What with Weedles and Squirtles and Pinsirs and co., strange creatures have become a regular part of many people’s day to day lives in recent months — for one Instagrammer, though, imaginary beasts have been coming into view a little longer; Ben Rubin using his Subway Doodle project to ensure his daily commute passes a little quicker than most.
The concept is simple, the execution not so: Rubin snaps a typical Subway scenario on his iPad, his deft doodling does the rest. With a keen eye for social commentary (including our fixation with the digital world and the rise of the American right wing), Rubin’s monsters snuggle up to sleeping travellers, amuse youngsters, and wreak light-humoured havoc throughout the New York underground.
Beautifully drawn and cleverly composed, the illustrator’s whimsical ogres have developed a cult following on social media, and with good reason — his Subway Doodle Instagram account offers a realisation of the perverse daydreams we all (I say all: I) drift into on public transport, as the mind replaces tedium with freakish fantasies and outlandish milieus. (It is perhaps for the best that we can’t all replicate our fanciful thoughts in such brilliantly realised cartoons.)
