Will & Liz (Will & Liz)

You okay?

I'm just great.

Looking at the sky.

Here, let me help you up.

I don't want to get up.

I thought you fell.

No, just laying here.

Okay.

What are you wearing?

My clogs.

Haven't seen that before.

You a chef?

No.

Then why are you wearing them?

I don't know, I like them.

I got 'em in art school.

Far out.

My name's Liz.

Will.

Hi, Will.

Hi.

You gonna come lay here next to me

and look at the sky or are you moving on?

- I was actually going to sit on that bench over there,

before I saw you laying here.

Oh, cool.

Okay.

Okay, Will.

Whatcha doing?

I...

What are you drawing?

- I was actually gonna draw this building over here.

Nice view.

Show me how.

(clears throat) Okay.

I work at this art gallery on Thirds Street Promenade.

It's unimportant really.

- So you haven't had a gallery showing yet?

No, nothing like that.

I just like to draw and I paint sometimes.

Like a cartoonist.

Yeah, I guess you could say that.

(laughs) You're not a cartoonist.

No.

I just like to sketch and I draw sometimes.

Yeah?

How about you?

What's your story?

I got here a month ago.

From Oregon.

Staying in a house with three other girls.

Got a job as a server, start tomorrow.

Thought I'd spend today looking up at the sky

if I'm gonna be indoors for awhile.

Yeah.

So where is it, where do you work?

Station 39, over in Culver.

Oh.

I think I've been there like once.

Yeah?

(laughs) Yeah.

But I figure I'll do this for a while,

figure out what to do next.

Keep my options open.

That's a good idea.

You're from around here, right?

Yeah, born and raised here.

So what's it like to grow up here?

I don't know, you know, it's LA.

Things never really stay the same for long.

And I got this tech company that just moved in,

they're buying up all these buildings.

Ruining the community.

But gentrification, I guess.

But I mean, it's LA.

Okay.

So what have you got planned the rest of the day?

I don't know.

I don't work till tomorrow either.

I was at home doing some sketches earlier

and I figured why not get out and enjoy some fresh air too?

Yeah.

I bet you can do a great tap dance in those shoes.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

So good.

Need a little work.

Maybe some tap lessons.

- Throw that in with some drawing classes, we're good.

You'll be good to go.

Yeah, I could draw with my...

- Oh, oh, look at you, an artist with your feet.

There you go.

- You could start a new thing right here in Venice.

Right here on the boardwalk in the sand.

I'd come.

I'll draw pictures.

Okay.

You hungry?

Let's have a drink, yes.

- (laughs) Okay, good. - (laughs) Let's go.

- Well, it was nice spending the day with you, Will.

You too, Liz.

You on social media?

No, I'm not.

I should've guessed,

with you looking like a folk singer in those strange clogs,

and that hat and beard.

I just wanna download your latest album,

but of course, you're not on social media.

You think my clogs are strange?

What about that shirt, Janice Joplin?

Strange is good sometimes.

Okay, I'll take that.

Text me sometime?

I will.

Oh, by the way, I don't drive,

so if you ever want to ask me out on a date,

I hope you can take us.

I don't drive either.

The mass transit system here is good enough for me.

Bye, Will.

Bye, Liz.

Shit, I'm so lost.

Hey, Liz.

It's Will.

I really enjoyed spending the day with you.

Are you free tomorrow evening?

Care to go on an adventure?

Do you like art?

That's a random question.

I don't know.

I guess.

I suppose it's what you would consider to be art.

We're going to an art crawl downtown.

That's the reason why I was asking you.

Do I like that mural?

Sure, I'd say that's cool.

But I don't know if it's art.

Oh that's art.

LA is filled with that.

Okay.

Well, what's art to you?

Edward Hopper.

I was fascinated by his work when I was a kid.

I think I know who that is.

That's Edward Hopper.

Night Hawks.

He was a master of capturing what it feels like

to be all alone in this world.

Okay.

I know who you're talking about.

Yes, that's art.

Or The Mona Lisa, I guess.

The Mona Lisa?

What?

Hey.

The Mona Lisa.

What about it?

You've just given me an idea, actually.

Please stand clear.

The doors are closing.

- So what kind of artist did you want to be

when you were starting out?

Like what we just saw or Edward Hopper?

- No, I really liked a couple local artists.

Ed Moses and Craig Kauffman.

Their styles really appealed to me.

Then I started experimenting with different concepts,

meshing different styles and movements together.

But then they said

that my paintings weren't original enough,

that my sources of inspiration were too obvious.

Who kept saying?

The others at art school.

Oh.

So I took a different turn.

More abstract, I guess you could say.

I try to paint things within my reach,

and try to make discoveries.

The challenge is to work against simply "succeeding".

The more the painting eludes control

and loses its calculated options,

the closer I feel to a formulation that feels "right".

Wow, that's very thought out.

- I've had a lot of time to think about it.

No, but seriously.

You've got all that shit worked out,

and these are just your thoughts on painting.

I don't have anything in my life figured out at all.

I'm just walking through life blindly,

hoping it'll all make sense to me.

- Well, you gotta have some ambitions or goals

or something, right?

Everybody has them.

- I suppose I always wanted to open up an organic farm,

and hook up with some environmentalists

and go completely off the grid.

That's interesting.

Environmentalism.