A Christmas Card

We have to take a Christmas card to the last watercolour class, two weeks from now. A Christmas card that we paint ourselves, of course.

Apparently, we have a little party on that day, consisting of eating our own lunch and exchanging Christmas cards.

Of course I panicked: what if I don't have time to paint a card in time? So I made it right away. This is it:

 

I wanted to stay away from the snow-covered trees and snowman clichés. My original idea was a starry night sky with the stars being produced by salt crystals. But my deep indigo blue sample didn't work out because the mixture stained the paper and so the salt didn't reveal any white at all.

So I changed to Winsor Blue and this is the result. (It's actually a bit darker than here.) The letters were produced by printing the outline on my inkjet printer, directly onto the watercolour paper. Then I filled the letters in with masking fluid. That's why they're so irregular. But I think the imperfections add to the charm.

You're right: this doesn't look like a starry night at all, more like some snow flakes or some fireworks. Or some microscopic sea organisms. That's all right: it can be whatever the recipient imagines.

Of course, in my usual fashion, there had to be some humour somewhere, so this is what I painted on the back:

I think it's kind of cute.

This is a real card, folded in two with plenty of space for a message inside. The size is 8" x 8", i.e., 4" x 8" folded. It fits inside a regular envelope, which is kind of nice.