I have dedicated this week to creating this years' christmas cards. And then I got so carried away, that I decided to share a little on 'how-to' as well. Because it's just so much fun ;) This year I wanted to make a very traditional christmas card, that celebrate tradition. Being slightly pagan, I wanted my story to about the tree, and the people who come together for christmas. So I put the pine-tree in the center of my image.

First I draw with pencil the whole scene one by one. The characters, all looking at the tree.

Then I start choosing colors and filling out the outlines with color. Here I have used a smart little helper called drawing gum. It protects the paper from color and afterwords you can just rub it off. Easy.  

Every character has got their own outfit and own colors. I think the grandmother is a bit traditional with a lovely pearl necklace dressed in classic grey. This is how I remember my own grandmother for christmas.

I am not really sure who is attending the celebration. Whether it's wife and husband or sister and brother, mother-in-law or grandmother, and if the elderly man is in fact the grandfather or the great-grandfather. It's up to you to feel who is present!
I use a hairdryer to speed up the process. Another little helper in Santa's workshop ;)I wanted the tree to look blue-green because I always find so many colors in the christmas tree and compared to other trees outside, I find the christmas tree to have a special blue nuance. And so I mixed a nice green that I added both blue and yellow to throughout the painting of the christmas tree, to make it shine in different hues.Here I have used my little helper the gum again, to make sure there was space to fill in the decoration of the tree. And then there is nothing else to do but to decorate the tree!After I finished the picture, I wanted the scene to have a glow, that the christmas tree should shine and radiate with its beautiful presence. And so I mixed a nice transparent yellow to lay on top of what I had already created, to create a nice cozy indoor feeling.Grandmother and son (perhaps ;) with rays of light on their faces.Finally the picture is finished. I added a few shadows and shades here and there to make a nice light in the living room.