Vacation stay
When I first heard Mari Waters' song Vacation Stay, I was on vacation myself, walking over a sunlit bridge with water glimmering underneath. The breeze was light and playful, and as the melody was so delicate and affectionate, I found myself trying not to sing along out loud.
In that moment, a vivid image appeared in my head—a girl dreaming at the window, almost melting into the sunshine. I sketched the idea in under a minute and sent it to Mari, and from there, the creative direction was set.
This project was such an exciting challenge for me, especially since I’ve always wanted to dive into animation! Mari Waters, an incredibly talented Brazilian singer-songwriter, gave me the draft of her song and shared her inspiration—Tarsila do Amaral's vibrant, joyful art. Instantly, I was hooked.
I started by creating an art piece inspired by Tarsila's style but gave it my own twist, using my favourite medium: colored pencils. That’s how the portrait of a dreamy sun came to life, radiating the peace, warmth, and happiness of Mari’s music. The song itself feels like a safe, comforting space—a place where the sun always shines, and worries fade away.
From there, I moved on to the real challenge: animating it. After experimenting with cutout animation, I decided to go for a frame-by-frame approach to give it the refined look I was after. The final animation, along with Mari’s beautiful song, is available on Spotify. You can also check out the Instagram reels we collaborated on for a closer look at how the art and music come together in this feel-good project!