About the Art

AI-generated illustration, hand-finished. Every painting in the shop starts as an illustration generated with an AI image tool. We then check it closely, retouch it by hand where it needs it, and animate it in code. We think you should know that before you choose a card, so it is said here and in our terms.

We are a small team with strong ties to Ireland, Scotland and the rest of the UK, so these cards are close to our hearts.

An example

Advent Candles

Eleven candles, each flickering at its own pace, a cat breathing in its sleep and a robin turning its head on the sill.

See it move

1. A scene, described in plain words

Each card begins with a short description of a winter scene: a thatched cottage at twilight, a harbour at night, a market square. The places are typical and imaginary, never a real building you could point to, and the description never names an artist or borrows anyone’s style. There are no close-up faces, only small figures in the distance.

2. Painted by an AI image tool

The scene is generated as a large portrait illustration, in the look of an old painted Christmas card: oil and gouache textures, warm windows, clearly separated tree lights. We ask for no smoke in the chimneys and no snow in the air, because those are added later, in code.

3. Checked and finished by hand

We look at every painting closely before it goes anywhere near the shop. Anything that should not be there is removed or the painting is made again: stray lettering, signs, logos, odd shapes. The greeting is never painted in. It is set beside the painting as text, so it stays sharp and can be checked for the right spelling.

We also keep a record of each image: the date, the tool and the description used, and a copy of the tool’s terms at the time. We do not strip the invisible markers some tools add to their images.

4. Brought to life in code

The animation is not a video. It is drawn in your browser, frame by frame, on a transparent layer laid over the painting. For each card we mark by hand where the windows are, which chimneys smoke, where the snow slides off a roof and where it lands, which animals stir and how far. Then the card does the rest:

• snow falling in three depths, with the odd gust of wind;
• firelight flickering in each window, candles and lanterns with their own rhythm;
• tree lights that change their pattern every few seconds;
• smoke from the chimneys, breath in the cold air, steam from a hot drink;
• a robin turning its head, a cat breathing, a pony lifting its head, bells that ring;
• frost glinting, a shooting star now and then, reflections on the water.

Every card has a button to stop the animation. If your device is set to reduce motion, the card moves more gently, with the busier effects left out.

Why we call them painted

We describe the cards as painted winter scenes because that is how they look. They are not painted by hand, and we never say so: each one is an AI-generated illustration, finished by hand.

Questions about a painting? Write to us at hello@paperlanterncards.com.