Every year I create a custom Christmas Card I send out to friends and family. It wasn’t until recently that I started to record my process. Below you can watch a video on the making of my Christmas Card, or continue reading to learn more about the process. Enjoy!

Speed Art Video

The Process

The idea starts as a simple thumbnail. I like to sketch out a few concepts before I decide on a specific one (this year, my wife came up with the idea).

Once I like a concept, I’ll refine it a little more. Even though it’s a much tighter sketch, I still prefer to be a little loose at this stage. I like to have some more flexibility when I take it into Photoshop.

Which brings us to the digital sketch. After scanning the drawing into Photoshop, I’ll arrange the pieces until I’m happy with the composition (the trees were drawn and scanned separately).

Once I’m satisfied with the placement of all the elements, I begin to refine the sketch again.

Now it’s time to add the line art. I like to use thicker lines in my drawings which gives my illustration a more comic feel. The downside is that I loose detail.

Once the line work is complete, I’ll add the first pass of coloring. Here, I’m just working with solid fills.

Lastly, I’ll add the shading. I like to combine a flat style of shading with a softer style.

Merry Christmas!