Illustrated Christmas Greetings

All images, c. Kevin SproulsIt's that time of year again, for my Illustrated Christmas Greetings to you, Dear Readers. Needless to say, it's been a rough year. I'm hoping that the Holiday will brighten spirits around the world this year, as always. So, I'm sending out this message in Thanks and contemplation of all that's happened this past year.I will begin by offering an image from a Dickens tale, "A Child's Dream of a Star". I've always been a big Dickens fan, so when I came across this story, I knew I had to illustrate it. The story is about life, loss, and hope, so I thought it fit our present circumstances pretty well...Going from the sublime to the cliche, here is an illustration from Santa's abode up north, but, not really!A fun take on the notion of when Hell freezes over! I cannot let this image pass without a glimpse of detail...A bit of snark: the penguin is lighting up a cigarette!I guess that is the way it is, even at the North Pole:Above, an illustration I made for The Wall Street Journal while I was on staff there. It was a welcome diversion from the usual corporate portraits I was creating at the paper.Like most folks, I really enjoy the Christmas feastday. Here is an early photo of this illustrator revelling on his new toy:Christmas Day in the early-nineties. On this day, I nearly knocked my son's eye out with a crutch, realizing it wasn't as easy as it seemed! It took another twenty years for me to actually be able to ride a unicycle. It was, nontheless, an excellent gift to receive!In closing, I present you with an image I created many years ago. It's one of few paintings I've ever produced:I'll be taking off for the Holiday. The next post will be in the New Year. It will be good to get 2020 behind us!With that, I leave you with a pre-covid toast from Christmas, 2019...[video width="640" height="360" m4v="https://www.sprouls.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/XMas-2019.m4v"][/video]