Archive feature, first published 2018-05-05.
Soosh is the online name of Snezhana Soosh, a Ukrainian illustrator who posts on Instagram as @vskafandre. Her soft watercolours show families doing ordinary things for one another: a parent making breakfast, a sibling keeping watch over a sleeping mother, a grandmother knitting while a child holds the wool. The twenty drawings below were chosen because each one turns a small act of care into a picture of what home feels like.
She first became widely known for a series about a very large, bearded father looking after his tiny daughter. According to The Calvert Journal, those early pictures came from her wish for a gentler relationship with her own father. Over time she widened the cast to mothers, brothers, grandparents and couples, and the father and daughter series grew into a children's picture book, Dad by My Side, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Each illustration is embedded straight from her Instagram account, so the credit, her own title and the original post stay with the artist. Under each one you will find a short note on what the scene shows and why it lands.
Mornings, meals and looking after each other
Many of Soosh's best-loved drawings are set around the kitchen table or the bed. They are the places where care is most practical.
Sunny-side-up eggs
A huge father and a little girl share fried eggs at breakfast. The drawing belongs to her "Women who wait" series, but it works on its own as a picture of an unhurried morning. Nothing dramatic happens. That is the point: being at the same table is the event.
Taking care of Mom
Here the roles flip, and the child looks after the parent. In her caption Soosh mentions a video in which she talks about kindness and the ups and downs of raising a child. Children who see care given freely tend to copy it, and this drawing shows that idea without saying it.
Sh-h-h, Mama's sleeping
A child guards a tired mother's nap and hushes the rest of the household. Any parent of a toddler will recognise how rare an afternoon sleep can be. The joke is gentle, and so is the respect for how worn out caregivers get.
Close up
A dinner scene from her "big brother" series of illustrations. Cooking and sharing food is one of the most common ways families show love without words, and Soosh draws it with the same attention she gives to hugs.
Eskimo kiss
Two faces, two noses, one quiet gesture. The nose rub sometimes called an "Eskimo kiss" is a Western name for a greeting; the Inuit kunik is a different and more specific gesture, so the label is a nickname, not a description of a culture. Soosh sells this picture as a print, and it is easy to see why it ends up on nursery walls.
Surprises, wishes and waiting
Several drawings are about anticipation: planning a treat, hoping for a baby, waiting for a day to come.
Mother's Day surprise
Pancakes and a homemade greeting for Mom. Soosh's own caption asks whether it is the effort that counts, and the drawing answers yes. A slightly messy breakfast made by small hands often means more than anything bought in a shop.
Dollhouse surprise
This scene is tied to her picture book Dad by My Side. In the long post that goes with it, she explains that she and her publisher planned extra pages for the book, and this dollhouse moment was one of them. The father has built something by hand, and the child's delight is the reward.
Waiting for the miracle to come
A couple waits together for something they cannot hurry. Soosh tagged the post with Valentine's and couple themes, and many readers have read it as the wait before a first child. The two figures lean into each other, and the empty space around them feels full of possibility.
Some weeks before the miracle
Another page from the "Women who wait" series, this time close to the end of a pregnancy. The father, the mother and the bump share the frame. Pregnancy can be tiring and uncertain, and the picture leaves room for both the hope and the patience.
Three teddy bears
Soosh drew this for what she hoped would become a family calendar, as the October page. She writes that October is the coziest and most reflective month for her, and that her son loves it for Halloween. Three figures, matched like a set of bears, sum up the family in one image.
Brothers, sisters and grandparents
The wider family appears often in her work, especially siblings and grandparents who bring their own kind of patience.
Handyman
The giant father fixes something while his daughters watch. Her short caption says he knows how to make his girls happy. Practical help, done without fuss, is one of the clearest ways children learn that they are looked after.
Tip top
A grandfather and a small grandson, drawn with obvious humour. Grandparents often have a slower pace and more time to play than busy parents, and the boy's grin suggests he knows it. Soosh simply shows the fun of it.
Autumn: Granny's at work
A grandmother knits while autumn leaves fall. Handmade scarves and sweaters are a classic grandparent gift, and the drawing has the warmth of one. The glasses perched on her nose are a nice small detail.
Get well soon
From the "big brother" series: an older sibling keeps a sick little one company. Being ill as a child is lonely and boring, and a brother who stays nearby can make the day bearable. For anything more than a mild cold, the right next step is still to talk to a doctor.
Rock it, baby, rock it
Two kids put on a concert with a hairbrush for a microphone. Soosh says the scene comes from her own childhood, when she sang into a brush or comb while her sister played a piano they built out of old boxes. It is one of the most personal drawings in this set.
A little bit of help
A mother quietly lifts part of her son's heavy school backpack. In her caption Soosh reflects that boys grow up fast and will soon carry responsibility for their own lives, so she sometimes takes a little of the weight while she still can. Many parents will recognise the feeling.
One, two, three...
A father counts while his daughter hides, and it is clear he will let her win. This post is where Soosh thanked readers after her father and daughter series suddenly became popular, saying she was overwhelmed by the response.
Love between the grown-ups
A happy home is not only about children. Soosh also draws the couple at the centre of the family.
Happy Mother's Day
Her caption for this one is simply "taking mom on a date." Small rituals that keep a couple close are often the first thing to slip when children arrive, and this drawing quietly argues for keeping them.
Togetherness
Soosh says she drew this while watching couples in love, drinking cocoa and sketching. The scene is about sharing warmth on a cold day, which may be the most universal image of comfort there is.
Sleepy heads
The whole family asleep in a tangle. In her post she writes that she loves drawing families as they sleep because there is so much tenderness in those moments. It is a fitting picture to end on: rest, safety and closeness all at once.
Why these simple scenes feel so true
None of these drawings shows a perfect house or an expensive holiday. They show attention. Someone notices that another person is tired, cold, ill, bored or hungry, and does something small about it. That is a fair description of what psychologists call responsive care, and it is a better guide to a happy home than any interior design.
Soosh's style helps. The rounded figures, muted colours and exaggerated size difference between parent and child make the feelings easy to read at a glance, which is partly why her work travels so well on social media. The scale also makes a quiet point: to a small child, the adult who looks after them really does seem enormous and safe.
If the pictures leave you with one practical idea, it might be this: the moments people remember from childhood are often tiny. A shared breakfast, a song with a hairbrush, help with a heavy bag. They take little time and no money, and they are within reach of almost any family.
You can see more of her father and daughter drawings in Soosh's Illustrations of Fathers and Daughters.
Sources: Illustrations by Soosh (@vskafandre on Instagram, vskafandre.com, YouTube); The Calvert Journal: Follow of the week; Children's Book Council: Dad by My Side.
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