How To Grow your Instagram as an Artist - My Journey from 0-75k Followers

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]I didn't build my illustration career through one big break. I built it by consistently sharing my work on Instagram. [music] And over the past few years, that's led to 13 published children's books, working with Zoella Sugg, signing with an agent, over 2,000 Etsy sales, and eventually building things like Patreon [music] and now YouTube alongside my illustration work. But I also think it's easy to oversimplify Instagram. [music] Followers don't automatically equal success. Growth isn't predictable. And the platform itself doesn't directly make me money. So, in this video, I want to break down the seven things that genuinely helped me grow [music] from around 2,000 followers after university to over 70K as an illustrator in just a couple of years. And more importantly, how that visibility translated [music] into an actual creative career. Hi, I'm Jess. I'm an illustrator inspired [music] by cozy interiors, classic literature, history and nostalgia, and a lifelong attempt to live like [music] Beatrix Potter. One, consistency creates visibility even before opportunities arrive.

[00:01:02]I finished university in 2018 with around 2,000 followers. At that point, I didn't really think of Instagram as part of my career. I shared illustrations, but also random life updates. It wasn't [music] curated, strategic, or business-minded at all. But I knew I wanted to work in children's publishing.

[00:01:18][music] So, while I was building my portfolio, sending work to publishers and agencies, >> [music] >> I was also posting consistently online alongside that. And at the time, it honestly felt like nothing was happening. What I didn't realize was that one of the agents at the agency I had contacted [music] had actually been following my work on Instagram for a while. They were watching how my work was developing, [music] seeing if I had potential. And a few months later, I got signed. And that was when I realized this, >> [music] >> Instagram isn't just about followers, it's about visibility over time.

[00:01:50]Sometimes opportunities are building quietly long before you can see them.

[00:01:54]Two, share challenges help you grow, especially in the beginning.

[00:01:59]Things really started to shift in 2020.

[00:02:01][music] I had an agent at this point, but work was still very slow, and I was trying to improve my portfolio and get more eyes on my work. So, I took part in an art [music] challenge called Potter Week, which was hosted by Taren Knight, where artists create a new Harry Potter themed illustration every [music] day for a week. Challenges like this are incredibly useful when you're trying to grow because >> [music] >> they encourage consistency, they help you build a body of work quickly, and they place your art inside a theme people are already actively engaging with. So, it wasn't just that I was posting more, I was posting into an existing conversation, and that was the first time my account actually started to gain some traction. Three, find your visual identity. Recognizable work spreads far. But, looking back, it wasn't just the challenge itself that changed things. It was also the point where I started understanding what kind of work felt the most natural for me to create. [music] In August 2020, I created an illustration that completely shifted the direction of my work. That was when I really started to lean into cozy, autumnal, atmospheric, nostalgic, bookish illustrations.

[00:03:02][music] And instead of forcing myself into styles or trends that didn't really feel natural to me, [music] I started creating work that genuinely reflected my own interests and taste. [music] And that shift made my work feel much more recognizable. And I think recognizable work naturally spreads further because people begin to immediately associate [music] it with you. For context, before this point, my posts were getting somewhere between 100 [music] and 300 likes, which is good. But, this particular illustration got around 4,000. But, more importantly, it wasn't just one viral moment, it marked the beginning of a much more consistent shift [music] in how people responded to my work. And I think that happened because the work finally felt cohesive. I felt like I had found a visual world people could immediately connect [music] to and recognize. If you're enjoying this video so far, please feel free to subscribe, hit the bell button so you never miss a video.

[00:03:52]Audience awareness matters. Authenticity and strategy can coexist. [music] Once I understood what kind of work felt natural for me to create, I also got much better at understanding how to present that work in a way that connected with other people, too.

[00:04:06]I think sometimes online there's this idea that if you think about audience appeal at all, you're somehow being inauthentic. [music] But I don't see it that way. For me, it became more about finding the overlap between what I genuinely enjoyed making and what people naturally wanted to engage with and share. One example of this was a spring [music] illustration series I created around classic literature.

[00:04:28]I originally started it because I was in a bit of a creative rut. I had a space between projects and wanted something [music] to focus on for a couple of weeks.

[00:04:35]But I was also aware that it combined a lot of themes that my audience already loved. [music] Classic literature, seasonal imagery, cozy interiors. So while it was still completely genuine to my interests, I also understood why it might connect with people. And I think that awareness really helped. That project ended up performing [music] really well. And one of the biggest moments from that series was being shared by Ruby Granger, whose content also centered around books, academia, and cozy seasonal aesthetics. That shelf tour brought wave of new people to my Instagram and it really reinforced something I'd already started to realize.

[00:05:09]>> [music] >> When your work has a clear identity, people are much more likely to connect with it and share [music] it. And I think that awareness really helps.

[00:05:16]The same thing happened before when I'd created an illustration [music] inspired by Zoella Sugg visiting a pumpkin patch.

[00:05:22]I made it because I genuinely liked her content and [music] it fit naturally within the cozy autumnal work I was already creating.

[00:05:29]But I also knew it had the potential to reach [music] a wider audience. And that illustration eventually led to me creating the artwork for Zoella's Vlogmas intros every year since.

[00:05:39]So I don't think growing online is necessarily about chasing trends or changing your work to fit what's popular. I think it's more about understanding what feels authentic to you, what themes consistently resonate [music] with people, and where those two things overlap.

[00:05:55]Five, visibility creates opportunity, often in ways you can't predict.

[00:06:00]As my work became more visible, opportunities started appearing that I never could have planned for. Not just collaborations with publishers, clients, >> [music] >> other creators, and eventually readers.

[00:06:11]I've now worked with publishers such as HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Little Tiger Press, and have illustrated 13 [music] children's books.

[00:06:20]And while these jobs didn't directly come from Instagram posts themselves, Instagram absolutely helped to create the foundation for them. It helped me build a visible portfolio, it helped people repeatedly encounter my work, and it helped me become associated with a specific visual style.

[00:06:37]One book then led to another, and over time those opportunities compounded into an actual publishing career.

[00:06:44]Six, followers are not income, audience matters more. One thing I really want to stress is that followers do not automatically equal money. Instagram itself has never really been my income source. What it did do was help me build an audience, [music] and that audience is what allowed things like Etsy and Patreon to grow.

[00:07:01]>> [music] >> I've now had over 2,000 Etsy sales, and around 60% of those sales came through Instagram.

[00:07:07]>> [music] >> Later on I started Patreon, sharing tutorials, behind-the-scenes videos, vlogs, and prints, and it grew slowly, but over time it has become a really fulfilling and stable part of my practice.

[00:07:18]>> [music] >> Instagram created the visibility, but the real sustainability came from building things outside the platform.

[00:07:25]Seven, you don't need to do everything right. There isn't one formula. I also think it's important to say that I didn't grow by following every piece [music] of advice perfectly. I still don't post many Reels, I never post at a particular time, [music] or use specific hashtags. My most successful posts to this day are still static illustrations. And although I eventually started sharing more behind the scenes and talking on stories, I had already built most of my audience before doing any of that. So, you absolutely do not need to constantly share your personal life or become a full-time content creator to build a successful creative career. For me, the most important thing was always the [music] work itself, consistency, recognizability, visibility, and continuing to make work I genuinely cared about.

[00:08:11]>> [music] >> So, no, Instagram didn't magically build my career on its own, but it helped people to find my work, and over time that visibility [music] slowly compounded into books, collaborations, community, and opportunities I never could [music] have planned for. I really hope you enjoyed this video, and thank you so much for watching. Bye.