Sixth card from The Wilson shop with comments on the colour wheel and design

 

The string puppet card depicted above is by @aliceillustrationsuk with Pittville Press and The Wilson logo on the back.

This card has the authenticity and immediacy again of a sketchbook design.  It can be sent to a wide range of people and is appealing to children.  The black and white of the sketchbook is interspersed with and unusual combination of colour.  I am used to seeing the primary colours of red and green at least in nature and all things Christmas (although they should apparently according to the rhyme "never be seen together.")  I thought this card was worth including as it offers a twist on red and green.  A pale red can be seen as a primary colour but in the trousers it has muted down to an orange. The green shown is an unusual colour green.  Maybe between a combined mint and a sage colour comes close to a description of the hue of above design. Or pepermint? There are supposedly forty shades of green. Hints and shades of green never cease to amaze me and defy description.  I have included this for the unusual shade of green which lifts the red that looks orangey and is orange in parts.  The green has a slight neon aspect to it giving it a modern and bright twist and translucence against the classic black and white basis of a sketch image.  The crayony look of the reddy orange and the felt tip look of the striped trousers give it a colouring in, homemade look and would resonate with children and adults alike. Even the fact that the colour goes over the sketch lines in places adds to this.  This black and white image resembles something that was artwork left out and coloured in during a museum craft session.  It is a spontaneous homely image.  A certain depiction has conveyed a lot.

The variation of a true green against the variation of a true red seems to work and look contemporary and bright.  Shiny new toys.  Anchored by strings and boots and facial features drawn in black to give an identity.  One looks like the toy soldier from publicity for and the story of The Nutcracker, who is in more traditional red and greens.  The other looks like it walked out of The Wizard of Oz, a country bumpkin or a scarecrow, although it does not resemble the main Wizard of Oz characters it depicts American hillbilly/country bumpkin.

One word summary - Playtime

Successful design -  Yes.  It shows that so many shades of red and green to be had that maybe the answer is to combine them but using softer shades of red and green to add a contemporary twist as so often red and green embody traditional. Black and white sketchbook detail, works as for pigeon cards really well and in the same way as pigeon cards is lifted by bright, translucent colour.