Anna Lewis has been drawing for as long as she can remember, so when she became a mother, it was only natural that she would illustrate the experience.
"I knew I was going to be a stay-at-home mum for a while when my daughter was small, so I started doing some little sketches of our daily life together just to keep my creativity up," the U.K.-based artist told HuffPost.
Lewis turned her sketches into regular illustration series called Sketchy Muma, which has nearly 30,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram. From drawings about pregnancy to memories of supermarket adventures, the illustrations cover a range of funny and heartfelt musings and moments in parenting.
"When my daughter was 9 months old, my partner became seriously ill, and I started to draw more poignant illustrations as well as the funny ones as life seemed very fragile," she recalled. "I find it quite natural to draw about motherhood as your heart is suddenly so open and everything just pours out."
In October, Lewis released a book of her illustrations called Sketchy Muma: What it Means to be a Mother. Lewis said she created the book for her daughter, who is now 4 years old.
"I wanted to create this book in case she ever becomes a mum as it's such a transformative time, but you just forget that after a while when it becomes your norm. I did not want to say, 'I can't really remember,' if she ever asked me questions as a new mum," the artist told HuffPost, adding that she's also glad to have physical documentation of her daughter's early years.
Lewis, who also sells prints of her work on Etsy, is glad her book can comfort other parents as well.
"I have hundreds of messages now from parents telling me my drawings illustrate just how they feel but can't express," she said. "I think it makes parents realize that we all have the same range of feelings and we are all in it together ― the good days, the bad days and the days where you just feel so grateful you have made a little family."
