Instagram: It’s Not All Selfies!

Disclaimer: To comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the minimum age to create an Instagram account is 13. Parents are encouraged to read this Parent’s Guide to Instagram.

Social media is a powerful tool. Sure, we may mostly use Instagram to share our selfies, sunsets, and food photos, but it is also an invaluable resource for artists.

We get better by practicing, but we also get better by watching others do something well or differently. Want to learn how stippling can be used in your drawings? Search for #stippling in Instagram. I bet there are several photos that make you look at stippling differently! Here’s today’s 3 picks:

1) @missninateaches

A photo posted by Ms. Nina Chantanapumma (@missninateaches) on Oct 7, 2014 at 5:15pm PDT

I plan to share the art room adventures on my account, @missninateaches. You don’t even need an account to look at the photos, just go to http://www.instagram.com/missninateaches! You can already see some photos I posted during last school year but I hope to step it up in posting more regularly.  

2) @mfahouston

Glassell Junior School registration is open for fall! ?? Young artists can draw, paint, sculpt, build, color, sew & create all fall long, so enroll your young artist now—classes are open to ages 3­–18. Info @ mfah.org/juniorschool #MFAH #GlassellSchoolOfArt #creativekids A photo posted by Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (@mfahouston) on Aug 6, 2015 at 9:40am PDT

Houston is home to one of the best museums in the country and it’s less than two miles away from the school! The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is free to visit on Thursdays but maybe you can’t make it out there. Now you look at some of their art collections as well as see what kind of events are happening at the museum from the comforts of your home by following @mfahouston.

3. @humansofny

“I was never educated because I began working when I was a child. I was always envious of the boys who got to wear uniforms and go to school. This is her first month of school. She comes home and tells me exactly what happened, everyday. I love it. If I’m not home for a few days, she’ll save up all her stories, then tell them to me all at once.” (Lahore, Pakistan)

A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Aug 11, 2015 at 11:20am PDT

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Photography can be very powerful and can take us places we may never get to visit. It can also help us meet and understand people we may never meet. @humansofny was created and is run by one man, Brandon, and he would simply talk to people in New York and take their photos, posting them on his blog. Since then, he has taken over 6,000 portraits, published a book, and now travels to different places to bring awareness to certain situations. You can learn a lot by one photo and a handful of words.