Monsters under the bed. Monsters in the closet. Throughout our childhoods, we feared the things that went bump in the night. It turns out, monsters weren't there to scare us — they just wanted to be our friends.
As Jordan Young's Tumblr, Matching Monsters, reads: "[Monsters are] hiding all over the world, often in places you’d least expect. Sometimes you just need a little help seeing them." The art director turned digital artist has set out to help the world embrace the curious creatures around us through unique drawings he creates from real-life photographs.
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Young has had a life-long love affair with monsters. "I grew up with Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and it's always held a spot with me. Ended up getting a tattoo of it a few years back to make things worse," Young told Mashable. Originally, Young set out to write his own children's book, but when he ran into a few complications, he decided to start over by developing his own style of art, which led to his inspiration for Matching Monsters.
"I decided to draw something a day for at least a year," says Young. "The idea to let people submit photos really just came about because I knew I couldn't keep it interesting shooting everything myself."
The cute and quirky photos bring Young's unique sense of humor to life. His magical beasts range from sweet and squiggly to big and fuzzy, always complementing the photo's subjects perfectly. Young says fans of the site have been overwhelmingly supportive of his efforts.
Young began his project on Jan. 1, and will continue to post updates once a day for an entire year. The artist accepts photo submissions via the Matching Monsters Tumblr, and fans can see his regular updates via his website or by following Matching Monsters on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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