Beijing illustrator Dongo makes simple drawings. Gentle and cheerful, and they tend to feature only a single person, the artist’s close friend Yang Laowu. He’s the one who inspired Dongo to start making his “pictures of solitude.”
“Yang Laowu is very sweet. He likes to do all sorts of things by himself, and he’s often traveling around the world, snapping heartwarming photographs,” Dongo says. “Thanks to him, I began to take notice of the minor beauties in life. I wanted to record him, so I started making my drawings of solitary life.”
来自北京的插画师 Dongo (阿东)，他的画很简单，在温柔明亮的画面里通常只有一个人。画中的人是 Dongo 的挚友杨老五，他同时也是启发 Dongo 开始以“一个人”为主题创作的原因。“杨老五是一个温暖的人。他喜欢一个人做各种事情，经常自己四处旅行，拍了很多温暖人心的照片。我也是通过他才开始慢慢留意到生活中点滴的美好。想把他记录下来，所以开始了对一个人生活的创作。”
Yang Laowu may be alone, but he’s not lonely. He enjoys moments of tranquility all by himself—visiting exhibitions, brewing tea, playing with his cat, or quietly sitting and feeling the passage of time. Dongo finely depicts the state of mind of enjoying one’s own company. His drawings open a window onto Yang Laowu’s solitary world, almost letting us take part in his peaceful, comfortable life.
杨老五也许孤独，却不是寂寞的。他时常一个人享受这些恬静的生活片段，看展览、泡茶、和猫玩耍、或就静静地坐着感受时间的流逝。DONGO 细致的描绘出这种喜欢与自己相处的心境，他的画帮杨老五原本独处的世界开了一扇门，让我们仿佛也参与了他这样宁静写意的生活。
“Gradually I learned that some journeys you have to face alone,” says Dongo.
Solitude is less of a physical state than a state of mind. For Dongo, it’s the mood that best sparks creativity. “Solitude is like another self: it always appears when I’m lost in thought, and it offers a lot of different kinds of inspiration.”
“渐渐的，我发现有些路途终究是要一个人独自面对的。”
孤单与其说是一种处境，不如说是一种心境。而这种心情状态对 DONGO 来说，是激发创作最好的时刻。“孤单对我而言就像是另一个自己，它总是在我陷入思索的时候冒出来，带给我很多不一样的灵感。”
