The scene
From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843), Stave Three. Holly and ivy over every wall, a roaring fire, a throne of turkeys, puddings and punch, and on it "a jolly Giant, glorious to see". I loved getting him right: in green, as Dickens wrote him, not Father Christmas red, barefoot, crowned with holly, with an empty rusted scabbard at his side.
The style
An Edwardian ink and watercolour illustration: a wiry pen line and thin washes with the paper showing through, like a plate from an old gift edition you might find under the tree.
The inspiration
The look comes from Arthur Rackham's illustrations for Rip Van Winkle (1905). I borrowed his pen line and his muted washes. It isn't copied from his own Christmas Carol plates, or from John Leech's originals of 1843.
How it's made
I design each scene and refine it until it feels right. It's a print of a digital artwork made in the style of an ink and watercolour illustration, not a hand-painted watercolour or an original. A typeset caption under the picture names the book, the moment and the style that inspired it. Each one carries my printed "Chapter & Scene" signature in the margin.