Gosh, I’m sick of pictures! Had it with throwbacks! Finished with photoshop! If you’re reminiscing on a holiday – fetch my coat, I am unfollowing. If you’re promoting a product worthless to me during these downer days – au revoir, you’re blocked. Are you blogging your quarantine? You’re boring me! At home, interminably indoors, I scroll and scroll. 

I want cartoonish colour and otherwordly innocence! I want satire, I want extra-terrestrial imaginative images! I want half-finished sketches that suggest mind-blowing talent, scribbled at haste and posted with hope. I want impressionism and simplicity, I want minimalism, I want loud lovely lines. Take me away while I stay home. 

Give me illustration inspiration during my isolation …. 

Neasa Tierney @neasa_tierney

How to personify anxiety? How to thank your hands for the work they do? How to make the popular board game “Guess Who?” a good bit more gay? Neasa Tierney has the answers. The diverse collection of works displayed on her page shows off this Dublin illustrator’s wide range of artistic ability. Acrylics, watercolours, fineliner, oh my! Her characters seem to swim about the page as Neasa tells her stories (sometimes simple, sometimes surreal, but always sincere) in a voice that’s both offhand and considered, and movingly matter-of-fact. Plus, she makes me laugh. My favourite is her acrylic of exhibitionist swimmers at the Vico.

Laura Duffy @lauraduffyart  

Creator of custom portraits, cards and prints, Laura’s posts punch colour and sass into my Discover page. Realer-than-real with a funky, bright aesthetic, Laura loves a loud lesson with lively lines. It feels like I can hear her through her mediums! For example, her recent piece yells at you to “Stop Overthinking You Look Unreal”. Thanks, Laura gal, I needed that. 

Olga Evenden @olgaevenden_design

Keeping it peaceful, Olga tends to garnish her illustrations with a sprinkle of optimism and innocence. Simple, easy on the eye, and somehow kind, her drawings evoke a feeling of comfort. While you can find a mix of digital and hand-drawn illustrations on her Instagram, the effect is always of a quickly-finished colourful snapshot, precious to the artist.

Bronagh Lee @bunti.lee  

“Feelings will change. Situations will change. Just don’t forget to breathe.” Bronagh’s art is imbued with sweet, wise intentions. A beautiful combination of oil pastel, riso print and paint, her feed flows with unquestionable talent. Her china-doll-like commissions dance with her surreal apple-man characters and remind me of The Hungry Caterpillar, and the dream sequence in Dumbo, and the Madeline books all in one… all the highlights of 90s illustration, I guess.  

Becky Donnelly @becky_donnelly 

Take cartoons, then make it fashion. London-based, Dublin-born Becky is the it-girl of illustration – her leggy, lanky creatures strike a balance between Halloween and Heidi Klum as they strike their poses. These are frequently accompanied by toothy but cute sidekick characters – a compelling contrast! Informed by fashion but crafted with wit, mischief and fun, Becky’s skeletons stalk her snaps with top-model grace. A truly unique and otherworldly canon of work, this talented artist has already graced the windows of Brown Thomas, and carved out an identity amongst Dublin animators. You betta work!