If you still haven’t stumbled upon Gaby Niko’s Instagram page, buckle up because you’re in for a treat! She’s attracted over 400,000 followers with her amazing portraits, and her sketchbook is mostly filled with drawings of her favorite fictional characters.
Gabriela “Gaby” Niko is an illustrator and sketchbook artist based in Poland, and she enjoys creating art both traditionally and digitally. Before finding success with her Instagram page @doodle_traffic, she studied industrial design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and spent an entire decade working as a sports apparel designer.
She found herself unfulfilled doing this job and decided to leave it behind and follow her own passion. Pieces fell into place when she discovered sketchbook art in 2018, and she’s been doing it ever since.
At the very start of her journey, Niko feared imperfection and avoided drawing people because she was uncertain her sketches will turn out right. She eventually decided to face her fear, and people became her main subject – especially beloved fictional characters.
“The main topic of my work is people – their beauty and the subtle emotions expressed in their faces. I create both traditionally and digitally, but the sketchbook is my favorite and most important tool for everyday studies, development, and experiments with art,” she told Bored Panda.
