As is the case of many other artists, landscape artists use Instagram to promote their work and some of them have a massive following. In this post, I share some of the most-followed landscape artists on Instagram from all over the world.
Thierry Duval: French Artist Capturing City Views
Thierry Duval has a background in decorative arts and marketing. For years, Duval has captured highly detailed views of Paris and Venice with watercolors. “My watercolors of urban scenes restore the historical beauty of Paris or Venice, but also their hidden and often surprising mysteries,” Duval states on his website. Duval’s feed features his meticulous working process which relies heavily on drawing. At the same time, Duval uses Instagram to promote his art books and Fine Art Prints. Duval runs a YouTube channel where he uploads videos of his working process. The impressive success of this artist’s Instagram can be explained both by his technical skills and his marketing expertise.
Working from: Paris, France
Instagram: @thierryduvalaqua
Followers: 665K
Zaria Forman: Landscape Artist and Activist Depicting Melting Glaciers
Zaria Forman documents climate change with large-scale pastel drawings. Over the years, Zaria has traveled to remote regions, such as Greenland and the Arctic, where glaciers are melting. During her expeditions, she takes several photographs which she translates into art forms back in her studio. “My drawings explore moments of transition, turbulence, and tranquility in the landscape allowing viewers to emotionally connect with a place you may never have the chance to visit,” the artist said in a TED talk. Her feed features images depicting the beauty rather than the devastation of glaciers as she thinks this will inspire people to protect nature.
Working from: Brooklyn, US
Instagram: @zarialynn
Followers: 231K
Esther Peck: Portraying Flowers and Sharing Knowledge
As shared on the artist’s website, Esther Peck studied at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, in Singapore, and has worked in the graphic design sector. For more than thirty years, Esther has used watercolors to portray flowers with great detail and she has also pursued a teaching career. The artist’s Instagram reflects both aspects of her work as she shares her working process and offers many tutorials. More tutorials can be found on the artist’s YouTube channel.
Working from: Singapore
Instagram: @estherpeck
Followers: 200K
Erin Hanson: Reinterpreting the Legacy of Impressionism
Erin Hanson is not your everyday artist. She graduated from high school at age 16 and later on obtained a degree in Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. After years of experimentation, Hanson developed a style of painting known as “Open Impressionism.” This style involves brushstrokes that do not overlap, a limited palette, and the impasto or thick application of paint. As Erin shared with me in this interview, her work reinterprets the legacy of European and Canadian Impressionists and the emotional work of the Expressionists. Erin’s Instagram is full of oil paintings displaying the natural settings she regularly visits and on which she practices rock-climbing. The artist also sells Fine Art Prints of her works and designs umbrellas, handbags, and chairs decorated with her art.
Working from: San Diego, California, US
Instagram: @erinhansonartist
Followers: 186K
Emily Mackey: A Graphic Designer by Day and a Painter by Night
On her website, Emily Mackey describes herself as a graphic designer by day and a painter by night. Mackey’s Instagram features her acrylic paintings that depict vibrant sea landscapes and iterations of the sky. One of her main interests seems to be capturing the changing appearance of the skyline as the sun rises or sets. Emily also runs a highly successful YouTube channel (235K followers) where she uploads tutorials. The latter stands out given the YouTube accounts of all the other artists in this list have far fewer followers than their Instagram. In her posts, Mackey frequently mentions her sponsors, which evidences the fact that when one reaches a certain number of followers, having an Instagram account can be profitable.
Working From: US
Instagram: @emilymackeyart
Followers: 186K
Jim Musil: Portraying Clouds With Acrylics
Jim Musil obtained a degree in Studio Arts and Computer Science from the University of Minnesota. For years, he followed a career in technology and returned to landscape painting until 2017. Jim works mainly with acrylics. “I like to work fast and blend as little as possible. Because acrylic paints dry so fast, I can add many layers of paint quickly,” Jim explains on his website. Most of the paintings in Jim’s feed portray rural settings and depict many lake and sea-front scenes where the sky takes center stage. Clouds seem to be his favorite subject matter as he captures the different shapes and colors they take on sunset or sunrise, or when a storm is approaching.
Working from: grew up in South Dakota, USA
Instagram: @jimmusilpainter
Followers: 185K
Julia S. Powell: A Lawyer Turned Landscape Artist
Julia S. Powell is a self-taught artist that took an unconventional path to art as she studied law at Stanford and worked for many years at law firms. After her brother gifted her with a painting kit, she discovered her passion for painting and decided to dedicate herself full-time to her craft. Nowadays, Powell’s feed displays ethereal landscapes constructed with thick and overlapping brush strokes. The gestural nature of her oil paintings and watercolors brings to mind the legacy of modern artists, like Monet or Van Gogh, who explored the variations of light and created landscapes filled with powerful emotions. Notably, this artist develops different types of content as her website has a blog and she also sends out a newsletter.
Working from: Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Gouldsboro, Maine, US
Instagram: @juliaspowellart
Followers: 164K
Tara Jane: Notebook-Style Landscape Paintings
Tara Jane is a self-taught artist and psychologist who creates watercolors and acrylic landscapes inspired by her walks and travels. “I love painting pathways and journeys buried in nature that transport onlookers into their imagination,” Jane states on her website. Next to nature, Tara is also inspired by Studio Ghibli films, a Tokyo-based animation film company behind the well-known character Totoro. All these influences are reflected in the works she uploads to her account, many of which are created in notebooks. As is the case of other artist-influencers, Tara has a YouTube channel, where she shares tutorials.
Working from: Brisbane, Australia
Instagram: @tarajaneart
Followers: 150k
Chuck Black: A Landscape Artist and Nature Activist
Chuck Black’s love for nature led him to obtain a degree in Wildlife Biology. As explained in the artist’s website, following his college experience, he worked for six years in national park and wildlife agencies across the US. However, as time went by, painting became more important to the self-taught artist. Following both his love for nature and art, Black works mainly outdoors and portrays rural areas of the US ranging from the East coast to the West and from the Southeast to the North Shores of Alaska. Black is also a nature activist and organizes nature tours for young kids. “I’m most passionate about wildlife and the outdoors and art is just the way I’ve found I can express that. I want to capture the memories and experiences I have while in the wild and connect with those who share a similar love,” he once said.
Working From: Bozeman, Montana, US
Instagram: @chuckblackart
Followers: 136K
Drew Europeo: Depicting Flowers and Animals With Watercolors
Drew Europeo depicts colorful and detailed scenes of flowers and birds and, on occasion, she paints landscapes of dreamy forest settings. Drew is a Fine Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, in Manila, Philippines, and also has experience designing. Since 2013, she has focused on painting with mixed media, mainly watercolors and gouache. On her Instagram, she shares her latest works and offers many tutorials. As is the case of most of the artists active on social media, she runs a YouTube channel where she uploads long versions of her tutorials.
Working from: Laguna, Philippines
Instagram: @dreweuropeo
Followers: 125K
Jane Hunt: Capturing Emotional Landscapes
Born in England, Jane Hunt moved to the US at an early age and traveled extensively. Later on, she earned a B.F.A. in illustration from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and, after working as an illustrator for years, she turned back to her true love: landscape oil painting. Inspired by the work of Impressionist artists, Hunt tries to capture her emotional connection with the places she visits. In the artist’s words: “Even though I paint a lot of studies on location, my landscapes are less about describing a specific place than they are about the feelings evoked.” Jane’s Instagram features her landscape paintings of the West populated by colorful skies. The artist also promotes the workshops she puts together in the US or at different locations across France.
Working from: Colorado, US
Instagram: @janehuntart
Followers: 86K
Hillary Scott: Book Illustrator Turned Landscape Artist
Hillary Scott holds a BFA in Children’s Book Illustration from UMass Lowell, in Massachusetts. For years, she worked in the book illustration business before transitioning to landscape painting in 2014. The artist’s landscapes are full of realism yet they also convey emotion and capture the atmosphere of a sunny, foggy, or rainy day. As Scott shares in her statement: “My compositions are designed to evoke an emotional reaction from the viewer… though I consider myself a realist, the minute details of a place are secondary to the mood and lighting they capture.” Scott considers herself a “tonalist painter” and works mainly outdoors finding inspiration in the New England landscape and its many marshes. Her feed showcases the artist’s landscape oil paintings and includes updates on her exhibitions and events.
Working from: Boston, MA, US
Instagram: @hillaryscott_fineart
Followers: 42K
What Do These Artist Instagram Feeds Have in Common?
- They include compelling pictures of the artworks and upload dynamic reels of their working process. People love to see how artists work.
- They offer free short tutorials or giveaways.
- They include relevant hashtags in their captions and share “the story” behind the artwork.
- In their bios, they include links that redirect to their website or/and their online store (they usually nest them under linktree).
- They follow other artists’ accounts as this helps them to get inspired, stay up to date and create a network of peers.
- Perhaps you can try to incorporate some of these strategies on your Instagram. A successful Instagram takes time, creativity, perseverance, and most of all patience. Good Luck!
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