INTEL
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IN LIVING
COLOR FAMED ILLUSTRATOR DONALD ROBERTSON SHARES HIS FAVORITE ARTWORKS. B Y K AT E N E L S O N
TAKE ONE LOOK AT DONALD ROBERTSON’S
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Artful Living
PORTRAIT BY BRAD LANSILL
fantastical artwork, and you can tell the 58-year-old illustrator leads a colorful life. Considered the Andy Warhol of Instagram (@drawbertson, if you’re so inclined), he has quickly risen to become fashion’s favorite artist, as Vanity Fair dubbed him. If you aren’t already a member of his fan club, you soon will be, alongside the likes of such celebrities as Beyoncé, Kanye West and Iris Apfel as well as brands like Bergdorf Goodman and Estée Lauder, where he’s been a creative director since 2007. His cheeky, cheerful creations might seem like mere eye candy, but they are also bursting with joy and optimism — commodities that seem to be in short supply these days. The Canadian turned Californian took both the art and fashion worlds by storm, largely thanks to social media. “At 50, I decided to start an art/family Instagram just as my hair was going from gray to white — Old Man on the ’Gram,” he says with a laugh. “In a world that is digital this and high-tech that, I’m proud to be a successful painter. I have very little education, I have zero trust funds and I can’t make a PowerPoint presentation. But I happily paint barefoot by my pool in Montecito. I’ve done the opposite of what everyone told me I had to do — not spitefully, but more out of necessity. I can’t wait to see what I do next. My mantra? Be a warrior, not a worrier.” Indeed, we might all be wise to take a page out of Robertson’s playbook, learning to let go, to find joy in the everyday and to paint outside the lines. Here, he shares a glimpse inside his colorful world.