By Jecca Berta

This year’s Advent Calendar features spiced caramels, fruity bonbons, nutty pralinés, and other chocolate-covered surprises. And each of those confections sits in an ornament-box showcasing hand-illustrated designs by Belgian artist Lina Kusaite. Lina and our Director of Product, Lauren, join us to discuss the Advent Calendar artwork, as well as the ideas and inspiration behind it. 

Lina, this project has many layers — space, science, mythology, chocolate … Each day we celebrate a moon within our solar system. How did you connect all of that?

Lina: With every project, I begin by talking with the client — in this case, Lauren — simply listening to what they hope for and expect. Each project carries its own set of guidelines, certain parameters to follow. Here, the format is set: boxes, each designed to hold a specific chocolate. And since it’s an Advent calendar, it needs to carry a sense of celebration, a spirit of festivity and anticipation.

Since my work moves through many styles, I always ask the client what stirred their curiosity in the first place — what drew them to me, what resonance they felt before reaching out. I want to understand not just what they want me to make, but why they felt I was the right person to create it.

Lauren, what did you see in Lina’s work? 

Lauren: I first came across images of Lina’s work on the walls at the Xitan Hotel in Beijing (though not in person). Her art immediately struck me with its swirly, ethereal, almost celestial quality. I was drawn to the rich visual textures and the incredible sense of movement — something that reminded me of the energy in van Gogh’s Starry Night.

Lina: What is really interesting is how different people see different things. Lauren saw my artwork at Hotel Xitan. To her, those were like nebulas or cosmic explosions. She had this idea of having this whole box of abstract space art. I thought: Let me look from your eye and see how I can see that. It’s always important to see if I can add something or expand the client’s vision.

Where did you start with the project? 

Lina: With every project, I begin by gathering as much information as possible. Lauren shared with me a wealth of scientific material about the moons, so I immersed myself in it — browsing NASA’s online collections, studying every image I could find, and observing how other artists had interpreted them. Whether or not I liked what I saw didn’t matter; it was all part of building a rich foundation of references behind the work.

From there, I turned to mythology — exploring the Greek stories tied to the moons, the gods and characters they were named after, and the visual traditions surrounding them. It quickly grew into an enormous archive of material.

Then came the question: Where to begin? Some moons have very little visual documentation — a handful of blurry images that leave little to spark from. In those cases, I leaned more heavily on mythology. Ultimately, the imagery I created became a fusion: part inspired by the moons themselves, part by the myths that gave them their names.

You drew each of those elements by hand. How did you land on a style?

Lina: For the box cover, I decided to work with two illustration styles: one organic and abstract, built from flowing lines, and the other more figurative. The figurative style suited the mythological elements — the objects and characters tied to the stories. I experimented with different techniques, even trying at first to adapt an ancient Greek style. But it didn’t feel natural; it wasn’t mine. So I stepped back and approached it from a more organic perspective, one that allowed me to connect more directly with the imagery.

I also wanted to avoid overly literal depictions of mythology. Take, for example, a character who is transformed into a cow. Rather than drawing an obvious cow, I aimed for something subtler — an image that invites curiosity. At first glance, you might not recognize the reference, but the details encourage a closer look. It’s a way of keeping the viewer’s eye engaged, creating layers of meaning that slowly reveal themselves.

We’re gonna find that cow! I love that you’ve layered in some symbolism for Advent recipients to search for. 

Lina: I liked that idea, because when you look at images of the moons, you notice all kinds of shapes — but from a distance, they’re ambiguous. Are they volcanoes, craters, or some other kind of structure? That sense of uncertainty, of forms that shift depending on how closely you look, became a real source of inspiration for me.

So you have two styles of art — figurative and more organic or abstract. Yet it feels cohesive as a set. 

Lina: Those two styles eventually carried over into the ornaments inside the Advent Calendar box. And on the cover, they come together — both approaches side by side. I experimented with different versions, trying layouts with many moons. Once the styles were established, I no longer thought much about the stories behind them; the foundation was already there. At that stage, my focus shifted fully to aesthetics — making sure the composition felt balanced and visually engaging.

Lauren: In Lina’s cover artwork, there’s a powerful sense of expansion, as though the art is unfolding around you — like stepping inside and having it expand in every direction, much like traveling through space.

Lina, what tools did you use? 

Lina: I like using POSCA markers. They’re Japanese markers filled with acrylic ink, and what I love most is their fine tip — it lets me work in really detailed areas while still keeping up a good pace. For me, it always comes down to time: I need tools that are both fast and effective. Normally, I’d reach for watercolors and brushes, but that process takes much longer, so the markers are my go-to when I need efficiency without losing precision.

The ornament boxes are small for a canvas. Were you drawing to scale? 

Lina: I start by creating the image on a much larger sheet of paper — about forty-two by thirty centimeters. Since the ornament box is only five to six centimeters in diameter, shrinking the drawings down keeps all the fine details crisp and intact.

What about the large box that holds all the ornaments and chocolates? 

Lina: Everything I draw starts out larger than the final result. For the cover, I drew the individual parts separately, scanned them at high resolution, and then brought them into Photoshop to create the composition. Working this way lets me adjust the sizes of the elements within the box cover and move them around as needed. It also gives me the freedom to experiment with different layouts and create multiple variations.

The colors you chose stand out among the more typical color combinations seen during the holidays. How did you determine that palette? 

Lina: There was a big shift from the beginning to the end of the project. At first, it was something completely different. When Lauren approached me, she envisioned everything in white, with a light, airy feeling. For me, Christmas is snow — it carries a certain white elegance. But when you look at the sky, and connect it to this year’s Advent Calendar theme, we’re looking into the cosmos: dark, deep, and infinite — the classic image of space.

As we continued developing and discussing the work, the team began asking for more color — maybe even red. I love working with red, but at that stage of the process I had to stop and ask myself: Why red? What role does it play? Lauren explained that some nebulae turn red when they explode, glowing with a pinkish light.

And of course, red is also a quintessential Christmas color. For me, red and gold feel far more festive than green. To be honest, I didn’t see the traditional red-and-green combination working within this project — it feels too much like a cliché, too expected.

Last question: What was the most unexpected aspect of the project? 

Lina: When I first received the email about this project, I was excited — I had never worked on an Advent calendar before. What I loved most was the way the project combined so many different aspects: collaborating with a scientist, incorporating the moons, and exploring the complexity of the box itself. I especially appreciated how Lauren wanted to connect everything and weave it all together.

Working with her was an intense but very rewarding process. We made sure everything aligned and that we were both happy with the result. I have many clients who simply say, “Do whatever you want,” which is wonderful in its own way, but this kind of close collaboration was something special. It flowed easily, and we shared a similar vision. For me, that collaboration was one of the best parts of the entire project.

Thank you so much, Lina and Lauren. We cannot wait for December 1^st to arrive! Reader, if you’ve yet to pre-order an Advent Calendar, you may do so at the link below (while they last).