Watching people create art is fascinating. I can’t count how many times I’ve ended up in YouTube deep dives just watching people draw or paint or do whatever form of art they choose. The process behind the beautiful creation adds a whole new level of appreciation and is beautiful in its own right. That’s why I absolutely love the new video Sarah Solovay released for single “Rough Draft” (via Paste Magazine).

Solovay enlisted the talents of Xiaonan, a well-known artist with a sizable online presence. The video is a showcase of Xiaonan at work as he draws everything from a zebra to an absolutely stunning portrait of Solovay. The song itself is nothing to sneeze at either, a pop ballad that uses artistic imagery in the lyrics that lend itself even further to the video. She told Paste about the collaboration, “Because Xiaonan is an artist himself, he was really conscious of how personal the song is to me, and went out of his way to ask for my ideas and feedback, to make sure that the video was infused with my perspective and personality, too.”

You can watch the full video below. Sarah Solovay are both names to watch in the future. Check in here for more on Solovay moving forward, and check out Xiaonan’s YouTube channel for more of his work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wZTL9k_onI&app=desktop