Silvie Mahdal on Instagram: How the Artist Is Growing and What You Can Take from It for Your Own Profile

The Instagram account of Silvie Mahdal (@silviemahdal_art) is built on one clear theme: hyperrealistic drawings and videos of how they are made. You can learn three main things from it: stick to one theme, show the creative process, and educate your audience. You can apply these principles to your own profile, whatever you create, but do not expect the same pace of growth.

Who is Silvie Mahdal?

Silvie Mahdal is a visual artist from Brno who taught herself to draw and creates hyperrealistic drawings in charcoal and charcoal pastels. According to her official website mainly depicts fragments of a female figure, such as the neck, a lock of hair, or the curve of a shoulder, without any background. She describes her style herself as “ethereal realism”, meaning realism bordering on the dreamlike.

Her works are often large in format, and according to the website a single drawing can take over a hundred hours. On the same website, she states that in 2024 she exhibited in Venice as part of the Personal Structures exhibition, held during the Biennale.

How does Silvie Mahdal use Instagram?

On Instagram she mainly shares videos showing how she draws individual details. This is how her profile was described by Český rozhlas Junior, according to which she mainly draws figures, portraits, details of the human body and flowers, and she also teaches others online and gives them various tips and tricks.

Czech Radio (Český rozhlas) reported in November 2022 that she had over 1.7 million followers on Instagram. This figure may have changed since then, and you can see the current number directly on the profile.

What is worth noting on her profile

• One clear topic. Anyone who opens the profile knows right away what they will find: realistic drawing and how it is created.
• The process rather than the finished result. A video in which a blank sheet of paper gradually becomes a detailed drawing keeps viewers watching on its own, without the need for commentary or trending music.
• A recognisable visual style. Black-and-white drawing, figures without backgrounds and close-up shots of hands with tools are all typical of her work.
• Educating the audience. Alongside examples of her work, she gives advice on how to draw, which gives followers a reason to come back.

Instagram as an entry point into a wider ecosystem

Instagram is not her only channel. According to official website she offers original drawings, prints, online courses and a monthly membership on Patreon with tutorials on drawing techniques, and she also has a YouTube channel. Instagram thus serves as a shop window, from which interested people can reach her paid content and works.

Why does content showing the creative process work?

A video of the creative process works because it is original, develops naturally from beginning to end, and viewers want to see the result. This corresponds to how Instagram itself describes the recommendation of short videos.

According to Instagram's explanation of content ranking (article from May 2023, verified in November 2026) Reels are designed to help people discover new things, with an emphasis on entertainment. Reels are short vertical videos that Instagram also recommends to people who do not yet follow the creator. In the same article, Instagram states that it gives less visibility to videos in low resolution, with a watermark from another app, muted, with frames, consisting mainly of text, or already previously published on Instagram.

For creators, this leads to a simple rule: shoot your own footage, record it directly and do not repost other people's content. A drawing created in front of the camera is original by its very nature. The signals by which Instagram ranks content may change, so please check the current situation in the help centre and on the Instagram website.

What can you learn from her approach for your own profile?

You do not need to be able to draw. The principle of "show how what you do is made" works for a baker, a carpenter, a hairdresser, a graphic designer and an online shop selling handmade goods alike.

1. Describe your topic in one sentence. If you cannot summarise it in a bio (a short description under the profile name), a visitor will not understand it either.
2. Film one complete process. From raw material to finished product, from sketch to finished work. Then edit the rough recording into a short video, and you can use the longer version elsewhere.
3. Start with the most interesting part. In the first few seconds, show a detail, a contrast or a hint of the result so that the viewer stays.
4. Keep a consistent visual style. The same lighting, camera angle and colour palette will help people recognise your video even before they see your name.
5. Teach, do not just show off. A short tip about the material or method gives people a reason to save the video and keep following you.
6. Connect Instagram with what you offer. The link in your bio can lead to your website, a course or an online shop. In this way, followers can become customers.
7. Review your statistics. After a few weeks, compare which videos people watched to the end, saved and shared. Our guide explains how to do this how to read statistics on Instagram.

You can find more practical tips on short videos in our article how to increase Reels reach. If you work with brands, follow the rules on labelling advertising, which the article summarises labelling advertising by influencers.

What should you not expect from her example?

Silvie Mahdal's example does not prove that anyone with good content quickly gains hundreds of thousands of followers. Behind her profile stand years of work and an exceptional craft skill that cannot be replaced by editing or hashtags.

What can be adopted	What cannot be adopted
A clear profile focus	Her specific style and themes
Videos from the creative process	The same growth pace
Educational content for the audience	Years of practice visible behind the results
Connecting Instagram with your website and offer	A guarantee that Instagram will recommend your videos

Common growth tips recommend trending sounds, an exact number of hashtags and a fixed number of posts per week. Instagram Help Center on hashtags states the limit: you can use no more than 5 hashtags per post (status as of November 2026; please check the current status in the Help Center). A fixed number of posts per week cannot be found in the cited Instagram sources. It is much more useful to try several variants and, based on your own statistics, find out what works for your audience.

When paid promotion makes sense and when it does not?

First, the essentials: Meta's rules for Instagram and Facebook expressly prohibit the sale, purchase and exchange of interactions, such as likes, shares, views or follows (see Meta's spam policies, verified in November 2026). Restrictions on reach or accounts therefore cannot be ruled out. The same is stated by terms and conditions sledujici.eu in Art. 3.3. Purchased interactions will not replace content, guarantee audience interest, sales or reach, and if new followers do not react to posts, the ratio of reactions to followers will worsen.

A package may help as initial social proof for a new profile that already has several quality videos ready, or as a supplement to a specific campaign alongside your own content work. It makes no sense if you have nothing to show yet, want to meet monetisation or verification requirements, your account has already received a warning, or you expect purchased numbers to bring in orders. If you are considering promotion, please see the page followers on Instagram. Orders are placed on the page order, and no account password is required.