Every year I send a Christmas letter along with my card. This is the second year I've done original art for the background. The cardinal was done from a photo reference, and the wreath, ribbon and ornament came from my noodle. I'm not entirely happy with the ribbon because it doesn't have the satiny look I was imagining, but I'm quite pleased with the rest.
Created in my large sketchbook using pan watercolors, watercolor pencils, and micron pens. Started with a preliminary pencil sketch of all the elements except the ornament and worked it up from there. The ornament was added as an afterthought to bring in the green.
Click on the image above to see a larger version.
