hello my friends! today i present to you: my entry for @geijutsu's contest :D press play to see & press space to switch between the full image and a slight close-up! <3 this is based on the song "older" by ben platt, with special feature of "don't throw out my legos" by ajr with a similar theme. both inspired this piece but the former is the main inspiration! "older" is a song that has always touched some deep part of my soul. i always fear growing older and losing pieces of myself. but the truth is, we gain pieces too. here i drew myself, both younger and at my current age. these are clothes i own and wear (in the case of the current image) or ones i remember wearing (in case of the younger version). the background, which is actually an edited photo (credited below), represents the street that ben platt references in his song. (i'm sorry i didn't draw it myself, i promise i spent like a solid hour working on it :') completely scrapped a different idea so that was rough) it's hard to articulate just what this means to me, but i'll try! ^^; i feel a deep connection to my early childhood. the happy, open look on my younger self represents my carefree and optimistic outlook on life, full of imagination and spirit. yet, even then i did not want to grow up; i wanted to always think my stuffed animals had real lives and that they knew i cared about them :) the more emotional face on my older version represents the complex emotions i experience looking back on my childhood; wistfulness, affection, and a happy nostalgia with a hint of hope. even though i am reaching back, i still walk forward into the light of the future. i lead my younger self along with me to see who i will become, but i am a little more understanding of the world now. i have also returned to my childhood love of wearing skirts and dresses, but now there is a mark of maturity and more advanced style to it. this is ultimately a piece that attempts to encompass my mixed feelings about who i am today and who i was. the lyrics of "older" speak to my desire to hold onto the wonder that i had as a child, and "don't throw out my legos" emphasizes my lack of readiness to let go of my childhood. i could honestly go on forever trying to describe this piece and songs and what they mean to me, but i don't want to talk your ears off, so that is enough for now :) hope you are all enjoying your lives in the simple and small things, even if all that is wrong in the world bears down on you. there is still happiness and peace, and there are still so many things to be grateful for. look on the world with wonder, my friends. ♥ ・ﾟ✧ credits ✧・ﾟ music // older by ben platt // don't throw out my legos by ajr // background photo by bruno martins from unsplash
