Advent Calendar Process

Here is a look at the process of making the Advent Calendar. I started by sketching ideas for different village scenes, finally deciding on something that resembled a mixture of early American, German, and general northern European from the early-mid 1800s. I was inspired by German Advent calendars where opening a window reveals a scene of Christmas preparation. There is the main painting titled "Advent," which is an 18x24" acrylic on canvas, and twenty four smaller scenes. This page shows the process of the painting, formatting, printing and trimming, and assembly of the calendar.

The Sketch

After conceiving the idea for an Advent calendar over a year ago and making initial sketches in the Spring, this is the final sketch I made on the canvas before I began painting.

I blocked in color starting from the background and working to the foreground.

Next came the under-color of the snow and the roads.

I added the warm lighting and top coat of the snow on the ground, roads, and trees. The reflection of the star was made with thick, bold paint strokes rather than the softer ones of the sky.

Finished Painting

The final touches were the figures of the families headed toward the church for an Advent or Christmas Eve gathering, the kids pulling a sled up the hill, and the decorations on the bridge and homes. This 18x24" painting was completed in eighteen hours over the course of one month (mid August to mid September 2024).

Twenty Four Scenes

Here are the swatches of the twenty four scenes behind the windows on the calendar. They were painted on four sheets of 9x12" canvas over the course of another eighteen hours. I photographed and cropped each scene. After deciding where the windows and scenes would be placed within the painting, and after measuring each placement on an 11x15" print of the main painting, I resized the twenty four scenes to fit into the painting. I then made numerous copies for the amount of calendars to be made.

Computer Formatting

Here is part of the computer formatting where I was getting an idea on where the scenes would go within the painting.

I printed and trimmed the main painting and the copies for the twenty four scenes, which are in stacks in this picture ready to be placed.

Advent 12 backside scenes assembly_edite

Attaching the Scenes

Using an X-acto knife, I measured and hand cut each window for all twenty four scenes on each print of the main painting. With double-sided tape, I placed each scene on the backside of each window. I measured and cut the hanging cord and lined the back edges of the print with double-sided tape.

The backside I sealed off with Bristol board. I chose Bristol rather than mat board because of its lighter weight and flexibility, giving the feel of the German calendars that inspired this one. I then trimmed all the edges.

Final Advent Calendar

After experimenting with various border sizes, a quarter inch border seemed to best suit this project. Starting with December 1st, opening the corresponding date of each window reveals a scene of Christmas preparation featuring the villagers and the creatures.