The Christmas season in the US begins on the 4th Thursday of November together with celebration of Thanksgiving. It is one of the most important times – it is time to celebrate with family and friends. There are hundreds of American Christmas movies and songs, and majority of people love this holiday. But there is Klaus “Grinch” somewhere in Switzerland, who wants to steal Christmas from us. Should we let him do it? No. We are going to celebrate it no matter what. Christmas is an annual celebration commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25. It is a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.
Nadia Russ, painting JESUS & VIRGIN MARY, mixed media/canvas, 20″X16″, NeoPopRealism, 2023
A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it follows the season of Advent (which begins four Sundays before) or the Nativity Fast, and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, it is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season surrounding it.
If you want make this celebration memorable, give your friends and family members the custom made greeting cards “Merry Christmas!” They will love those cards and they will love you for being so thoughtful and creative! Anyone can draw such cards, instead of buying the regular mass production cards in a store. The custom made cards are unique, just as their creators. So let’s start!
First you need to decide what you want to draw. If you are a beginner, draw something simple, like a Christmas Tree made of the letters (see picture). If you are experienced in drawing, then draw Santa Claus! Fold a sheet of thick paper 8.5″x11″ on the middle, do not cut it. Turn it horizontal – the folding line must be on the top. Draw image of your greeting card “Merry Christmas!” using a black thin ink pen: the contours of Santa Claus’ body and/ or the Christmas Trees (letters).
Draw Santa Claus gradually, step-by-step (see picture). Then, divide all the images (Santa Claus, trees, or letters) into sections. Next step would be filling these sections with different repetitive patterns, some sections you should leave blank.
Use your imagination when you create the patterns, do not copy them. This kind drawing is fun and excitement. This art style called NeoPopRealism. It was created by Nadia Russ in 1989. When your NeoPopRealist Greeting card “Merry Christmas!” is ready, place it in a large envelope, or just give it your friend like that.
If you are an art educator, you may want to teach your students to draw such cards. Visit this website, it has many NeoPopRealism drawing art lesson plans: http://neowhimsies.blogspot.com/2012/11/art-lesson-plan-greeting-card-merry.html?m=1 .
Or you even can get a book that teaches how to draw NeoPopRealism, there are a bunch of them to pick from what you need: http://www.neopoprealism.org/.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
NeoPopRealism Journal 