I stumbled upon this advent art challenge on Instagram that had seven art prompts to be interpreted and drawn during the Advent season. For those wondering, Advent means ‘coming’ in Latin, and the three weeks leading upto December 24th is called the Advent season wherein people prepare for Christmas and wait in anticipation to welcome the divine child (awaken Christ Consciousness in themselves). The art prompts (initiated by well known artists in the Instagram community) are based on the Christmas season and it was fun coming up with the following illustrations.
The first prompt was ‘Family’ and I thought might as well draw the Holy Family, who gave existence to this advent season.
The dragons belong to a folktale art prompt which ended on a Christmas theme, by dragons dancing around a bright star in the sky. And down below we see what the spectacular star is guiding us to notice.
The second advent art prompt was Mrs. Claus, and I drew an Indian Mrs. Claus with her whimsical reindeer. Ps. Sorry about the edges, I wanted clean edges but while removing the tape which I thought would work, the paper started peeling too… Ah, you live and you learn.
Candy cane is prompt three of the advent art prompt, and here’s Anne with an E wearing her candy cane wreath with aplomb. Anne with an E is one of the shows that made this year magical, and I wanted to imprint that into one of the prompts.
‘Magic dreams under a warm blanket’ was the fourth prompt in the advent art challenge. As far as dreams go, doesn’t everyone dream of rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of shattered hopes. This girl lays crying into her pillow unable to fathom the treacherous ordeals in her path. Little did she know that magic was brewing in her being and even though the world was blind to it, she would feel it and rise like a magnificent Phoenix. I like prompts like this that make us think and push our creative boundaries.
The fifth prompt in the advent art challenge was ‘cosy sweater’. Here’s a sweater that my sister, Nam, picked up for me, she has a matching one too. And since we get to meet each other only during the Christmas season, these sweaters are more than cosy… they create memories as we dress up and roam around taking in the sights and splendour of our little hometown at the tip of the Indian peninsular. This is a self-portrait that I think came out pretty okay.
Here’s a picture of me in the cozy sweater… How cute is it!
‘Angel’ is the sixth prompt in the advent art challenge, and I painted three little ones inside a miniature nativity crib. Here’s one hanging on the moon, and the rest can be seen in this post.
Here’s the final prompt in the advent art challenge, ‘Christmas cookies’. I drew a cinnamon cookie and added mandala swirls on it. Gosh, I finally completed the seven advent art prompts. I was hesitant about joining this advent art challenge, ’cause December is always hectic, but I’m glad I finished it on time. I have a feeling this is going to become a yearly ritual. I hope everyone is having a beautiful Christmas. May the love and light of the Divine Child fill our hearts and homes, Merry Christmas.