Scrooge-Artwork

Here are some of my concept sketches and paintings for Scrooge. Dickens has created a character that is both hated and loved in Scrooge. Scrooge was abandoned and left alone by his father as a boy. A father who did not want him. He was spiteful and mean. His sister Fan was his best friend who cared and looked out for him. Fan who was the best thing in his life died giving birth and once again he was left isolated. His wealth grew and his heart sank and turned black and polluted as the London sky.

Scrooge, who was unaware that Bob Cratchit had a crippled son, asked the spirit if Tiny Tim would live, and becomes upset when he hears that the boy will die. The spirit angrily throws his earlier words back at him...

“If man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked can’t until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die?”

By emphasizing “What” and “Where” here, Dickens reinforces that idea that Tim represents all of the poor and needy. Scrooge does regret saying this, and one of the first things he does when he recovers is send Bob Cratchit a turkey—probably thinking about how Tim will be eating it.

In the end, Scrooge becomes a “second father” to the boy, loving him like the son he never had and basically becoming a beloved member of the Cratchit family. Thus Scrooge goes through transformation, reformation, reclamation and finds Christmas and redemption in his heart.