Communications technology has made connecting to your favorite comic book creators easier than ever, whether to ask questions on Tumblr or to tweet responses to their rants about inefficient school reading programs. Enter Instagram, the most visual of social networks, where top artists share sketches and sneak-peeks of their latest comic projects. What better way to break up the continuous stream of food porn and duck-faced selfies than with a steady trickle of awesome art?
The platform also provides a new avenue to see this generation’s greatest pencillers, inkers and colorists tackle characters they don’t usually draw. Ever wondered how Chris Samnee’s Black Canary would look? What about a Barb Wire by Fiona Staples? Yeah, same here. With that in mind, here’s a list of 15 fantastic creators dropping art bombs on your optic nerves, in alphabetical order.
Between commissioned drawings and photos from his travels, American Vampire artist Albuquerque’s feed strikes a cool balance of art and life — one moment he’s at a museum, the next he’s drawing Batwoman. He posts a great variety of his ink-washed portraits, all maintaining some central feeling, from the Thing’s loneliness to Skinner Sweet’s feral blood-thirst. And — this being Instagram — expect a few food shots.
2. Gabriel Ba
More so than his twin brother Fabio’s feed, Gabriel Ba’s Instagram leans more toward life than art, but that doesn’t make it any less easy on the eyes. Ba seems incapable of non-artistry — amid sketches and comic book work, there are evocative photos from his travels and stunning Brazilian sunsets.
If you’re not already following Del Rey, you’re doing your eyes a major disservice. Whether she’s drawing pulp-style femme fatales or old classics like Wonder Woman and Cheetara, Del Rey’s art is always a pleasant jolt to the visual cortex. Her work often balances sexiness with strength; so much of this feed should be hanging on gallery walls.
4. Jock
Whatever Jock is working on, expect lots of mood and heavy ink — and we wouldn’t have it any other way. With his new book, Wytches, on the horizon, we can also – fingers crossed! – look forward to some fresh horror art to complement all the shadowy Batmans.
5. Jason Latour
If the books just aren’t enough for you, sate your need for more Southern Bastards with Latour’s Instagram feed. It may be a one-stop shop for teasers, variant covers and panels about fried pie, but it’s also loaded with cosplayers and some pretty amazing sketches of TV characters like Mad Men’s Don Draper and True Detective’s Rust Cohle. Either way, the man really knows how to draw an angry face.
From panels to variant covers, McKelvie’s feed is the place to be for fans of The Wicked + The Divine. Hopefully, there’s much more of TW+TD’s super-slick Lucifer coming our way. But all (art)work and no play makes Jaime a dull boy, so there also are a bunch of pictures of McKelvie’s cat.
7. Fabio Moon
Moon’s feed is more than just pictures of art: it’s a chronicle of art life and the process inherent. He’s just as likely to snap a shot of his brushes and inks as a new drawing, and yet, even those images have a cerebral aesthetic that fans of the Brazilian artist will appreciate.
Now that he’s teamed back up with his Powers partner, Brian Michael Bendis, Oeming’s feed is a cavalcade of art from their new collaboration, The United States of Murder Inc. Based on the work he posts, the new series is big on gunplay. Mix with some Mice Templar and Victories, and Oeming’s Instagram is as bold as it is minimalist.
9. Ryan Ottley
Come for the awesome Invincible sneak peeks, stay for … well, pretty much everything else. Ottley commits characters to paper with such vitality that even the head-shots are dynamic. The feed is mostly playful, full of zombified Batmans and Spider-Mans, plus an amazing Sloth bellowing for more rocky road.
10. Rod Reis
You can blow a whole morning admiring Reis’ feed. There doesn’t seem to be a character he can’t make incredible, from Batman and The Doctor to ones from his current project, C.O.W.L. Seriously, try as hard as you want, you can’t find a bad piece here.
11. Chris Samnee
With his new Daredevil series off to a big start, Samnee’s Instagram feed is sure to remain chock full of Matt Murdock. But whether it’s quick sketches or more intricate commissions, the black-and-white illustrations on display here all showcase Samnee’s light and animated style.
12. Fiona Staples
It doesn’t matter if she’s posting quick sketches of goblins or fully detailed Saga characters, Fiona Staples’ feed is an arsenal of eye candy. You just can’t beat the chance to see all that style and artistic verve from her sci-fi epic applied to the likes of Gambit, Wolverine or Dredd.
13. Greg Tocchini
If you’re amped about this month’s release of Low, then you definitely need a little Tocchini Instagram in your life. The mind-bendingly vivid designs will have you chomping at the bit to get your hands on his new project, with co-creator Rick Remender, about an underwater civilization and a scorched Earth.
14. Roc Upchurch
Magic and sarcasm, hard fighting and even harder partying — if only the foul-mouthed gals of Rat Queens had their own accounts. In lieu of that, though, just follow Upchurch for all things RQ-related, from merch to cosplayers to sneering bad-ass valentines. Oh, and the art is pretty sweet too.
15. Skottie Young
We all need more little-kid superheroes in our lives, and Young’s feed has them in abundance. Whether it’s Li’l Doc Ock or Baby Boba Fett, his daily sketches are always light and fun. Plus you can ogle his sweet Rocket Raccoon panels to hold you over until Guardians of the Galaxy hits theaters.