Drawing Christmas (Patreon)

Color

I generally use a limited color palette. Skin has so many colors that I want it to take center stage. I want your eyes on that hotness. Drawing fan art, accent colors are usually chosen for me because they communicate something about the character (Slytherins in green, Gryffindors in red, Science officers in blue, etc.).

You can’t fuck with branding. You really can’t fuck with Christmas’s branding. Santa has an amazing PR team. You know that red suit. You know it’s going to be red and white stripes, green pine needles, red berries, red and green, red and green, and more red and green. Maybe some gold or silver if we’re feeling fancy.

But what kind of red and green? What kind of white? (Don’t get me started on white. White is a bitch. I love her. I hate her. Her sister black is so much kinder, but that’s another post for another day.) For winter vibes, choose greens on the bluer side. Even though pine trees can be yellow-green, blue-green feels like winter, and feelings (vibes) are what stick with a viewer. Color theory is almost all subconscious, so trust your gut.

Blue-greens also look better contrasted to the yellow-orange light of fire and keep your colors from looking flat. The eye likes contrast.

White. Oh, winter whites. Winter whites are the worst (says the ginger that wore a sparkling gold cape over their wedding dress because cold whites make me look like a sickly Victorian ghost and not in the sexy way). My favorite white is the one closest to the bottom near my signature (which, btw, I stole from this harmony art back in like ‘21 because arisha is incredible with color). I use that ho for everything.

So imagine my absolute ANGST when I decided to add patronus ornaments. Patronus, with their blue-fucking-white-glowing-asses. Bright white patronuses are boring so I usually play up that iconic blue—which is NOT in the Christmas color scheme, the wanker. To make it work, I desaturated the blue. It’s still a cold white, but more subtle. It works because there’s just enough blue in the pine garland and sweaters that it doesn’t feel out of place.

Brushes

Brushes won't make an incredible art overnight. That said, sometimes you really do just need a specialty brush and I happed to be a lil' brush dragon with a hoard of unnecessary (but sparkly!) brushes.

None of these are affiliate links or sponsorships. I don't gain anything if you buy them. 

Glitter - it's glitter, so SO much GLITTER! I usually use the default glitter brush and love it, but if you want some variety in your glitter textures or something more subtle, this set is huge | Pine Brushes - worth it. I'll use these once a year but foliage is one of those things where the brush matters | Fur Brushes - fur is also one of those things | Fur Brushes - my other favorite set | Tinsel Brushes - meh? I didn't wind up using them in the final piece, but if you're into tinsel, they're good | Christmas Patterns - Hyper-specific? Yes. Useless 11 months of the year? Yes. Did I buy them specifically for the TWO deer patters? Also yes.

Let me know if you made it this far/ enjoyed this. If you do, I’ll keep making more detailed posts about art theory.