Instagram Pick of the Week | Miruna Sfia
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What is Instagram to you?
It’s one of my favourite ways to waste time on the internet. It’s the place where I share my work and sometimes I post time-lapse videos of my drawing process. It’s also the perfect place to go when I feel stuck and need a refresh. I always find new people that I’m inspired by and I love catching up with what they’ve been doing. I like how people now share entire stories along with their photos and give you context to what they’re posting. It’s like reading blogs. And sometimes it’s reassuring to know that most artists go through the same as you, they have bad days too, they sometimes hate their work too :)) And it helps to be able to read their thoughts and see how they deal with these things.
Why/when did you decide to start sharing your work there?
I’ve had my Instagram account for years, I think I started 5-6 years ago (when I was probably posting lots of pictures of my cats). It was about that same time that I started doing illustration professionally, so for about a year I took up the #dailydoodle challenge and I was posting a daily drawing. I started very basic, by using a ballpoint pen and notebooks, and in time I moved to sketchbooks and fine liners. After about 100 days, you could see this huge improvement which motivated me to keep learning, keep sharing and explore new techniques and styles. I think it’s important to share your work as much as possible when you’re a visual artist, because putting your work out there forces you to get better all the time. Especially when you’re just starting out. And it also forces you to move faster, not linger too much on an idea, just draw it, put it out there and then you can move on to the next one. There’s a great book on this topic, it’s called “Show your work!” by Austin Kleon.
How would you describe your style?
I’m still trying to find my style. It’s an ongoing process, I’m constantly exploring and playing around with different styles. I doodle a lot and I like combining drawing with fun lettering and adding all sorts of crazy details. I think overall my drawings have a light and happy vibe, very playful and not too serious. There’s also a commercial appeal for me, I usually think: what would I like to wear on a T-shirt or tote bag? Or wouldn’t a cup of coffee look cool with this kind of illustration? And I just go ahead and do it.
What materials do you mainly work with?
I start on paper, drawing with fineliners. Then I scan the artwork at a larger resolution and play around with it in Photoshop or Illustrator, add colour and maybe adjust a few details to make it look just right, using a graphic tablet.Sometimes, if the original artwork is too small, I’ll vectorise it in Illustrator, to be able to scale it for larger sizes (like T-shirts or large prints).
Who has been or currently is an influence on you?
My partner, who is also my biggest supporter. He’s the one who encouraged me to turn my passion for drawing into a career and it was the best move I’ve made. In the industry, I’ve learned a lot from illustrators like James Gulliver Hancock, Wendy MacNaughton, Gemma Correll and letterer Lauren Hom. They’re an inspiration to me in both art and business. I even started a blog of interviews a few years ago, where I interview some of the best artists out there, in order to learn from them. It’s been a great learning tool for me, as I got to reach some amazing artists and “pick their brain” and share that knowledge with everyone else.
What are your must-follow accounts on Instagram?
@loraineloots, @sdionbakerdesign, @Yoyoha, @MisterVi, @goodtype, @homsweethom, @RachelRyle and @la_neif
