A few thoughts on what it’s like to post figure drawings on Instagram in 2025
There’s something exhausting about sharing art in a space that feels both like a home and a minefield. Some of you know what I’m talking about – Instagram – the most popular social network among artists, curators, models and art appreciators.
Most of the time, I’m grateful. Grateful that my drawings – sensual, realistic, often intimate – can exist there. That people respond. That my work have a window into the world – that my work reaches many people. I know how many artists are shadowed, silenced, or simply invisible. So I don’t take it for granted.
But underneath that gratitude, there’s always tension. Will this post be flagged? Will my account health take another invisible hit? To those of you who don’t know what account health is – it’s a ranking we don’t see that’s operating in the background. Some actions make your account be more healthy – posting and sharing stories that are engaging, at regular times – while other actions will put you in harm’s way – irregular spikes in commenting and giving likes, posting the same content over and over again or even being sent explicit content by others.
Most of my removed posts were eventually restored. But it doesn’t feel like a clean slate. The system remembers. Even when it’s wrong, it remembers.
And the part that stings the most is how unpredictable it all is. It’s not about rule-breaking. It’s about guessing games with algorithms, strange patterns of engagement, and trying to post art that feels true -without inviting a quiet punishment I’ll only feel days later, in lower reach or lost momentum.
But I’m still on Instagram. I still post. Because despite it all, this is still where people find my work. And because I believe it matters that this kind of art – honest, grounded, human – still has a place in the world.
