Remember the time you waited until no one was around, crawled under the Christmas tree, peeled back the corner wrapping of your present and took a peek?  This is going to be something like that.

Except that this time, Mrs. Nicole Tugeau Claus is fully aware and gives a wink and a nod.  I was asked to paint the image for this year’s Tugeau 2 holiday card.  Knowing I wanted to show a variety of animals and convey the hope and magic of the season, I sketched and rendered the following illustration.

The next challenge was to create a piece of spot art for the back of the card that played off the main illustration.  This is a fun part in creating narrative illustration…to give visual hints as to what may happen next. In this case, the subplot is easy to catch.  A gift is given, it is received…and the mouse soars.

So if you receive one of these holiday cards in the mail, just act surprised. How did we know … it’s what you’ve always wanted!

currently painting: 6 illustrations for May/June 09 Ladybug Magazine
currently writing: short stories and poetry for a themed anthology

Happy Holidays!

Terri Murphy

www.terrimurphyart.com