Christmas Suspense by Rian

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By Rian

Mixed media on paper (decoupage, pencil, ink and charcoal)

The idea for this piece came from having to design a piece with a Christmas theme for this unusually proportioned glass cabinet on the corridor of St Raphael’s Ward of Beaumont Hospital. I conceived the ide of having an edwardian house and Santa flying off because it suited the height of the case.

Artists use a concept called the Golden Mean to help give structure and balance to their work. Similarly, I divided the house into three sections, a ground floor a first floor and an attic. Given that it is night time, I kept all the rooms dark in colour, creating a mysterious and magical atmosphere. I used a monochromatic colour palette to help portray the emotions of excitement and nervousness of the boy on Christmas morning. I worked on the elements in isolation, exploring the tonal ranges of 2-8B pencils, bringing more dimension and depth to each room.

On the ground floor, I created a sitting room consisting of a fireplace with two candles resting on it, some family portraits above it and a Christmas tree with presents underneath. On the first floor , I designed two rooms, a bedroom and a staircase. I had the boy creeping with a candle in his hand and two older portraits on the wall above his head. In the attic, I placed old stacked cases, a circular window, a mouse and cobwebs.

And finally, in the sky above there’s Santa flying away on his sleigh.