fireplace version, rather than the front door.

first sketch.jpg

The Christmas stockings represent the original Jesse family, and the kokeshi dolls on the fireplace represent my brother and his family, and the snowmen are me and my husband. I wanted to create a traditional, warm and cosy feeling, and yet also make it personal to my family.

card progress.jpg

This shows the progress of my watercolour artwork for the final card, with the addition of a cat (in memory of our beloved Smudge) and then orange and yellow on top of the blue, to add some winter fireside warmth. I tried to limit the colour palette so the key elements of the illustration would stand out. The final image has the colour increased in saturation, and I removed the potted plant on the left, as it wasn’t clear what it was in the final crop. Hope you like it.

Warm winter wishes to you all!