Exclusive: Artist who inspired Prince George’s Christmas painting speaks out: 'They must be so proud'
The artist who inspired Prince George’s reindeer painting with her Christmas card design has reacted to the post. Hannah Dale, of Wrendale Designs, revealed her verdict on the special watercolour saying: "His talent is very, very promising!"
Already Prince George’s magical painting has had many famous admirers from royalty to celebrities all over the world, including Basic Instinct actress Sharon Stone.
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The original Christmas card Festive Friends and Prince George’s Christmas card have striking similarities: the snow on the reindeer’s nose, the robins balancing on the antlers and the snow falling among other notable features.
Titled 'Festive Friends', Wrendale Designs by Hannah Dale and is part of their luxury Christmas card collection
Hannah was blown away by the surprise on Christmas morning when Prince George’s painting was shared with the public for the first time.
"It was an unexpected Christmas surprise," she told HELLO! in an exclusive chat. "It was a really lovely surprise to see it on Christmas day.” She added: “The post had popped up on my Twitter feed so I had seen it. I instantly recognised it. I think you can tell by the angle of the ears and the little robins.
"It was instantly recognisable as being inspired by my design so I spotted it and then I noticed in the comments there were a few other people who had recognised it as well which was also lovely to see.
Prince George waving with his siblings Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte
"It was a Christmas card design. I wonder whether a card has been sent. I don’t know how he saw it but I would really love to know."
Prince George has inherited a "very promising family talent", taking after his grandfather King Charles who is known to have a great love for painting.
"Yes there is family talent for painting and art," Hannah said. "I always say to people when they ask me, how do you get so good at painting? It is absolutely all about practice. That’s why it’s so nice to see. The more you do it the better you get.
"If you adopt a love of painting and art at that age, I do think it’s a wonderful thing whether it becomes a career or just an escape. It's a fantastic ability for anybody and I would always encourage it in any child."
But it was Prince George’s proud parents Princess Kate and Prince William who first shared the reindeer Christmas card with their loyal following on the Christmas weekend.
"Absolutely they would be proud," Hannah said. "Any parent is really proud of their children’s work, especially as it was such a lovely painting. They will have been proud of George like any parent is of the work their children do."
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Prince George may be nine but the artist recognised great signs of promise in his artwork. She said: "He’s obviously got talent. He has an eye for form and colour. It was lovely. It was really lovely to see."
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"He has definitely got some good colour blending in there," she added. "He has a good eye for colour. I think that’s always tricky with watercolour but he’s got some good shading and tone in there.
"I think having a love of animals and love of nature is obviously something that’s maybe captured his attention. That inspires me very much. It’s a real privilege to inspire any child to want to draw or paint. It was a really lovely compliment."
Hannah has launched a new series of paint by numbers sets of her designs which Prince George could have his eye on next!
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