Seasonal Illustration for Adults: Learning Through Play
Trying something new: Mixed Media & Print Techniques
Dare to Try Something New: Unleash Your Inner Illustrator!
What a wonderful six-week course we’ve just finished in the run-up to Christmas! Our focus this term was Seasonal Illustration & print — a joyful blend of painting, print, quirky pen drawings, and lots of playful experimentation. It was such a delight to watch everyone dive into new techniques with curiosity and courage.
Discovering Your Illustrative Voice
Illustration can sometimes feel like something other people do — something that sits outside our own artistic toolkit. But this course proved that with a few clear, step-by-step ideas and a gentle process to follow, everyone can discover their own unique illustrative voice.
Inspired by the enchanting artwork in Stacey McNeill’s Fox under the Moon, we created our own woodland worlds filled with characterful foxes, hares, hedgehogs, birds, and whimsical owls. We also built magical winter landscapes — moons, trees, snowy paths, and all those seasonal details that make a scene come alive.
We worked in components: some pieces were printed and drawn over, others were collaged or cut out. We layered gold leaf, wax resist, ink effects, and delicate line work to build rich, expressive illustrations full of charm.
Every single person produced such imaginative, heartfelt scenes — truly worthy of a storybook. Well done everyone! It’s amazing what we can achieve when we try something we once thought was beyond us.
Artwork from Jenny’s Illustration Course
