So Christmas is in two days! But no one is really in the mood to celebrate here as the Netherlands is now on lockdown till mid-January. That said, we are allowed to have up to 4 visitors so we will have some chance to celebrate with family this year. And just to cheer us up further, I thought of sharing this kawaii digital painting of us in Christmas theme!
The Tree
The drawing starts with a waxed crayon drawing of the tree on square paper. First a simple triangle followed by a rectangle below it. Added some texture on top of them first with the Grainy Hatcher for the tree followed by the Grungy Hatcher for the trunk.
Drawing Us
Now it’s our turn to be sketched! I used the Dry Square Inker to draw and color us, adding a new layer for each portion such as my hair, my face, my dress, his face, his hair, his outfit. That way, we can always resize or reposition parts where needed. Once happy with how we looked in terms of proportion, I merged the layers together but kept me and him seperate for now in case we needed to adjust closeness to each other. Details will be added later. So far so cute!
The Background
Now I was ready to figure out what to do with the background! First, a bright shade of yellow green was selected. I then added some white stamps to give it a smoky appearance, if not a slightly snowy one. On top of that came some gold sparkles. I’m ever so grateful for buying the AJ Gold Rush add-on brushes! For now, I want to keep the background quite simple.
The Details
Another set of add-on brushes I love is the Lights as seen in the hearts I added last. Before that, I expanded the drawings of me and boyfriend, and moved him closer to me. The eyes were then added, and wanting to play around with this new Lights brushes, I thought I’d made the eye lines and my eyelashes all lit up! I recommend this set of brushes, more precisely the Neon Tube. For a perfect heart, I worked on one side and pressed hard for auto-shape, then duplicated and flipped it over vertically before placing them together. I played down the opacity of the tree to 80% so the characters pop out more. And here we are!
Now I’m really getting into this digital painting! It’s so much fun, and the sky’s the limit with all the possibilities. Of course it’s never the same as analog artwork, but it is a wonderful substitute when you just want to relax, not make a mess and not have to take out all your supplies. Brush add-ons for texture and lights are also recommended if you want that enhanced effect. I look forward to doing more digital artwork in the coming months. Meanwhile, we wish you all Happy Holidays!!
My Kawaii Quarter 