Christmas Market Poster

Christmas Market is painted in oil pastel, and the crowd is what the picture is really about. Striped canopies in red and white stretch across the upper half, broken by a tall spruce and the grey gables of a town behind. Under the awnings a stall is stacked with gingerbread and wreaths, and in front of it thirty or so figures press together in coats of green, pink, rust and brown, most seen from behind, a few turning towards the viewer. No face is detailed enough to be a portrait. The pastel is laid down in short strokes that leave the paper showing, which keeps the whole scene soft. A greeting is set below the image in red.

There is a lot going on inside the frame, so keep the frame itself plain: light oak or white, and black only if the wall is pale. It wants to be hung where people can stand close, since the crowd rewards a second look, so a hallway or a stairwell suits it as well as a living room. Pair it with warm wood and wool rather than anything glossy, and give it room rather than crowding it on a gallery wall.