INSTAGRAM FAVES

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IN A NEW SERIES, THE DA CONTENT TEAM SHARES SOME OF THEIR FAVOURITE URBAN SKETCHERS FROM INSTAGRAM.

Anna Nordvall journals about her travels in a vintage camper van around Sweden with lively, cartoon-like sketches and words. Her pages have a ‘rough and ready’ feel that only adds to the sense she’s a woman who doesn’t let life hold her back – someone embracing whatever the day throws at her, with energy and wit. I wish I knew Swedish so I could understand more but I can still enjoy this just through the pictures. There is a dedicated, regular drawing practice behind these posts, one that’s not hung up on ‘perfection’, and I find this inspiring. Anne Taylor Instagram: camper_sketcher The magic that Joao Catarino weaves with just black ink and a grey wash, or one or two marker colours, is astounding. His work reminds me to simplify down to seeing my subject in terms of just one or two tones plus negative space, or one colour and white. Joao’s work shows how powerful this approach is – less can definitely be more. He also has a deep affinity for the beaches and coasts of his hometown Carcavelos, Lisbon. I find his treatment of water, surfers, and swimmers – again with just a limited pallete – poetic and sublime.

Anne Taylor Instagram: joaocatarino65 I’ve been enjoying the colorful and witty digital sketches of Nadia Samarina, a graphic designer, illustrator and lecturer at the Autonomous University in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where she is also involved in the local USk chapter. Similar to hiow I work, she seems to start her pictures with flat patches of background color; then she draws in details in thin black lines, coloring in some forms to create rhythmic patterning. Each sketch is full of interesting local specifics, and her quirky lines concisely express people’s attitudes and activities.

Leslie Akchurin Instagram: nadia.samarina