'Playing in the unknown'🌊🐾sharing creative process

👑Part of the 'With You' series🎨

Piece Title: Playing in the Unknown 
Size: 11.8"x18.5"
Materials: gouache on cold press watercolor paper
SUI 12 Pastel Gouache Set + Windsor & Newton Designer's Gouache 

completed Oct. 2023 

TRANSCRIPT + expanded thoughts
(intro: 00:00-02:21) 
(timelapse: 02:21-04:42)

This is another piece based on a very sweet memory I have with a loved one and some of that was the footage that you saw in the intro- it was really fun to dig that back up from my camera roll and edit those together. I had a lot of fun working on some of the smaller details in this painting- like the water, and the characters.. and I think it makes a really cute sticker too.
since this timelapse ended up being only 5 minutes long, I'm going to instead write more of my thoughts down in the post this time but I'll still talk a bit about the painting here right now until my time is up and leave the more personal context for you to read underneath.
This is a very sweet scene- it was one of three drafts I was making at the time- I did three sketches, three big romantic scenes with the bear, the dog, the tiger. The one with the bear ended up being Home in You, which you've seen in the previous videos. This one is titled: Playing in the Unknown. It was fun to do a bigger gouache piece after the Carmel one, and I loved painting a big landscape with little tiny characters in the distance. I gave the little princess a little donut floaty and the dog a colorful ball. And I felt like it made the big ocean- cause oceans can sometimes look a little scary and daunting- I felt like it added a little playful and safe feeling to the scene. The footage from the intro was from the beach that my partner and I went to that inspired this piece. We were hanging out on the shore, sitting on a blanket and leaning on each other. I had so much fun editing this video together. After the last video, for On The Road, I decided I wanted to include more related B-roll into my art videos. it just makes me feel so sentimental, and I hope it added a little something for you too.

(continued)
At the time, we were both reading The Creative Act by Rick Rubin- and a lot of his words were sticking with us.

Here is a poem from the book that we really liked that day:

"There's a reason we are drawn 
to gazing at the ocean. 
It is said the ocean provides 
a closer reflection of who 
we are than any mirror." 

Another thing that Rubin said that I really liked is:

"creativity requires taking risks and embracing the unknown."  

There's been lots of unknowable outcomes I've had to sit with over the past couple of years. Life is full of unpredictability, and I'm sure you're no stranger to that reality.
I think that embracing the unknown and playing with the unknown is also something that we encounter when we are hoping to build intimacy with others and with ourselves.
When we were sitting on that beach that day writing and reading- we had no idea that our relationship was going to play out the way that it did, we couldn't know if the way we felt would be reciprocated as strongly- that our lives would fit together securely, but we were having fun- and we wanted to keep playing with each other even while holding the uncertainty.

This was the first scene/illustration where the dog shows up in this world- and I like that it holds this sentiment both in title and in theme, that something daunting and a little scary can hold a new friend for you at the end of the day. that there might be obstacles, challenges and fears to overcome- but there might also be delights, surprises and someone who wants to love you if you simply take a few steps and wade into it.. or let the tide rush up to meet you.

🐾💛


Other Process Work!
Here's where it started and where it ended up.
the three large drafts I was trying to make progress on at the time. I thought that maybe working on all of them at once would motivate me and help me paint faster.. lol I ended up just finishing one at a time anyway. I never finished the top right one, something to perhaps revisit another time.

here are also some quick watercolor sketches from my journal, made on the day, on the beach. it's fun to look at it again now:





Also, along the boardwalk of this beach- there were these little painted panels lining the sidewalk. I think they are done by students. This one made us laugh- so I thought I'd share.
"She is 70 years old. She has laid about 65 eggs." What a talented bird. Thank you Miss Lulu.

💌 This month's sticker & postcard looks like this:

If you want to get this sticker this time, be sure to sign up for the tier before the end of the month. That's when I do my mail outs!

You can also buy a 11x17" fine art print of the painting on my store!
https://www.littlelist.studio/shop/p/playing-in-the-unknown

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Thank you for your support!

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all my love,

LITTLELIST