Where most comics draw heavily on the artist’s unique day-to-day life, Australian cartoonist Gavin Aung Than breaks the mold through his comic drawn around quotes by famous figures.
Aung Than’s comic Zen Pencils takes quotes from figures such as poet C.P. Cavafy and Sylvia Plath to address topics in our society ranging from our intense social media addiction to the desire to have a fulfilling lifestyle. The later directly applies to the birth of the comic itself.
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“At my old job, when my boss wasn’t looking, I would waste time reading Wikipedia pages, mainly biographies about people whose lives where a lot more interesting than mine,” according to the Zen Pencil’s website. “Their stories and quotes eventually inspired me to leave my job to focus on what I really wanted to do. The idea of taking these inspiring quotes, combining them with my love of drawing and sharing them with others led to the creation of Zen Pencils.”
To read more of Aung Than’s inspiring work click here.