Andrew Hou's HJ-Story: Illustrating Affection in Daily Life

“All you need is love,” The Beatles sang. But what exactly is love? South Korean artist Andrew Hou has spent almost 6 years trying to explain this feeling to his wife by drawing.

It all began with cute drawings that he used to send to his significant one via SMS – he felt that it was easier to express feelings visually than verbally. Later, Andrew named his series “HJ-story” after his wife’s Korean name initials. At first, it was meant to be just a personal blog but, thanks to one of the artist’s friends, the word spread out and Andrew has gained many followers since.

Finally, the adorable couple married in 2013, but Andrew continues to illustrate their lovely everyday moments till this day!

(This was written in 2018; the dates above refer to that time.)

More info: HJ-Story.com | Facebook | Tumblr | Twitter

Source: Ideaspots

Watch how the feeling becomes visible

Choose a drawing and describe the action before naming the emotion. How does the pose, distance or interaction suggest what the characters feel? This way of reading shows how an illustrator turns an abstract word such as love into something particular.

For another illustrated celebration of small gestures between partners, see Puuung's Illustrations of Love in Everyday Moments.

For another artist’s illustrated view of everyday love, see Andrew Hou’s HJ-Story: Affection in Everyday Illustrations.

A private reference can carry a large feeling

The origin story above begins with drawings sent to one person. That gives the series a different starting point from a general definition of love: an image can refer to a shared routine, a private joke or an action whose meaning the recipient already knows. When the image reaches a wider audience, readers may recognize something of their own relationships, but the original personal context still matters.

This also explains why a simple action can carry a large feeling. A drawing does not need to announce an abstract lesson if it shows what one person notices about another. The specificity is part of its warmth.

Try an illustrated thank-you

A small drawing can preserve the detail that made an act of care meaningful. The important object might be an ordinary cup, a message or a familiar place, recognizable mainly to the recipient. That private reference gives the image a purpose beyond technical polish. Hou’s origin story makes this specificity central: the drawings began as communication with one person before finding a wider audience.

Keep the message proportionate to the relationship and make it an expression rather than a test. The recipient does not need to respond with an equally elaborate gesture. A small note can simply say that a particular kindness was seen and remembered.

The biographical timeline in an older feature should remain historical, too. An elapsed period such as “almost six years” belongs to the account that used it. It should not be read as the length of the project today. Preserving that distinction lets the story retain its personal beginning while readers follow the artist's own channels for subsequent work.

Small habits make the clearest pictures

When a personal image circulates widely, viewers bring their own memories to it. A scene that began with one couple can remind someone else of a different relationship, without becoming a definition that every relationship must satisfy. The series’ warmth rests in that movement between a particular shared moment and the recognitions it makes possible for strangers.

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