The Song of the Pebbles - Watercolor illustration of a child's imagination

Le Chant des Cailloux - Illustration à l'aquarelle de l'imaginaire d'un enfant

Here I wanted to capture a little of the happiness that brightens my days. My baby is my world, and she is my greatest source of inspiration. These few lines paint one of the many pictures she offers us every day; for me, it is an ode to life, to innocence, to the overflowing and limitless imagination that our little ones are gifted with. We recently experienced this scene, and I wanted to transform it into a poetic story so we never forget it.

I only used my memory, a notebook where I write down the ideas or moments I want to capture, a small sketchbook, a pencil and watercolors, the Canvas software to scale the scans of my watercolors, and then my phone to transcribe all this.

One fine day in July, little cat received a bicycle that she wanted to try out.
Dad, Mom, on the Road! Come with Khoé!
On the flowery path, the little racing car rolled,
And Khoé, amazed, laughed as much as she could.
When suddenly, a pause!
Khoé seemed to have heard something.
"What are you listening to, my kitten?" Mom asked him.
"Pebbles sing, Mom!" Khoé whispered.
Mom leaned over to admire the painting,
But the mischievous pebbles immediately hid.
Little Khoé, disappointed, thought for a moment,
Then behind a bush he dragged his parents.
From their hiding place they could admire,
This completely enchanting bizarre concert

This story was inspired by my 2-year-old daughter, while she was out on a balance bike ride. I memorized this precious scene before transcribing it as faithfully as possible in my writing notebook:

"It was a very ordinary Sunday, we had gone out to test the antique school tricycle we had just received, which our two-year-old doll had immediately adored. We had been riding for a few meters when our baby stopped, his ear to the ground.
- Come on, sweetie?
- Wait, Mom! ... Listen!...
- …What are you listening to, my dear?
- … pebbles! … pebbles sing!
- The stones sing my love! Oh wow! What are they singing?
- Pi dodo… stones shantent… bélo… beasts run…
The laughing sparkle in his eyes embodied happiness."

From this text, I then imagined a first watercolor painting while I was taking a Domestika course. Then a second with my second course.

Then I came up with the idea of making it into an illustrated poetic story, and I relied on @Alinailustra 's creative process to write both the text and imagine the images:
1) I started by extracting some key words from my transcription of the scene,
2) then I noted down the emotions that I or my daughter felt during this unique moment.
3) from there I wrote my text in verse form,
4) then I built a storyboard for each of the verses.
5) I chose color palettes, as well as references on Pinterest
6) Finally, I started working on the paintings.