Christmas Challenge - Movie Inspired!

Freehand is still a big struggle for me as my drawing skills in real life equal stick figures and asterisks.  BUT!  You don't get better without practicing, so I present my first year's try at Christmas Movie Inspired art.

I've seen fire and I've seen rain...but I've never seen a tree more sad.

Trying to line it up and manage the light proved to be too difficult.

My litmus test for whether something I've drawn is passable, is to lean over to my old man and say "What is this?" without providing context or hints.  He guessed "the sad tree from Charlie Brown" right away, so I felt pretty good about it.

I sponged a gradient of Barille Bold 'N Confident and Color Club Rebel Debutante for the red and green background.  Now I know that RD has been, for some, a neon green, but mine is just a bright grassy green.  I wanted cremes, so these fit the bill.  After cleanup, I gave it a coat of Essie Carnival, and called it a day.

For the art nails, I used a background of Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait, a really great nude that's just a touch sheer.  I just needed a blank canvas, and this was perfect.  I took a short wide brush into Zoya Cheryl for the trunk and branches, then cleaned it and used Rebel Debutante for the "needles".  A black "x" for the stand was done with Zoya Raven, the ornament was painted on with Bold 'N Confident, and a little gold band in OPI Glitzerland sealed the deal.  I almost put Linus's blanket around the bottom, but I had already worked the poor thing, and didn't want to risk having to start all over.

Next up is Snowmen!  Which should be relatively simple to make something cute.