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Description
Original black and white ink drawing for sale: www.etsy.com/listing/736789120…
Prints for sale: www.etsy.com/listing/776907838…

We spend our lives fighting against her embrace, but it’s a fate which even the mightiest must face.

A nightmare which I’ve struggled with for a long time has been this “faceless monster.” Several years ago, when the nightmare started to surface again, I was diagnosed with PTSD, and realized that the nightmare was about the grief of losing my father. When I said this particular prompt was a bigger piece than I thought, I wasn’t kidding! Tigers were his favorite animal, plus he comes from a Mexican heritage, so originally this piece was about my own struggles with his death. Soon after I drew this, two close friends of mine were diagnosed with cancer, plus another close friend was in danger, so I found myself once again contemplating this monster. I had to set this piece aside for a bit, trying to take care of all of the chaos going down in my personal life, and then this crazy virus hit. Now everybody is facing the faceless monster that I encountered many years ago.

This monster isn’t unique to anyone though. It -seems- personal when we have to face it, but it’s not. She is always with all of us, you cannot separate her from life. Yet so many of us have forgotten about this dance, and that as a collective whole, most generally don’t know what to do with the unknown’s obvious presence. Shoot, after years of intentionally sparring with this beast, even I still flinch when it’s time to face it. Yet, I don’t believe it’s healthy to be ignorant of it and assume that we can live and consume forever. When we remember Death, there’s an awe that arises - Life always finds a way to fight, Life -wants- to be here.

So this piece is dedicated to Death herself, and also to the beauty in the will to survive.

The process was shared with my wonderful Patrons. It’s because of their support that I’m able to work on pieces like this. I’d love to do more! If you’d like to see more as well, you can view how to support here: www.patreon.com/wintersoul

Description
Original black and white ink drawing for sale: www.etsy.com/listing/736789120…
Prints for sale: www.etsy.com/listing/776907838…

We spend our lives fighting against her embrace, but it’s a fate which even the mightiest must face.

A nightmare which I’ve struggled with for a long time has been this “faceless monster.” Several years ago, when the nightmare started to surface again, I was diagnosed with PTSD, and realized that the nightmare was about the grief of losing my father. When I said this particular prompt was a bigger piece than I thought, I wasn’t kidding! Tigers were his favorite animal, plus he comes from a Mexican heritage, so originally this piece was about my own struggles with his death. Soon after I drew this, two close friends of mine were diagnosed with cancer, plus another close friend was in danger, so I found myself once again contemplating this monster. I had to set this piece aside for a bit, trying to take care of all of the chaos going down in my personal life, and then this crazy virus hit. Now everybody is facing the faceless monster that I encountered many years ago.

This monster isn’t unique to anyone though. It -seems- personal when we have to face it, but it’s not. She is always with all of us, you cannot separate her from life. Yet so many of us have forgotten about this dance, and that as a collective whole, most generally don’t know what to do with the unknown’s obvious presence. Shoot, after years of intentionally sparring with this beast, even I still flinch when it’s time to face it. Yet, I don’t believe it’s healthy to be ignorant of it and assume that we can live and consume forever. When we remember Death, there’s an awe that arises - Life always finds a way to fight, Life -wants- to be here.

So this piece is dedicated to Death herself, and also to the beauty in the will to survive.

The process was shared with my wonderful Patrons. It’s because of their support that I’m able to work on pieces like this. I’d love to do more! If you’d like to see more as well, you can view how to support here: www.patreon.com/wintersoul