I tried out a few techniques for this painting -
1. I started with the sky, painting a mixture of pinks and purples in a wash of watercolour over the whole sky, leaving a curved shape at the bottom white, for the snowy hill. Into the sky I sprinkled salt, to give the snowy effect - as the paint dries the salt absorbs the paint wherever it's sprinkled, leaving an interesting speckled texture.
2. Using a very thinned down wash of lilac/purple I added some shadowy textures to the snowy hill.
3. I painted in the trunk and branches of the trees using some white acrylic. I used this quite thickly, so that the sky didn't show through.
4. Using a selection of coloured fine line pens I drew the angel across the sky. I used blues to outline her dress and yellow and oranges for her hair, halo, wings and trumpet.
5. I used more white acrylic to highlight areas of the angel, and make her stand out from the background. You can still see some of the original pink speckly sky in areas of her dress. I also added touches of yellow watercolour to the trumpet and parts of her wings.
6. The final step brought the whole painting to life - before this the sky was speckled pink all over and the angel and trees weren't standing out enough. I mixed up a large quantity of dilute midnight blue watercolour and painted a wash over the whole sky, being careful to paint round the edges of the angel, and to leave space round the branches of the trees.
I've ordered some Christmas cards using this design, can't wait to see how they turn out!
This original painting is available in my Etsy and Folksy shops:
Dick and Franny at Etsy
Dick and Franny at Folksy
I'm really happy with it, I love the blues and the contrast with the mustard yellow - gorgeous! And I had great fun with the patterns in the background. I've uploaded it to my Etsy Shop, so it's up for grabs! 
