Christmas Glow

Kate Beckett has to get up in the middle of the night with her and Castle’s son… and they end up standing quietly in the glow of the Christmas tree.

I woke up with this idea in my head on Christmas morning, and despite the craziness of the holidays, managed to finish it in under a week. The full-size piece is 3600x2700, using 7 layers and 3 lighting adjustment layers.

This was a great practice piece for digital illustration, and to try out my new tablet. I can now definitively say that the Intuos 5 is miles above my old Graphire 4, and that makes me happy. I had fun drawing Beckett and the baby - I'm sloooowly improving my skill at drawing people! Oddly enough, the part that frustrated me the most was the tree… and my background is in nature illustration. Clearly, botanical was not my forte. Finally, a shout-out to the ever-amazing John Williams and his Home Alone score, which was my working soundtrack.

Wacom Intuos 5 + Photoshop CS5
14 hours