“This drawing was made when my girlfriend was away to stay at her friend’s place for the weekend. I was alone and thought about her and drew this as she makes me happy.”
My girlfriend
25 JanSunshine, shopping, sea, etc.
11 AugCathy Styles
a young 46
currently unemployed, previously director of a biotech company
Munich, Germany (previously Dahab, Egypt; Newbury, UK; London UK; then Cape Town, South Africa where I was born)
About my drawing
What I was doing: I was supposed to be online job hunting, but got horribly distracted by the Brain Pickings post on Facebook.
Where I was: at my home desk
Whom I was with: alone with my cat Miro
The climb
15 JulKatherine Smith
21 years old
graphic design student
Manchester, England
About my drawing
What I was doing: Thinking about exactly what it was that made me happy, with my sketchbook in front of me.
Where I was: In bed watching TV.
Who I was with: My boyfriend, but he was busy playing games on his laptop.
Double happiness: chicken looking and koi
22 May1. Chicken Looking
Chickens make me so happy! I love the way that they fluff out their beautiful feathers, cluck contentedly and strut about, pausing every now and then as though a thought gets in the way and they have to shake it out. The fact that they hatch out of eggs is also fantastic! I sketched this happy picture whilst I was looking at a book called ‘Extraordinary Chickens.’ Just saying the word “chicken” makes me happy.
2. Koi
I have spent many happy hours just staring down into water and watching koi. Trying to capture that on paper is not so easy. A couple of crumpled, ink splattered pages later this koi flowed off my brush and I was happy!
Jane Halford
originally from South Africa, now living in the UK
graphic designer and copywriter
Strawberry in the middle of nowhere
17 May
Alika Dibyanta Viarti Tuwo
21 years old
Molecular bio student (who actually wants to be an elementary school teacher in some rural village instead of a researcher)
I’m actually from Jakarta, Indonesia but study in Singapore and currently on exchange to Zürich, Switzerland. Have lived in the US and UK, too.
When I made this drawing I’d just finished emailing my review of a scientific journal article titled “The Fragile X Syndrome Protein Represses Activity-Dependent Translation through CYFIP1, a New 4E-BP” to my lecturer. And then got bored.
All along I had been sitting on my bed, alone.
Drawing for others
16 May“Drawing for people makes me happy. This was a birthday card for a friend, the inside read ‘Happy Birthday you old bird.’”
Lisa Hunter
27 years old
executive assistant
London, United Kingdom
When making my drawing
What I was doing: On my way to a birthday party
Where I was: On my bed
Company: All by myself
Four quadrants
13 MayLia Winfieldale
29 years old
Teacher (in my heart, an art teacher)
originally from Indonesia, but grew up in Singapore, UK and Egypt
currently working and living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam … soon to be leaving to go to Taipei, Taiwan!
When I was doing my drawing, I was: watching TV and browsing Stumbleupon and checking emails, Flickr and Twitter
I was alone when drawing the picture.



















