Into the Unknown & Autumn in Japan

Happy Halloween Friends!

Whether today finds you hunkered down at home, dressing up with little ones, or simply reading a scary book in crisp weather, I do hope you’re well. This is a weird and wild year so I know I’m not alone in feeling like it’s hard to fully celebrate. Still - it’s lovely to be able to share some thoughts with you today, on this, my favorite holiday.

Today we’re talking about creative transitions. It’s fitting in two ways: transitions are spooky and terrifying and I always feel a great shift from Oct 31 to Nov 1.

In my ten years of illustrating, I’ve pivoted often. From different industries, to different agents, to different art materials. It’s always scary! Not only is it tough to let go of something you’ve invested time and energy in, it’s overwhelming to tread into unknown waters. I’m currently shifting my work - stepping away from illustrating picture books, to writing, sculpting, and retail - with a touch of teaching too! (I’ll still be doing picture books but not in the same capacity.) It’s been a long and confusing transition and I thought I’d share three things that helped me navigate it.

Light a candle for the old, light one for the new too.
It’s best to celebrate and honor what you’re leaving behind, just as much as it is to celebrate the smallest milestones of your new venture. Leaving something you’ve worked hard for doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate it, look back with pride and gratitude for how far you’ve come. Similarly, when you begin something new, it can be difficult to see progress in the beginning. It’s key to celebrate the small accomplishments as they happen. Maybe you found an hour to write for a book idea. Perhaps you cooked something from scratch the first time. Allowing joy to happen in the process helps us keep going for the long haul.

Carve the details, even in the fog.
Have you ever had an inkling of something you’d like to try but it seems foggy in the details? Maybe you want to launch into another industry but you can’t quite explain what that will look like. When I began thinking about a shift in career, I’d get defensive if anyone asked me to nail down what I meant my ‘changing my work.’ I didn’t how how to talk about it, because it was more of a feeling than a plan. That made me distrust my instinct which was confusing. To get over that, I began to carve out what projects might look like in my ideal future. I wrote, brainstormed, and made mood boards. I also made a compass jar! I reach out to collaborate with others and put things into motion. Once I starting to lay out plans, they almost revealed themselves. Learn to trust your instinct enough that you lay action plans to your foggy dreams.

Letting go is a loss, but it is also a gain.
Clinging to something we’ve put energy into is not always easy, but it can be easier than letting go. It’s quite hard if you build your identity around a specific type of work or industry only to feel the need to walk away. It feels like starting over from scratch. But it’s interesting what happens when you say no and make room in your life for the things you really want. When you have time to say YES to the things you love, it’s an incredible feeling. And regarding the loss of identity, the sooner we can detach our worth from our career identity and productivity, the better.

We’re constantly changing and pivoting, that does not end. But what might get easier is learning to accept and celebrate moments. Learning to be clear with our intentions, and letting go, making room for all the good stuff. I hope in this year of transition, you find your way.

I wish you all the best last day of October, wherever and however you’re celebrating.
And now…onto a painting!

AUTUMN IN JAPAN

Autumn in Japan is magic. I do not say this lightly, as a lover of Autumn. I grew up in Michigan and basically lived for the brief stunning couple of weeks that is Fall. The season here is different but just as sweet. Apples are not doted upon exclusively, but chestnuts and sweet potatoes take the crown. Oaks and Maples in the US (that I’m used to) are breathtaking, but I’ve never seen an Autumn leaf as striking as the Japanese Maple when it turns fiery red. The weather is more mild where I am in Osaka so the sunny Autumn days seem to last before the brutal cold sets in.

This painting is an ode to Autumn in Japan. An ode to friendship and fire and cooking outside in good company. I had originally planned to share three Fall paintings with you, but alas, my projects piled up and I spent all my energy (and then some) on this painting. It’s called Hirakata Feast. Shall we dig in?

The painting is based on a day spent with two good friends, Chihiro and Tetsuko, cooking around a fire in Hirakata City. We made fire roasted sweet potatoes, kabocha croquettes, vegetable Japanese curry, s’mores, and pizza from scratch! (Needless to say there was lots of food to take home.)

There’s nothing better than making food outdoors over a fire with people you love and it was much needed after everything that is 2020. I got back to my studio filled with inspiration and started the drawing at once.

NOW before I begin, I’ll be wildly honest with you. I don’t love the painting. I might redo it entirely..or do another version of it. I can’t tell you how many times I gave up on it and tried to start over. What kept me at it was telling you I would share it, and knowing how much gain there is in finishing something. This is less of a tutorial and more of a behind the scenes look at the indecisiveness that is painting!

TO BEGIN.

I did the drawing in a warm toned colored pencil on Strathmore 400 Series Smooth Bristol Paper.

As you can see, I worked the entire piece out on paper before moving onto paint. The washi tape on the edges is nothing fancy, I just ran out of painters tape. (It is Halloween themed though so that’s fitting!)

I prepped my palette, laying down wet paper towel in a lidded masterson’s sta-wet palette. I usually put tracing paper over top of the paper towel but all I have right now is parchment paper which works fine. This is acrylic gouache, so it does not re-wet, it needs to have a damp palette.

I usually start with the background or largest area. The quicker I can cover the white of the paper, the better, as it helps to balance the values.

After I got the background in, I started to add some darker areas..

At this point, I thought blue might play a role, but as I got deeper into the painting, I realized I had too many colors to keep track of…

Right about here is where I felt like my colors started to get away from me. In hindsight, (or if I redo this painting, which I honestly might) I think I’ll choose three colors and make those work. Trying to balance a spectrum of colors within the same environment or lighting can be hard. Obviously doable, but having too many colors can make me feel like I have to be too true to life.

I decided to go the green route! I felt like maybe I needed burgundy to balance it out. You can see in the rabbit’s pants, my layers of indecision.

I love to have transparent textures. One thing that can happen though is if you paint over something too many times, you obviously lose that texture as you can no longer see the white of the paper. To solve this, I simply paint over the area with white, let it dry, and begin again, as you can see on the fox.

Here, you can see I’m trying to figure out the rabbit’s clothes. I also had the three s’more making cuties as rabbits but decided it wasn’t balanced well. Instead I decided to round their ears out…more like martens! This is where my patience dried up. I wanted to give up - there were so many moving parts, it was hard to tell what was even happening!

I covered the areas I was unsure of with white AGAIN. I also took a large brush and painted a super thin layer of watery ochre over the whole thing - just trying to bring it all together. At this point…well let’s just say I never want my paintings to get to this point. It’s like adding so much sh*t to chili that you don’t know how to balance it anymore. It’s too bitter or salty or spicy and the more you add, the more you throw it off. Painting is a lot like cooking, overworking something ruins it…

ANYWAY I was like, there might be one person out there who wants to see this thing finished, even if it’s not me. So I scanned it and finished it in procreate. Did I cheat? I’m not sure. Did I finish it? YES.

Here she is, FINISHED!

Here are some details of the final! I don’t hate it - I’m not sure I love it, but I probably need to not look at it for some time. I’m proud I finished it, and learned a ton about planning color and balance. I call that a win. All in all, what I’m most pleased about is spending time with friends around a fire. Painting aside, that was the true gem - the experience itself.

I hope you all are finding ways to celebrate, ways to show up, and ways to learn. Cheers to Autumn, to transitions, to finishing what you’ve started and launching into new unknowns.
Happy Halloween friends. Happy November, Happy Autumn (or Spring depending!) and Happy Painting.

xo,
Becca