One of the crucial aspects of an artist’s craft is their art style. Your art style enables you to stand out and produce work reminiscent of your talent as a creator. Sure, you join an art class and learn how to sketch a drawing or paint an empty canvas. But it’s more challenging to find a course that teaches how to find your art style.
Your artistic journey will require a lot of time and practice to hone in on your art style. Thus, you should be ready to evolve and change until you come to the place where your art flows freely. Before we look at five ways to find your art style, let’s take a moment to understand what the art style means.
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What Is Your Art Style?
Your art style combines different elements of your creativity, such as your color choices, media, voice, subject matter, compositions, techniques, and several others, into a beautifully knitted artwork. In other words, your art style is what binds every one of your works together, making your collections original and cohesive.
The important thing about style is the fact that it evolves as you progress through your artistic journey. Hence, you shouldn’t be surprised if it starts to transform after finding it. It’s possible to learn a lot about an artist from their art style. Art Galleries give a platform to showcase real talent.
To find your unique art style, here are five simple ways to get started.
1. Copy The Artists You Admire
First, there is no such thing as a completely original creator or artist. All artists get inspiration from somewhere. For most art creators, the inspiration comes from other artists they look up to and like. By exposing yourself to the work of your favorite artists, you absorb stimuli that shape your work.
It doesn’t have to be a single artist because this might seem like a ripoff. On the other hand, if you take in ideas from several artists and use your mind to convert these partial concepts, you get unique and original work.
2. Copy Your Surroundings
Mother nature is, without a doubt, one of the greatest sources of inspiration. Therefore, you can’t dispense with mimicking nature. Observe different shades of light, shape types, color, and forms that exist naturally. You can work on your technical skills by putting up a still life in your room.
This can be extremely beneficial as you will learn to see different perspectives and style paths. You can’t find your art style by doing all the work in your head. It’s necessary to get down to work, practice, and produce work as regularly as possible, using your surroundings as your source of inspiration.
3. Get Playful With Practice
The journey to find your style requires endless practice. It may sound repetitive but can’t overemphasize the importance of practice. The best way to put in the amount of time and effort needed is to get playful. Send your mind back to when you were three years old, playing with a paintbrush.
The goal isn’t to make money or become a groundbreaking artist. You are merely having fun. This is what it requires to get into your flow state, where your inner genius can express itself through your work. Remember, you have to enjoy it!
4. Follow Your Instincts
As you put in the effort and time, remember to pay attention to feedback from your artistic sense. If you sense something isn’t right, do something to fix it. Take time to understand why you don’t like an aspect of your work. If you can do this well, you’ll develop a great “artist eye.”
Should any art fall short of your expectations, don’t hesitate to start over or move in a different direction. The essential thing at this stage is to follow your instincts and do what feels right. Remember that your art style combines various elements; you have to incorporate several things such as your thoughts, personalities, feelings, and past experiences into your work.
5. Hone Your Style
Now that you’ve gone through all the previous steps, you should easily notice certain elements always popping up in your art. You can use these elements to identify what makes your artworks look like you. It is easy at this point since you have developed your artistic eyes.
Some aspects of your art that you need to consider include textures, specific techniques, color palettes, voice/subject, and overall drawing style. Once you have identified these unique elements of your craft, you’ll need to hone them. These basic steps don’t have to follow a strict pattern since your style is constantly developing.
Conclusion
It can be gratifying to identify, showcase, and hone your art style. Every artist goes through slightly different stages when developing their art. A definite art style may come early for some, while others might take years to find their voice and unique rhythm. Just remember that there are no wrong paces.
You need to remain committed and find the pace that works for you. Every artist is different but most importantly, developing your art style is a lifelong process. Instead of forcing things, you need to flex your art muscles until you become comfortable producing unique work.