As I mentioned I recently finished over 40 new works of art for the 170th Anniversary edition of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. Easton Press is the publisher who is creating this special limited edition. 

Dickens is one of my favorite writers and I do believe that his work had a major impact on society and the treatment of the downtrodden. In “A Christmas Carol” he asks, in effect, for people to recognize the plight of those whom the Industrial Revolution has displaced and driven into poverty, and the obligation of society to provide for them humanely. I tried to capture Dicken’s vision as closely as possible and his heartfelt sympathy for the poor.

I am going to show some of the preliminary sketches that I did before the final paintings over the next month. The first painting and sketch that I am going to show comes from stave 2 of the story. It is a painting and sketch of Scrooge’s sister Fan. Fan was the one person that Scrooge loved and trusted from his childhood. In this particular scene, Fan has come to get her brother to bring him home for Christmas.

I used my daughter as the model for this scene. I have the sketch next to the final oil painting to show the difference from the beginning idea to the final composition.