Christmas Card Painting Versus the Actual Christmas Card

The Rectangular front panel of the completed Christmas Card

The Square Mixed Media Distressed Painting

Well over a month ago I wrote abut the completed Christmas Card Painting. At that time I also promised that I would publish a comparison of the painting with the card when it was finished. By now those who were to receive a card in the real world have, so I’m playing catch-up on the art blog.

Comparing the visuals above one can see how different they are in composition. First, the changes were necessary as I went from a square format to a rectangular one. I had planned on the card being rectangular because the standard size for postal use is 5” x 7.” That is why the central image of the Madonna and Child (Virgin of the Veil (1500) Borgognone) is a rectangular format that shrinks in size as each set of layers in the painting is completed. Second, the accidental process of layers of images and paint added and removed over time creates its own compositional argument, and I wasn’t completely satisfied with the composition of the finished painting. I spent a great deal of time playing with placement and size of various elements using Adobe Photoshop. So, the final card is very different in composition from the square format of the original for both these reasons.

Prototype Landscape Finally Finished

I walked into the studio yesterday with the idea that I would alternate work between the experimental landscape and Christmas cards. First, I cut and pasted inserts into 8 cards. Then I filled my water tub, prepared the palette and stepped up to the canvas thinking, “h-m-m-m-m-m, I could add a wash of green on these spots in the lower left corner, and I might put a dab of opaque white paint here in the middle of the canvas, and I could extend this curved line across the central canvas to the upper left.” But then, I thought, “is all that necessary?” I answered myself with a great big “NO!” Instead, I thought, “It’s finished!”