Crawhall’s father was an accomplished illustrator who collaborated with Charles Keene to provide comical illustrations for the satirical magazine Punch. He encouraged his son to develop his powers of observation and skills in draughtsmanship. Crawhall was by nature rather quiet and was nicknamed by his friends, The Great Silence. Although reserved, he was always able of see the humour in everything and, like Guthrie, was constantly making little doodles which reflected his quick wit. This design for a New Year greetings card was probably sent to his fellow artist E.A. Walton. It is typical of the lively sketches drawn onto scraps of paper that Crawhall made for the amusement of his friends or relatives. It shows a bird made from an artist’s palette and a cat formed from a tube of paint.