About the Affectionate Animal Series: Each painting in this series is based on a vintage photograph of real people. While all types of love are represented—familial love between siblings, romantic love between partners, the platonic love that sustains meaningful friendships— it is important to note that I feature same sex couples in an effort to commemorate how queer love survives and LGBTQ+ couples have existed throughout history. Too often people have tried to erase the stories of gay men or fix lesbian women or campaign like transgender people shouldn’t exist. This series is a visual reminder that queer love not only exists, it is timeless. Queer love is wholesome. It is tender. It is something to be treasured and celebrated. The more we see images of same sex relationships, the less afraid we will be to express other forms of connection: the love between brothers, between neighbors, between friends. We have survived countless odds, and the people we love along the way are what make our lives meaningful. It is important to cultivate moments of affection in light of that. I invite you to peek behind my curtain of watercolor and ink illustration to encounter the source images that inspired each of the paintings in this series. - ERIN DARLING --- Darling Illustrations shares queer stories of love, hope and community through paintings, cards, stickers, art prints & zines. Erin Darling is the queer artist behind the Affectionate Animals series, turning vintage photographs of real people into heartfelt portraits of storybook-style animals. Erin lives and works out of Tacoma, WA with her two kids and their fuzzy grey cat. Your notecard is made on recycled paper and digitally printed in Maryland using 100% wind power. It has a blank interior with the title of the painting printed on the back. Each card comes with a red envelope and is packaged in a protective cello sleeve. Measurement: Folded A2 cards (5.5"x4.25").
