Christmas Sketchbook: Dickens, Love & Joy

December 25, 2016

A Christmas Carol

Just wanted to share some handlettering fun from my sketchbook on this beautiful Christmas day.

Guess which family has been watching every version of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol -- that's right, the Arnold family! And our favorite is Scrooge starring the incomparable Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge.

photo courtesy of Movie Geek

Every lover of the English language will enjoy this 1970 film. The libretto is outstanding, and only adds to the quality of Dickens' diction. If you have never seen the film, I know you will doubt this claim. So, here's a sample below of the intro to the song "I Hate People," sung by Scrooge (Finney) early in the movie.

Poppycock! Balderdash! Bah!

Scavengers and sycophants

and flattering fools,

Pharisees and parasites

And hypocrites and ghouls,

Calculating swindlers,

Prevaricating frauds,

Perpetrating evil

As they roam in the earth in hordes,

Feeding on their fellow men,

Wreaking rich rewards,

Contaminating everything they see,

Corrupting honest men, like me!

You can watch this intro and song snippet on YouTube.

Christmas Carol Handlettering

Of course, every time I try to use my sketchbook, Alex also wants to sketch (in my sketchbook).

Alex (5 years old) created "Get Your Merry On!"

while I contemplated the third verse of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."

O, come, Thou Dayspring,
Come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine Advent here.

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Every year, I try to make wassail.

Here is a great recipe from Nourished Kitchen if you also want your whole house to smell wonderful.

While I make the wassail, I have the carol "Here We Come A-Wassailing" (also known as "Here We Come A-Caroling") in my mind.

And this song has the beautiful blessing in it:

"Love and Joy come to you."

And that is my wish you for you not just today, but for all of 2017!

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