} sadness

I think they say that you're not supposed to be looking at a screen right before going to bed... but this is the sort of thing that can only be written in a late night, quiet, reflective sort of state.

so I just found out today that one cartoonist whose blog I used to follow quite religiously was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and has now stopped his comic strip. that made me feel really sad because I really loved (and still do love) his work. I discovered Richard Thompson's work in 2008 when I was working my first job after JC, helping with some graphic design work. I hated the office, couldn't make friends with the people there and was basically miserable. I was also facing the stress of uni applications and trying to decide which uni I would go to and what course, etc. Added to the terrible experience that I had in JC, I think I just had a really really difficult time.

At that time because I was seriously exploring pursuing a career in art/design, I was reading a lot of different magazines and following a lot of online artists. Richard Thompson's blog was one of the gems I found and probably my favourite. Cartoons are the best kind of illustrations to me because they are fun, and funny, and inspiring, and still look really nice. (I guess that is a really lame way of explaining why I really like cartoons...)

So the heartbreak of finding out that Richard can't really draw anymore ... the last time I felt so sad about someone I don't really know was when I found out that another online artist that I used to look up to as well, Hakubaikou, had passed away in an accident.

I think the reason these people strike so close to the heart is because art and comics, but especially these artists with online presence, have made such a big difference in my life. I've always found it hard to get along with people and to fit in, and I was (for the most part) a lonely kid. I still am a lonely adult, probably. Time and time again I would turn to art and drawing and comics to fill these empty spaces and I think ultimately they are the things that always helped to keep me going. It was my secret outlet.

I find myself drawing a little bit more nowadays because of all the misery recently.

7 years. I give myself 7 years for this.

2015-10-19, 4:46 p.m..
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