This week I spoke with Sofia Shamsunahar, a self-titled doodle artist, and newly minted comic book artist. We spoke about learning to enjoy life’s mistakes, her evolution as an artist and the release of her upcoming book.

Art as Self-Care

Sofia took art classes throughout all levels of high school, but her passion did not initially translate to academic success. She told me how she used to consider only classical, realistic paintings to be “true” art, and relegated her doodles to the margins of her homework. This inner division resulted in diminishing grades in art class, and she admits she was barely passing until her teacher accidentally graded one of her doodles. Granting her an A on the fortuitous submission, her teacher said “Sofia, I think you’re on to something with these doodles,” complimenting her simple and imperfect linework. Sofia cites this as the point at which she began investing more time into her art, and when she started to consider that her doodles may hold some artistic value of their own.

In her third year of studies at The University of British Columbia, Sofia encountered difficulties in her personal life and returned to doodling “as a form of self-care”. During this period of her life, she says that “drawing made me feel really good… I had the power to make something when I just felt like, you know, really small”. Posting a series of doodles and stories from this time on Instagram, her followers responded overwhelmingly positively to both her art and her message of mental health advocacy. From a desire to continue to help others through their own trials, Sofia began posting her art more often with “the intention that people would reflect [on] their well-being”. Producing regular content resulted in an increased following on Instagram and spurred Sofia to explore more artistic avenues. She won a competition to paint a mural on a bike cage at UBC and was soon approached for more engagements across campus. These included commissions to paint murals on university grounds on behalf of several student organizations, and weekly gigs drawing live portraits alongside live music. While some commissions came as a result of the organization’s values aligning with the messages in Sofia’s doodles, some came simply from fans of her artistic style. Sofia also was invited to speak to other students about the intersection between her art and her own vulnerability; articulating the use of art as self-care.

The culmination of her artistic arc at UBC is an upcoming feature in a documentary series on local change-makers. Over the course of filming, she visited all of the locations on campus that helped shape her journey including the murals and wellness services that she had engaged with. She said this was a great opportunity to “step back and see all that I had done at UBC,” as well as a humbling moment to recognize the acclaim her art has received. I’ll be sure to share it when it is available.

The Art of Making Mistakes

The acknowledgement of vulnerability and life’s hiccups in Sofia’s art is also tangibly reflected in her personal style. Sofia says that “I don’t mind making mistakes,” and leaves scratched-out misspellings or misaligned lines in her doodles to support this notion. Moreover, this license to make mistakes allows her to “capture all your feelings in the moment” without overthinking or overplanning. The subject matter in her doodles has varied over the last three years, but animals have remained a consistent theme in her art. She says that this harkens back to what she drew when she was younger and is a reflection of her desire to keep her inner-child alive. Animals were frequent guests on her homework doodles, but the challenge of simplifying their anatomy keeps this subject matter fresh. As for the stories behind her doodles, Sofia says that the inspiration usually stems from learnings reflecting on her own personal development. Starting with this prompt, she moves to determine what subjects best symbolize the story. She says that her art has recently evolved to become more story-driven, incorporate more text and categorically now might be more akin to a comic than a doodle. Even though she has refined her style since she began, she still celebrates how “there’s some beauty with how imperfect it is”. This line is coincidentally also how I introduce myself on first dates.

After graduating from university Sofia travelled through Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan, documenting her time through her doodles without any definite intention on what to do with them. Upon her return, she emailed a general manager of a publishing company that she had found through a mutual connection. Sofia says she didn’t necessarily expect a reply, let alone a reply in less than an hour expressing interest in publishing a series of books based on her art. She said she feels extremely grateful for this opportunity, and is still surprised that her art has garnered such interest. Progress in production has been halted due to COVID-19, but her first book will be titled simply, Sof’s Doodles. In this book, she will compile stories from her recent travels along with the themes of finding balance and learning how to be happy with herself. She admits that some artists do not value her doodles as much as “traditional” art, and this has been a bit frustrating when networking with other creatives. To them, I ask where is your publishing deal?

Reflecting on the last few years, Sofia said that “I still can’t wrap my head around it. Like for me, it’s just a fun thing I do on homework, you know”. Mental health advocacy continues to be a core tenet of her work and she continues to find great value in connecting with individuals who relate to her doodles. Making meaningful connections with likeminded individuals has been an unintended, but welcome aspect of her doodles; growing her platform for both her message and her art. For more on Sofia, follow her on Instagram and check out her website to see upcoming work and the backlog of her portfolio.

Remember to follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Sofia, and the other creatives in this series.

And check out last week’s interview with sketch comedian, Kevin Saxby.

-BF