I’ve just completed my first project set at Christmas time. Luckily I’m a big fan of all things seasonal, and so this was a big tick on my bucket list of dream illustration jobs. It meant that this season has felt even more magical than normal, as it’s my experience that the more engrossed you are in a subject, the more you notice it. I’ve been taking lots of photos of my local area’s Christmas lights, window displays in central London and saving lots of Pinterest boards of things that feel Christmassy. My favourite type of Christmas image is one that has a lovely contrast between inside and outside.
Following on from my look at Autumn last month, inspired by the launch of my 2025 calendar, I wanted to share some Winter illustrations that I’ve found inspiring during my own project set at Christmas.
Always Winter and never Christmas
I remember being curled up with my nose in a book throughout my childhood. Being an avid drawer as well as reader, I’d naturally gravitate towards books with pictures as they had the best of both. There are certain illustrations I can see quite easily if I close my eyes, thanks to the number of times I’d stare at them before bed.
One such image is this one, which I suppose you can now call a classic. It is one of the original illustrations from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by Pauline Baynes. True Narnia fans will understand my reference above.
In it, we see Lucy and Mr Tumnus heading off to his house, walking through the snow. The promise of tea in the text, contrasting with the chilliness that we get from the deep snow and spindly branches, makes us feel cold and cosy at the same time. I think it’s the anticipation of warmth that makes this one work so well.
I actually illustrated the same scene myself for a personal project a few years ago. Here it is.
I looked at the Pauline Baynes image again on my first day of researching my current project, to remind myself of that childhood Christmassy feeling.
Father Christmas’ packed lunch
Now, I can’t talk about representations of Winter in picture books without referencing Raymond Briggs. Both The Snowman and Father Christmas communicate the magic of Winter, and of course, Christmas, without being sentimental. Maybe that’s because his Father Christmas is so wonderfully grumpy, and that The Snowman has no words. Brigg's humour is also very dry.
In the above image from ‘Father Christmas’ for example, we see Father Christmas having his sandwiches. He’s taking a break, just like every other person who goes to work. He also goes on holiday in the book, something that delighted me as a child as I imagined I might bump into him one day.
Another element I love about Briggs’ work is the combination of magic and the everyday. In a way, Christmas and any festival does this already - we have our usual surroundings, but made special somehow. That’s why most of my photos of inspiration for my project looked like this one.
I just love an urban or suburban scene with Winter lights!
Looking at this image from Father Christmas as an example, we can see how Briggs also used cold and warmth to make this illustration sing.
We can feel the cold of the snow, that Father Christmas inhabits, juxtaposed with the warmth of the houses that we can glimpse through the windows.
It reminds me of walking home from school in the leadup to Christmas and peeking into everyone’s living rooms to see their Christmas trees. It’s my favourite thing of magic in the everyday. Just joyful. Next week I'm going to see the touring Raymond Briggs exhibition while it's in Ditchling. I can’t wait.
Contemporary Christmas
In Benji Davies’ The Snowflake, there’s the same combination of cold and warmth, but in a contemporary setting. The use of light in Davies’ work is something that makes it stand apart in my opinion, and here you can see how he uses light to create the same atmosphere I loved on those walks back from school. If you look carefully, you can see a family looking in one of the windows.
The lovely Helen Stephens whose courses as part of the Goodship Illustration helped me get back into a regular drawing practice a few years ago, wrote an illustrated a Christmas version of her well known book ‘How to Hide a Lion’ called ‘How to Hide a Lion at Christmas’.
It includes this gorgeous spread (above) that has my favourite inside/outside contrast and a lovely perspective as if we are looking down on the town. Helen uses a simple colour palette to great effect, and makes me want to step into the illustration and meet the lion for myself.
Creating my own Christmas illustrations
I can’t share my Christmassy project just yet, but I took inspiration from all of these illustration heroes of mine while making it. The story I illustrated is set in contemporary London, which made it familiar to me and excitingly fresh. I was so lucky to be given quite a bit of creative freedom when it came to the setting, and I look forward to being able to share the final images with you all soon.
Instead, I'll leave you with my final Folktale Week image, which is also Christmassy!
For now, if you’re looking for something Christmassy from me you can still buy Christmas cards from my shop. I’ll be sharing this latest project before Christmas day, so keep an eye out for it.
Have a wonderful festive season all!
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