I’m not crying, you are! Anna-Laura Sullivan’s adorable watercolour comics bring the joy

Anna-Laura Sullivan makes watercolour comics that are all about being human, but “ironically these are painted with little critters”, she says. Capturing heartwarming exchanges and the simple joys of sun-soaked days, sleeping in, or an excellent song, her soft furry characters draw out life’s beautifully mundane, but most loveable moments. Translated into watercolour, a medium that the artist describes as “a meditation to go slow”, these “digital love notes” have a nostalgia, warmth and fuzziness that softens even the more serious folk – you really do feel like you’re melting on the inside. “My hope with my work is to remind myself, and others, it’s really good to be here. I’m glad we’re here together,” the artist tells us. “If my words don’t resonate, that’s okay, I hope the illustrations alone make people happy.”

The illustrator finds the subjects of her miniature stories within childhood memories and all the small moments she’s gathered “from her time here so far – it’s all catch and release”, she says. “Half of the fun is seeing how they speak to others. It’s a thrilling discovery that there are inexhaustible ways to talk about love, it is the deepest spring of pure water. I’m not trying to say anything new, only something true.” (I’m not crying, you are!) With her illustrated stories covering subjects like: deep friendships, the joys of being out in nature and the love we hold for our mothers, the artist tells us her illustrations are often celebrations of the wonderful company she keeps: “I wouldn’t be the artist (person) I am without the people I love and who love me,” she says, “all these things taught me more about being an artist than any schooling.”