25 Dec 2013

Happy holidays!

Talking about the lack of Christmas spirit, coming to "the snowy land called Finland" didn't help much, simply because this place isn't snowy at all. It's grey and rainy, which combined with the seasonal lack of daylight makes it feel like it's 6 o'clock in the evening 24 hours a day...

Oh well, Christmas came anyhow!

What you see below is a beaver bringing you last minute Christmas wishes. The beaver was amongst some sketches I made for a project, but unfortunately the client didn't like him much. Nonetheless, I loved him, so I drew and coloured him on my own time. Poor little rejected animal. Luckily he found his place on this Christmas card where he gets to enjoy his cup of tea in peace!


Merry Christmas to you and all the rejected animals and underdogs in the world!

11 Dec 2013

When Santa gives you lemons

Isn't it incredible, Christmas is just thirteen (13!) days away! I can't believe it - I haven't had too much time to get on a christmassy mood and feel like the D-Day is still a month away. One day, I tried to get in the mood and listened to some carols from the radio, but that lasted only until my boyfriend expressed his opinion about the cheerful children's falalas. Another night I burned candles, but only because it was storming outside, hailing inside (dear roof window, I'm afraid aren't doing your job too well) and I was haunted by the thought of a lightning slithering in through the electric cords. That didn't happen, nor did the christmassy mood.

Maybe the Christmas spirit will come when I go to the snowy land called Finland next week. Maybe it will come when I bake gingerbread cookies and decorate the Christmas tree. Maybe it will come when I'm trying find presents in the last minute despair with hundreds of other people, queuing in the shops and listening to Jingle effing Bells. Shame on me, I haven't got presents for anyone yet, so I hope my mind will blurt out some great DIY gift ideas in the coming days so that I can avoid those awful overcrowded stores. If not, I might end up baking the stone-hard cookies from last year and attach this illustration to the package as an upfront apology.


This illustration was inspired by an article I wrote for Oh Marie! magazine's winter issue. You can read it here: When Santa Gives You Lemons

PS. I've also started pinning some (ahem...two so far...) of my illustrations to Pinterest. You can find them here: Emmimarjukka - Things I drew