In June 2013, artist John Hewitt started making daily drawings inspired by his dog-walking encounters, and posting them on Instagram. Six years later, he has 2,400 sketches, not missing a single day. “I set up a system and I can’t escape,” he says. His drawings show a variety of subjects observed in the countryside around his home, near Saddleworth Moor, and in Manchester. Homelessness is a recurring theme. “I try hard to draw with empathy,” he says. He believes Instagram has changed artists’ relationships with viewers. “You can reach an audience without going through a curator or a gallery. It’s incredibly liberating – a release from more formal ways of doing art.”