Loneliness and Solitude

Recently I've been taking a break from my usual animal-loving art projects, and working on something a little more personal.  For the past year or two, I'd say I've been on a major journey of self-discovery, trying to figure out where I'm headed, what I want in life, and the kind of person I want to be.  While I've done a pretty good job at discovering what I'm passionate about (sea turtles & art 4 lyfe!), I've done a pretty terrible job at discovering myself - particularly in finding happiness.

Like many people, I'm not very good at resolving bad feelings.  I'd rather distract myself with other things until I feel normal again, but it's never a permanent fix.  This small series has kind of been my way of finally confronting all the negative emotions and thoughts I've struggled with; The main one being loneliness in the absence of my love life.  I'm not sure exactly where this project will go (maybe I'll do something like "Into The Wild" and live with the turtles), but for now, here's a look into the little lonely girls inside my head.

On the topic of loneliness, I discovered the artist Katie So a little while back and FELL IN LOVE with her work (you can probably tell where I picked up the pen and ink style from now).  Her illustrations are so simple and pretty, but so creepy and sad and extremely relatable at the same time.  Sometimes it's just comforting to know that other people feel shitty like you.  Is that wrong?  Anyway, these are a couple pieces from her "Destined For Misery" and "Attempts At Positivity" series, but you should check out the rest of them here & here.

"I was doing fine until I realized; You were doing much more fine than me."

"I hear my phone in the hopes that it's you.  But it's usually, if not always, my mom."