redpolarbear

Day 3: Red Polar Bear

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Christmas Advent Calendar Greeting Cards | Illustration

Personal Project

[ Timeline: 05.11 - 30.11.2024 ]

Inspired by the magic of Advent Calendars, I created 24 one-of-a-kind Christmas greeting cards—each a burst of creativity straight from my heart!

For this series, I took inspiration from:

- Contemporary artists like Kaws, Takashi Murakami, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Maurizio Cattelan,...

- Collectible art toys like Bearbrick, Balloon Dog, and Kaws,...

- Films, especially the whimsical charm of The Grand Budapest Hotel.

- Letters and patterned shapes became a delightful new adventure for me. Whenever I felt stuck or out of inspiration, I found myself turning to the gentle flow of letters and the playful rhythm of patterns. It was like rediscovering creativity in the simplest, most unexpected ways.

Plus, I dove into cozy winter fairy tales, and festive Christmas decorations, and even let my mind wander into spontaneous sketches, and a touch of Jimmy Liao, the Taiwanese illustrator whose colors and elements inspired me. Here’s the twist: I sketched everything by hand using colored pencils, no erasers allowed! (Yep, no undo button here!). Each drawing captures my very first idea - imperfections and all - because I wanted to embrace the joy of creating without overthinking or relying on fancy apps. It was all about letting go, trusting the process, and just having fun. After sketching, I sprinkled a little Photoshop magic to tidy things up and used mockups to present everything beautifully, but the heart of these cards was all in the hand-drawn charm.

This project taught me how freeing and exciting it is to just do it—to draw without fear of “messing up” and to let creativity take the lead. I hope these cards bring you as much joy as I had in making them!

So grab a cup of cocoa, take a peek, and remember: drawing by hand isn’t scary—it’s wonderfully human!