Making an impact with illustrator and mental-health advocate Haley Weaver

Haley Weaver, AKA @HaleyDrewThis, is a talented illustrator, author, and mental health advocate captivating audiences worldwide with her evocative illustrations. From poignant portrayals of her own mental health struggles to spotlighting others’ narratives of resilience, her art resonates deeply with many individuals worldwide, intertwining mental health awareness and raw introspection.

“Art has always been my refuge, my sanctuary,” Haley shares. “It’s where I find solace and make sense of the world around me. But more importantly, it’s my medium for connection and fostering dialogue about issues that truly matter.”

Haley’s work is fuelled by a profound sense of purpose, combining her passion for art and illustration with mental health advocacy and aiming to normalize and destigmatize discussions around mental health through poignant illustrations and candid storytelling.  

Haley shares some of her most vulnerable moments online, inviting viewers into the most intimate corners of her mind. And while this can be daunting, for Haley, it’s worth it to let others know they’re not alone.    

 “I’ve grappled with anxiety and depression for as long as I can remember, and art became my lifeline amidst the darkness,” says Haley. “With my ‘Mental Health Matters’ series, I aim to amplify voices, spark conversations, and foster a sense of solidarity among those navigating similar struggles.”

A die-hard doodler since childhood, Haley’s always been passionate about visual storytelling. But in 2017, she made a personal resolution to post a doodle a day on Instagram, and she’s since reached more hearts – and feeds – than she ever thought possible. 

Sharing her touching work with over 250K Instagram followers, Haley has built a global yet close-knit online community around her raw, human-centric illustrations. However, Haley is now extending her impact beyond social media with the exciting release of her new book “Give Me Space But Don’t Go Far: My Unlikely Friendship with Anxiety”, a graphic memoir delving into her experiences with mental health and deconstructing the intricacies of the human psyche. 

Despite her success, Haley is all about using her platform for meaningful change, striving to dismantle stigmas, break down barriers, and promote mental safety and well-being for all.

“At its core, creativity is a form of emotional resilience,” she says. “It’s about embracing vulnerability, finding strength in our shared humanity, and painting a brighter tomorrow, one brushstroke at a time.”

To celebrate the release of her new book, we chatted with Haley about her creative career journey, her passion for mental health advocacy, and her advice for creating authentic art that genuinely connects.

I’ve loved drawing since I was a child. My sister and I would sit at the kitchen table for hours, inventing whole worlds with markers and a stack of computer paper. As a student, art class was a safe space until my senior year of high school, when a teacher purposefully put a painting I was working on in the trash (yes, in front of everyone, and yes, I cried). 

I stopped pursuing art in fear of being seen as “not good enough,” but I still doodled in the margins of my notebooks in college and even on sticky notes at my first desk job, and the desire to draw never entirely left. Slowly, my doodling turned into crafting handmade cards for friends’ birthdays, keeping a sketchbook, and finally committing to sharing a comic a day on Instagram back in 2017. My style developed most when my practice became constant; I grew as an artist by experimenting and allowing myself to create things without the pressure of perfection. 

I’ve kept journals most of my life, each one filled with a messy combination of words and drawings. There’s the distressing self-portrait from 2003, where I point out all of the things I would change about my middle-school self; there are the poetic ramblings from 2010 about feeling sad and misunderstood, and there are even the earnest entries in 2018 detailing heartbreak and loneliness during my mid-twenties, each entry punctuated by little hearts and stars and flowers. 

Writing and drawing are my favorite ways to untangle the jumble of feelings and anxieties within me. It can be hard to hold my emotions and turn them into a fully realized piece — especially if I haven’t fully processed them. But writing and drawing feel so interconnected with my understanding of my emotions; I’d struggle to fully understand myself without them. 

In 2018, I was hired to work as a visual producer at a media startup, and a big part of my job involved creating comics. I was a salaried artist! It felt genuinely wild and so validating. 

Some of the most affirming moments in my life have been consuming artwork that makes me feel seen — books about the trappings of social media, comics that tackle body image, movies that depict complicated relationships, and music that explores heartbreak. Though I was initially afraid to share my struggle with mental health, it has been both freeing to put it out there and incredible to hear how many people connect with it and feel seen. The more we can all be vulnerable with our own experiences and empathetic to others, the better (and more accepting!) our world will be.

My mission is to make social media a less draining place and to create art that resonates with people and makes them feel less alone. I aim to help shift the conversation around mental health to be more vulnerable, honest, and accepting. 

I’ve struggled with anxiety most of my life, and I want to help relieve that burden for others. We can’t erase our mental health issues, but we can undoubtedly normalize them and find ways to accept them. I hope my platform amplifies that message and serves as a space for acceptance. 

I think art has always served as an excellent vehicle for activism, and it’s cool to do that in the digital age where a platform can reach so many. Creating art about what you care about is the best way to take a stand.

First, surround yourself with supportive people. I have fallen into quite a few pits of self-doubt throughout my career, from rejections in writing/illustration contests to feeling utterly lost and afraid of the future. The gentle nudges and encouragement over the years have helped build my confidence (mainly because working for oneself is isolating and offers lots of time to question everything you do).

Second, create a community in your field — not because you have to network, but because having friends who do the same work is fun! And third, though I thoroughly love the idea of just “taking the plunge,” it is harder than it looks. I only did it because I got laid off from my job at the start of the pandemic and felt like that was as good a sign as any to finally finish my book proposal. It was hard to navigate but ultimately has resulted in some of the most rewarding work of my life. 

Sometimes, my work feels like a safe space to explore and work through complex feelings. When things feel cloudier, I like to give myself time to cope — sometimes, that’s an hour-long walk in the neighborhood; other times, it’s watching a few YouTube videos with lunch. But what helps me through those rough patches more than anything else is maintaining some semblance of routine. Even if it’s just drawing one panel of a comic, deleting emails, or cleaning up my desk, working through the “hard” helps me get to the other side. 

My advice for other creatives navigating mental health struggles is to know how to cope! I keep a sticky note on my desk with a list of the coping mechanisms that help me most when I’m struggling. It’s nice to have them written out when I feel less capable of making decisions and taking care of myself — almost like I’m getting tender advice from my past self.  

I still struggle with this! It’s so easy to compare myself to other creators or overanalyze the stats on a post that doesn’t perform “well.” Two things have helped me get this under control, the first being a screen time app that blocks social media apps for certain parts of the day (usually nighttime, when I am most susceptible to doom scrolling). The second is relying on my IRL support system when the online world feels overwhelming. Being physically with friends takes me out of cyberspace and back into my body. 

Burnout is one of the significant pitfalls of turning your creative passion into a career — you don’t just get to make art when you feel inspired. There are contracts and deliverables! It’s your livelihood! That said, I try to treat my work like a 9-5 as much as possible. I keep a tasklist labeled by priority and deadline — that way, I can take care of the work that needs to get done and see what energy I have for the rest. I also do my best to reserve weekends for rest. Carving out rules (even if they’re self-imposed) has been super helpful for me. Of course, it doesn’t make it any easier when I feel my creative light dim, but I’ve found that’s just part of the ebbs and flows of a creative career. 

When I shared a webcomic about my anxiety on Instagram in 2018, the response was incredible — I couldn’t believe how many people in my audience were struggling with similar feelings. With Give Me Space but Don’t Go Far, I’ve gone much deeper into this fan-favorite topic and have shared the rollercoaster of a journey I’ve had with my anxiety.

Anthropomorphized as a scribbly meatball, Anxiety follows me through everything, from my first middle school party to my big cross-country move. Readers will also meet the coping mechanisms I collect along the way. There’s the Liar, who teaches me how to lie my way to coolness; the Partier, who encourages heavy drinking to make my anxious thoughts fade into the background; and even the Distractor, who loves to avoid uncomfortable feelings with an internet deep dive. Throughout the book, I slowly learn that my anxiety is not something to get rid of but rather something to co-exist with, cope with, and maybe even accept. 

It’s a whirlwind! I spent about a year and a half crafting the book proposal with my agent. We sold the book to a publishing house during the summer of 2021, and I had about a year to finish the first draft. After that came a few rounds of edits on both text and illustrations and finally, it was approved and was out of my hands. That said, I’ve worked closely with my publisher to help design the cover, plan some marketing, and prepare for publication day. 

Rather than anxiety being the worst thing ever, I hope to inspire people to think of it as a part of them, a neutral thing as unavoidable and intrinsic as any other part of their body. And with care, practice, and sound strategies, we can learn to share space with anxiety. I hope readers find a little grace for their relationships with their anxiety (and mental health in general) while laughing, crying, and resonating with the misadventures of me and my anxiety.

I’m so proud of turning some of my most challenging and shameful moments into something powerful. I feel like I’m reclaiming my experience and story.

My top words of wisdom are this: if you need a break, take it. Burnout is real.

We hope you enjoyed this inspiring interview with Haley Drew This! While you’re here, prioritize your mental health with these Mental Health Month ideas and activities. Likewise, check out our Procreate Guide and Graphic Design Trends for 2024. Or, read up on these interviews with Jessica Walsh and Rainn Wilson!