Most of the Christmas collection is the cheerful side of the season: red trucks, lit trees, gnomes in the snow. Two kits are for the quieter side of it, and they get asked about every year from the first Sunday of Advent onwards. Here is what each one shows, what it asks of you, and the kind of person each suits.
Nativity under the Star of Bethlehem
Nativity under the Star of Bethlehem is the Holy Family in a wooden stable, a donkey beside them, and the Star above over blue hills. The composition is the traditional one and the palette is calm: deep blues in the sky and the hills, warm browns in the stable, a few points of light. For painting, the hills and the sky are wide regions that go on quickly and give the picture its mood. The figures are the slow part, with the faces and the hands in small, close tones. The donkey is a few browns and is easy. It is a kit for someone who will paint a little each evening of Advent and hang it on Christmas Eve, and it reads best in the 16x20 inch size or above, where the faces have room.
Tiny Dancing Angel
Tiny Dancing Angel is the lighter of the two: a small angel in motion, a picture for a child's room or a hallway rather than a mantelpiece. It is the one to choose for a young painter or as a first kit for an adult who wants something seasonal without the full nativity. A small figure means less canvas to cover and fewer evenings. Children from about ten can manage it with the larger brushes; the kids and family guide has the age notes.
Painting during Advent
Both kits suit the rhythm of the season. A nativity started on the first Sunday of Advent and painted for an hour most evenings finishes with time to spare; the angel takes a child a few afternoons. Lay out the paints once and leave them. The pots seal, and the canvas does not mind waiting a day. For the small faces, a liner from the detail brush set is the one tool worth adding; for everything else the brushes in the box are enough.
As a gift
The nativity is a gift for parents and grandparents, and for anyone who likes to have a new piece of Christmas decoration they made themselves. The angel is a gift for a child or a godchild. For a present that will be painted before Christmas rather than after, order by the dates in the Christmas order-by dates. For one to be painted in the quiet week after, any time in December is fine. More ideas for the season, including the trucks and the gnomes, are in the Christmas painting ideas post.
Sizes and colors
Both kits come in five sizes from a 12x12 inch square to a 23.5 inch square, with 24, 36 or 48 colors, with or without a DIY frame kit. For the nativity, 36 colors keeps the blues of the night sky separate; the angel is fine at 24.
Other quiet pictures for the season
If neither of these is quite right, three more kits in the collection sit on the same calm side. Candlelit Chapel in the Snow is a white chapel with a gold cross and arched windows under a pale green moon. Tree by the Window is a lit tree seen through a tall window, a snowy village in blue light outside. Skaters on the Village Pond is a frozen pond with two white steeples behind. All three are landscapes rather than figures, so there are no faces to paint.
Questions people ask
Is the nativity suitable for a church group or a class?
Yes. Several of the same kit can be painted side by side, and the large regions in the sky and hills mean everyone makes visible progress in the first hour.
Can I frame the nativity when it is done?
Yes. Choose the DIY frame kit option at checkout and the stretcher bars arrive with the canvas, or take the finished canvas to any framer.
Will the colors fade?
The paints are acrylic and dry permanent. Keep the canvas out of direct sun, as with any painting, and it will look the same next Christmas.
