It’s a Wonderful Life Illustration

For an article in the Stranger about the Christmas spirit that used to exist. All of the background elements are from random old magazines and Sears catalogs. Once I established the perspective in the room, the challenge was finding imagery that would line up. Even though it was going to be greyscale in the paper, I built this in color.

The woman is from an early television ad, probably Better Homes and Gardens.

The silver tree was scanned from a sixties Sears Wish Book catalog. My family had one just like this when I was growing up.

The old television and the nativity scene are the best part, the perspective is convincing enough. I added a horizontal screen to mimic an old TV screen. If I was doing this again I would’ve added some highlights and reflections, the screen is a bit flat. Love the carpet too.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” Digital collage illustration for THE STRANGER