The Song that Unleashes the Ocean Roar

Dear friends,

I'm excited to share my latest original work, The Song That Unleashes the Ocean Roar, inspired by a scene (in my head) from my original story, Beiton Arbiters.

Most of you probably know me from my YouTube videos, where I draw pictures that are often, if not always, 1:1 replicas of the original reference. There are two main reasons I do this: first, it requires much less mental effort, allowing me to create in a relaxed, stress-free environment while live streaming. Second, it’s still a valuable exercise—studying a work by an artist I admire or a piece I appreciate helps refine my skills. I say "appreciate" because, in today's world, there's an abundance of objectively beautiful artwork, including those generated by AI.

Once in a while, I unplug from all that and focus on creating something entirely original. The process is incredibly fun for me, but not necessarily the best viewing experience for others (I can tell because my viewership drops when I do these). It’s a highly exploratory journey—I start with an idea in my head, but I don’t always know what the final destination will look like. I browse the internet for references, gathering inspiration, but in the end, I have to create something that is both aesthetically pleasing and true to the character I envisioned. Needless to say, it’s a challenging task.

But when I put my all into it and achieve the result I set out for, the satisfaction is immense.

This kind of work usually doesn’t get as much reaction as fan art of popular IP characters, but the fulfillment I get from it is incomparable. And no matter what, I can always look at it and say to myself, "I created this on my own."

This piece, in particular, is a duet between the two main characters in the story. I didn’t originally plan for them to be on the ocean; my initial idea was simply to depict these two characters on stage, with Ivy (the violinist) as the main focus of the painting and Jason (the pianist) in the background as support.

Midway through the process, I wasn’t happy with the result at all. I felt like I had used too many colors without a cohesive tone. This is a common mistake—one I’ve made myself—when selecting elements from different reference photos and stitching them together without carefully considering how lighting and atmosphere affect the subjects.

While experimenting with defining a color palette, I came across an AI-generated image of a violinist with an ocean background—similar to what I ended up with in the final result. I wasn’t sure if that was the right direction, but I decided to give it a shot. As soon as I brushed in the major color blocks, I immediately felt that this was the path I wanted to pursue.

After several more hours of refining, I arrived at this final piece.

In the end, this piece became something unexpected yet deeply satisfying. The journey of trial and discovery, made the final result even more rewarding. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

This is another original portrait painting of the violinist Ivy Hadleny I drew last year.