With the internet an over-crowded and ever expanding space, it’s easy to get distracted by the endless noise. But underneath the noise, truth and beauty await for those of us willing to do some digging.
Known online as Matthew The Horse, illustrator and poet Matthew Hodson, is one of those rare treats Instagram has to offer. His words and illustrations, simple and without flourish—speak to the true nature of things.
“The only work I ever really like of my own are the tiny moments of truth and play that occur outside of knowing or trying,” he shared once in an interview with The Association of Illustrators. “The real craft is how to extract and realise such moments into fully formed books.”
“Though limiting in many ways, I’m still in love with the drawn line and so I think I’m going to keep on drawing lines, but how does one draw a line?” he added, rhetorically. Hodson should know. With clients as big as The New York Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, as well as the National History Museum, Hodson clearly knows how to draw a line or two.
“I like lines that speak with a hopeful wonk,” he ntoes, “a robustness and a mischief. I like gestural lines, and ugly lines, with little hats on. I like the way that great lines are honest and familiar and trustworthy and caring. I like lines that are assured and have purpose, even whilst getting lost.”
Follow him on Instagram for a grain of beauty, humor, and—of course—truth in the sea of content.
