2nd Annual Festival of Trees

After last year’s Festival of Trees, I began sketching ideas for this year’s, even though it was still kind of up in the air whether this would be repeated. Regardless, it’s always good to have some arrows in your quiver should the occasion arise.

Despite the nature shots I’ve posted in this blog, I do have an affinity for the retro Christmas tree, the fake white or silver ones. It's also possible my retro-inspired look was influenced by Mad Men. (I gave myself Seasons 1-4 for my birthday.)

I toyed briefly with making the tree a silver one, using a photograph of a pile of tinsel (see at right), but then the ornaments looked out of place; it was worth trying. I also decided that there weren't enough branches.

One of the last minute challenges was the Walmart logo, as they had decided to contribute. The way it worked out it was too late for me to call the store manager in Missouri, and I didn’t think I’d get anywhere with a manager here. So I found one of their plastic bags, cut the logo out of it, flattened it on my scanner using tape to get rid of as many wrinkles as possible, and cleaned up the scan as best as I could. It looks pretty good. I suppose I could’ve grabbed it from their website, but usually when you do that the resulting image tends to be lacking in every aspect. (There is a difference between print and digital.) Imagine my frustration when, after everything was said and done, I found an old Walmart photo envelope. (Excuse me a moment while I bang my head against my desk. In my defense, they’re usually recycled soon after I’m done with them.)

Other than the Walmart logo, placing the ornaments on this tree was just as tricky as decorating a real one. (You know what I’m talking about.) The background was originally a Christmas green, but I like the icy blue more. Also created were templates for the description sheet, which would explain the tree, and the bid sheet.

And yes, I’ve started sketching for next year.