Reclusive Brad Pitt emerged looking shockingly thin and gaunt in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

In recent months the 53-year-old has been locking himself away in a Los Angeles art studio while nursing a broken heart following his split from Angelina Jolie.

As the father-of-six arrived at his creative bolthole this week, the actor often described as the ‘sexiest man alive’ looked a shadow of his former self.

It seems his divorce from Angelina, 41, and the ugly legal war that followed has taken a toll.

He was sporting a short new haircut was dressed in a black bomber jacket, white T-shirt, blue jeans and suede Chelsea Boots.

Brad has stepped away from the spotlight to spend time creating a sculpture under the direction of his friend, British artist Thomas Houseago.

Earlier this month DailyMail.com exclusively revealed he has been spending up to 15 hours a day in the studio working until the early hours of the morning and listening to playlists of sad songs.

While he made a brief surprise appearance at the Golden Globes on January 8, he otherwise skipped the award circuit.

He didn’t attend the Oscars, despite being one of the producers on Best Picture winner Moonlight. He instead spent the day in the studio and later watched the ceremony on TV, according to insiders.

Angelina recently returned to Los Angeles after taking her six children – Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, Knox, Maddox and Pax – to Europe where she spoke in London on behalf of greater efforts to document and prosecute crimes of rape and sexual violence in war.

She also spoke in strong defense of the UN during a ceremony in Geneva honoring Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. envoy to Iraq who died in a 2003 bombing attack in Baghdad.

The Oscar-winning actress also recently took her children to Cambodia for the premiere of her new movie First They Killed My Father about the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

Brad meanwhile has been typically driving himself or riding one of his motorbikes over to the Los Angeles studio owned by Thomas late in the morning to start work on his project.

A source said: ‘He spends all night working on his art and listening to emotional songs.

‘Everybody knows it’s related to what’s going on with him personally, but nobody says anything. He’s a quiet guy, and very humble. He’s learning at a fast pace.

‘Art is a way for him to concentrate on one thing, taking his mind off everything else. He’d rather do that and be constructive than go out partying.’

The star’s art soundtrack includes songs by indie singer Bon Iver, and breakup track Just To Satisfy You by Waylon Jennings.

Although he has cut out most of his bad habits, Brad is still big on vaping and is frequently spotted with plumes of smoke escaping from the windows.

Brad’s new focus on his art comes weeks after he appeared to be going a little stir crazy in Santa Barbara, where he’s owned a beach house for years.

The Allied star was spotted buying new clothes at a local store and wandering alone around the town looking lost, before bizarrely staring at baskets in a supermarket.

Twitter user Dulce_Simental tweeted: ‘My co worker saw Brad Pitt at the store … he was staring at fruit baskets for thirty minutes lmao.’

Brad currently has plenty of spare time to work on his sculpture after wrapping his last movie, War Machine, directed by David Michod.

The trailer for the Netflix project was released on Thursday.

He is also involved in a number of projects as producer with his production company, Plan B.

The star has been through a difficult time after Angelina announced their separation in September after more than a decade together.

The divorce is yet to be finalized.

Source