These Instagram illustrations exactly capture the realities of life on lockdown

It’s for this reason that we’re finding solace with a growing troupe of Instagram illustrators right now. These compulsive drawers are based all over the globe, but they’re nearly all in isolation – and they know well our rollercoaster ride of confinement hopes and fears.

Better still, they’re bringing these feelings to life via a string of hilarious and very familiar sketches that tackle everything from third-floor city sunbathing to the freedom of unshaven legs. Below are just a few of our favourites (not forgetting the excellent work of artist Cary Cochrane in the image above):

Hastings-based illustrator Nina Cosford is known for her endearing sketches, and these snapshots from her stay-at-home routine are delightfully familiar. Who hasn’t tried (and failed) at some random craft, or wasted hours to fruitless window-gazing?

Bravo to Berlin artist Laura Breiling, who is all of us under lockdown in this hairy-legged, wine-swilling caricature for daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung. It’s typical of her illustrations made through a fearless, and often quite political, lens.

Cartoonist and Londoner Ruby Etc throws open the dialogue on mental health, with drawings that are both hilarious and touching. We love this nod to the pressure we’re all putting on ourselves right now to do something productive or extraordinary. Even that has become an anxiety, on top of everything else.

French illustrator Agathe Sorlet is able to capture a multitude of feelings in her minimal two-tone drawings. This sweet scenario rings true for all us lockdown sunseekers out there, who will adapt no matter what.

NYC-based writer and artist Mari Andrew and her writer friend Suleika Jaouad have come up with the great idea of journaling their isolation as if they were in a foreign land. Because, as Mari says, “We are all going through collective culture shock right now.” Her observations of this wild new place we’re all in are instantly familiar, from the “sofa of safety” to “pleasantly oblivious” plants and cats. 

British cartoonist and self-confessed pug lady Gemma Correll is a dab hand when it comes to depicting our existential worries – not least during coronavirus. Her illustrations deal with everyday anxieties in a light-hearted but cathartic way, and are oh-so relatable. We’ve probably run the full gauntlet of these quarantine looks by now, especially “dramatic shower cry” (what are showers for, after all?).

Petra Eriksson is a Swedish illustrator and artist based in Barcelona. She’s been conjuring up a series of beautiful, colour-infused drawings during this lockdown period, and this one contains a few nods to her friends, as a way of staying connected. We’re putting hula hoops onto our list of confinement ideas, along with a reading corner.

Sometimes in life, you just need to shore up your defences. We are fully behind this smart little motif about lockdown from New York-based artist Abbey Lossing, which is all about turning off the news and pouring the wine (with a cat on the side for good measure).

As well as meticulously tending to our crop of houseplants right now, all this sedentary staying at home activity means we may actually be turning into them, too. A lovely little insight here from Danish illustrator Maja Säfström.

Freelance illustrator Julie Houts is here to liven up all our lives with her hilariously frank take on the struggles of womankind. This eccentric little vignette is a tribute to the lockdown sweats we all know and love.

Top image: Cary Cochrane on Getty