When writer Mari Andrew found herself in a dark place following the sudden death of her father, a painful breakup and traumatic surgery, she sought comfort from the darkness that followed in her creative pursuits.

Trying everything from salsa dancing to learning to play the guitar, it was drawing that eventually helped her through. 

What started as a challenge to make one drawing a day for a year – with just her mum and friends following along – quickly escalated into something bigger than she had ever imagined; at the time of writing, Andrew has over 550,000 followers on Instagram and each post receives tens of thousands of likes.

Read more: Hilarious illustrations perfectly show the struggle of our twenties is real

And it’s not hard to see why.

The New York based artist has garnered a loyal following of fans around the world with her insightful illustrations that capture the nuances of what it means to be human, putting everyday experiences and feelings so familiar that we barely notice them into the perfectly imperfect doodles that she shares on her Instagram page.

Drawing (quite literally) on the experiences of everyday life, from break-ups to moving cities to illness (Andrews was temporarily paralysed by Guillain-Barré syndrome when travelling in Europe), she immortalises the most beautiful, and often the most painful, of fleeting moments.

From nailing those often indescribable feelings...

To capturing the under-estimated beauty in being single...

Or the obstacles that stop us from feeling like “proper” grown-ups...

She makes us feel like we really aren’t alone...

Andrew is currently working on a book of illustrated essays due to be released in 2018, but in then meantime you can see more of her work here.

Image: instagram.com/bymariandrew