On March 20, 2020, a Shelter-in-Place order was implemented in my piece of the world. The same day the order went into effect, I started doing a digital drawing a day with an accompanying blog post. It was done with the intention of keeping myself mentally and artistically active, learning a new drawing tool, and trying to keep in touch with my peeps through social media. That sounds so well thought out and put together, doesn't it?

When I began, I didn't know how long the mandated shelter order would stay in effect or how long it would affect me personally. I was fighting depression, anxiety, and PTSD with a side of agoraphobia. I was desperate to not lose any ground already gained in that battle. So I started drawing and learning and writing the oubliette of depression away. Self-Portraits of the Apocalypse quickly became the crutch I used to drag myself along and keep my feet under me. It turned into a 100 day pandemic adventure. While my world burned, I wrote and made digital art cartoons about coping mechanisms, protective face masks, COVID (of course), Black Lives Matter, racism in general, food scarcity, isolation, mental health, and my apocalypse wardrobe.

And, you know what? It helped.