llustrations by Tom Duxbury, Design by Steers McGillan Eves – for Royal Mail Group @ Royal Mail Group 2023
Artist Partners are delighted and privileged to announce the first Royal Mail stamps showing the silhouette of His Majesty King Charles III for and celebrating Christmas 2023. the designs have been exclusively illustrated by Tom Duxbury. These five beautiful images were based on the theme of the nativity and the traditional Christmas carols. The five designs feature the carols: O Holy Night; O Little Town of Bethlehem; Silent Night; Away in a Manger; and We Three Kings.
Tom worked closely and collaborated with the designers and Royal Mail in order to achieve these stunning images of the nativity.
‘Rather than using my usual printmaking techniques, the stamps were illustrated with watercolour and ink. I wanted to create rich, colourful nightscapes and needed layers of pigment to build this depth of colour. The particular paints I used once belonged to my late mother so it felt like a pretty special collaboration when putting these together.
It’s been a privilege to illustrate the first Christmas stamps for King Charles III. The theme of Nativity became a chance to create rich, luminous nightscapes. They echo my own experiences of being out in nature at night – especially the moors where I live. This time and place holds a special kind of feeling; that of stillness, softness, and magic.’ Tom Duxbury
