Palette

Mimi gave me watercolor pencils for my birthday so I've been giving that a try even though I totally lack artistic and aesthetic skill haha. It's been a nice thing to do as I'm trying to rest when I'm not working. 

Last Friday, I got back from a weeklong business trip to LA where I worked on videos that were shown before audiences of 2000+ people. ;u; That's huge—and so was the screen it played on... All of the footage was shot in 4K in order to be big enough. I was the on-site producer/sometimes camera op/sometimes director for a video that included high school finalists from the 78 countries that made it to the top of a science competition, which meant long days spent standing but it was fun and rewarding! Afterwards, I edited the video shown during the closing ceremony that summed up the kids' week and their awesome experience and achievements. ^^

The reward and being proud of the students aside, it was really exhausting. I still hadn't recovered from being previously tired, so I was in poor condition to work a taxing, stressful, little-sleep, nonstop week. ;; It was probably the physically and mentally crappiest I've felt in...I can't remember. Unfortunately I have a lot of work left these next two weeks, so I can't take a vacation, but I'm trying to rest when I'm off work at least.

This is my first piece (through which I found out I have no idea how watercolor works lolol) and kindergarten-doodle-lookin' practice from Saturday..

Today, I tried to draw a palette.

I've been obsessed with IU's new song "Palette" ;v; It's a song about being 25, but that's Korean age so even though I consider myself 24, I'm technically the same age as IU! There's something mystical about her music where it feels relatable even though you can't actually relate.

Yesterday, I watched IU's LieV, which is a live broadcast that airs Sunday nights in Korea designed to help one sleep in peace despite Monday blues. A celebrity (or multiple, but the effect is very different) carries out the show lying down on a bed, and they talk comfortably for an hour about whatever they want, while reading comments from fans. I love love love this concept! Certain ones I listen to regularly to fall asleep. ^^

IU's shed a lot of light on me as to what kind of person and musician she is, and I've so much newfound respect and love for her. <3 It's no wonder everybody admires her~ I could go on and on now about how pretty it is that she loves her music and is passionate about making music and writing lyrics that tell a story, and how down to earth she is especially considering her fame, and how awesomely candid she's become, and how thoughtful and talented and—oops I'm going on and on. She's amazing and there's much to be learned from/about her.

In her LieV, she discusses inspirations for her songwriting, especially for Palette. One of the things she did during her hiatus was take art lessons, although she claims to be bad at drawing haha. She said that rather than the painting, she had more interest in the paint palette—which one can think of as just a tool to make art, but she thinks that it can be considered artwork itself, with its variously pretty colors and endless possibilities.

She then relates the palette to herself and says, "Rather than painting each and every color to show you, I wanted to show you the palette that I am," which I thought was fascinating but didn't really understand. *^* I'm still trying to digest it, but right now this is my guess... I think one way she meant that was to say that while her songs are great and her repertoire has some diverse colors/genres, she wants to show that she—the songwriter behind the songs—is the true work of art. I think she wants people to understand her identity stripped of the veil the stardom, and the complexity of the work she puts into her music, how all those contrasting images are all a part of her, and how she's got endless possibilities. 

Now I'm just geeking because nobody's stopping me from typing sorry!!! But she's so cool!! The song "Palette" is interesting because it's so IU-identity-centric and personal... It's brave and thoughtful. G-Dragon's rap part is a message to IU talking about how she's at the age where she's shining, how it's tough being not quite a child or an adult, and persuades her that she's beautiful and blooming. In the live performances, she does the rap herself while replacing some of the lyrics, but still addresses herself with a message. This song is really all about giving the audience a window into what she's like, her thoughts, her interests, how she's changed in the past few years, how she's accepted that people will hate or love her, how she feels like she's growing into her own skin. Ugh!!! How cool is she!!