We’re sold a lie so perfectly wrapped; we forget to ask if we even wanted it.
The Story
I have been sitting with this question a lot lately:
What is beauty?
Not what the world tells me. Not what trends scream at me.
But what do I feel when I think about beauty?
That is how this piece started.
Not with a plan. Not with a concept.
Just me, with charcoal and paper trying to figure out what this word means anymore.
We live in a world obsessed with selling beauty.
It is on screens, in magazines, in every product that promises to make us “better.”
But better by whose standards?
When I look around, I see beauty being packaged and sold like it is something you can buy.
Something you can earn if you shrink yourself to match their version of perfect.
The worst part is we start believing it.
This sketch became a reflection of that.
A woman looking at herself.
Not seeing her soul, her story, her scars but seeing a stranger shaped by other people’s expectations.
And as I drew her, I realized this is not just about her.
It is about all of us.
All of us who have looked in the mirror and wondered if we are enough.
Why It Exists
This piece exists because I needed to ask myself:
What is beauty, really?
Is it a look? Is it an image?
Or is it the moments you live fully, the kindness you give, the courage you carry?
I think the world has forgotten that.
Maybe this sketch is my way of remembering it.
If you have ever felt trapped by someone else’s version of beauty this piece is for you.
A quiet reminder that you do not owe anyone a perfect reflection.
You owe yourself truth and love.
Artist’s Note
Sometimes the world shouts so loudly about what beauty is, you forget to hear your own voice.
This piece helped me hear mine again.
I did not draw this to preach.
I drew it because I am still figuring it out.
What beauty is.
What it means to me.
What I want it to mean going forward.
If this piece reaches you, I hope it helps you ask your own questions.
And I hope you answer them with your own truth not theirs.