In today's Friday Follow, check out some facts that led to Neha Doodles becoming a popular illustrator on Instagram.
We've all been through the stage where we had the human urge to draw a mustache on or scribble over actors' faces on a magazine, or to doodle some weird random art on the back of our rough books, or on the sides of our textbook while in a lecture. It was all fun and this urge is still quite prevalent even today. Come on, we know that you aren't actually taking notes during that Zoom meeting! This random act of killing boredom has become someone's livelihood and their work just manages to put a smile on our faces. While Neha Doodles has grown to become one of the most admired illustrators on Instagram, it took her great courage to take that leap of faith to choose the world of doodle.
Apart from her basic scribbles and characters sketches, Neha thought that she wasn't good at art because only traditional art or realistic art like portraits, landscapes were considered as art. And the only doodling that existed was limited to her making greeting cards for friends and family.
It was when she was doing her CA that she ended up finding her true calling. βI thought that maybe when I stop doing the theory and start the practical part I will love it. But during my internship, I got the full gist of what my life looks like and I did not like that life at all.β The random doodles and art that she shared on her Instagram became her sole career choice.
Neha was always more technologically active than most of her peers and was quite active on social media. She used Instagram to post and share pictures of her doodles. And when one of her illustrations went viral, she got a project from a client and she realized that she can earn money through her art.
Apart from her amazing sketches and characters, one of her biggest pluses is her storytelling abilities. She makes sure that no matter what her doodles are they have a story that has a funny or hilarious punchline. She realized her ability to tell stories at a young age when she found a way to add masala to any and all incidents that happened in life. Adding up to her friends' curiosity about the same. βThis helps me while doodling because all the make-believe stories in my head now finally make sense.β
Talking about her ideation process, Neha recalled an incident that inspired one of her doodles. She said, βSome years ago, I was in this gym that had a new door installed. You know the motion-sensor doors since it was just installed, motion sensors abhi chalu nahi hua tha. So everybody had to press the open button on the side of the door to get in. And I had no idea ki naya door install ho raha hai. So I walked right into it and banged into the glass door. A normal person in this scenario would wonder if anybody saw them, this is so embarrassing. But mein neeche gir rahi hu and I am happy that I have an incident to tell through my doodles. This is what my ideation process looks like.β
Neha creates Reels with characters and these have become quite popular among her fans on social media with people sharing their love for them. She's had a successful career so far with her not only sharing amazing content online but also working with brands and illustrating for them. We recently saw her collaborate with a cafe brand making illustrations for their limited edition cups.
When asked for suggestions for future aspiring illustrators, Neha had a few tips to share. βFirst of all they should have a decent working laptop and they should definitely invest in a graphic tablet even if it's a beginner-level tablet. What a lot of people are doing right now is they're directly buying an iPad. Now when you buy an iPad what happens is you get an easy way out. It's great if you just want to be on Instagram and you want to make animations. But if you want to work for brands and do commission projects, it's very important for you to have a working knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator. In short full-blown software is rather than doing those hobby wala things. Go the traditional way, buy a graphic tablet, have a decent laptop, and learn Photoshop and Illustrator.β
Have you been following Neha and her art? Let us know what you love most, her Reels or her static posts!
/socialketchup/media/agency_attachments/oTmmYmTemGaSn2TxEWbL.png)
Follow Us/socialketchup/media/post_banners/hknb9uQzDUka7pg5MSCY.jpg)
/socialketchup/media/media_files/zgCOXtVzzE34YN2gSiiR.png)