How do you find your own art style?

Question

I feel like I can't quite find my style of art. I look at so many artist and see that almost all of their pieces have the same style. Whenever I draw something it seems to be different in small sets. For instance some times I draw in a style of tim burton. Then other times I'll do realistic drawings of people. On top of that I also do graffiti style and much more. I'm told they are all well drawn and painted although I can't quite stick to a style. How do artist know they always want to draw the way they do? Like Jeremy Fish (my personal fav) Why do all his art look the same? It seems like he is talented enough to draw in other ways but all I see is the same stuff? Amazing of course but don't they ever feel like changing? I have ten different styles but I deno which is really mine...sometimes I look at them and think that other artist effected my art.Then I think I'm stealing styles. Is there any mental practice I should take?Should I not look at any art or tv 4 a month 2 find mystyle?

Answer 1

Personally you don’t HAVE to have a style…

If your art sells well then so be it. Edgar Degas did many different paintings but all the people wanted were his ballet dancers. He was distraught over this and it depressed him. BUT he still painted them because that is what made him money.

A “STYLE” is what makes you money in other words. Even though he was impressionist and did MANY impressionist paintings even before his dancers. But he found what sold and just bit the bullet…

Look at Thomas Kincade…. The guy paints very well and has a style about him.. If he switched his THEMES of his paintings to modern day inner city art then they would not sell. EVEN if he did them in his massive highlights.

Basically keep doing all the different stuff if you wish and then once people start buying only certain stuff from you THEN you will know. THAT is my STYLE, (When really it is a THEME.)

If you need to INVENT yourself then it would be a good thing to take a break from seeing other peoples art. If you watch “AVATAR” or something I would still not miss a new episode when one comes out. But I would block out other stuff and work on my art if I were you……

Answer 2

To be an artist in this time, this place in history, is to be exposed to thousands of marvelous artists who brought us to this point. An old saying says, "there is nothing new in the world -everything has already been done." So finding our own style is challenging, to say the least. What's more important is what we are trying to say with our work. That's much more important than whether we draw like Van Gogh, or paint like the Chinese brush painters.
Another point I'd like to make regarding your comments is that you seem to think (as do many, many people) that the artists we most familiar with painte with only one style. Not true! The most popular work of famous artists is what we have come to believe is their style. But, in fact, if you read some of the better art history books, you will find that all artists experimented with various styles. Picasso could paint realistically, Van Gogh was a marvelous drawer, Kandinsky did beautiful street scenes of Paris, and on and on. Someone decided a certain group of an artists' work was their best, and the majority of their press was about that style, relegating their other works to the back closet.

So you don't have to settle on any particular style for your lifetime. Use what works to express what you want for your current work, then move on to whatever is next.

Answer 3

Well this is an interesting issue. You are not really just creating art, but working to create a market. Many real artists are cursing me as I say this, but it is true.

The famous artists weren't just good, but they were able to match their product to a market (sometimes by accident). Other artists stick to their style because it makes them money, and are scared to try different things.

As for creating your style, perhaps you don't need one. Many writers have a "voice" but people writing short stories may write in many styles, because the market is different.

Some people spend years finding the look or idea that is uniquely theirs, they often progress to new styles and lose their market (you can clearly see this with musicians).

Personally I see art and science as the same. Both take a question and try to answer it. If you know clearly the question you are trying to asnwer, then your style will flow from your attempt to answer that question.

If you change to a different question, then your style will change.

I also believe art is merely a shadow, a poor reflection of the real art, which is how you live your life. Your style must come out of your mind, heart and soul.

And don't be worried about influences, we can see further by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Answer 4

I write short fiction on my website and the styles are all over the board. The one common thread to it all is what I value. It should be the same way with you. As long as you paint what you want to express, it doesn't much matter which style you use. Keep this in mind: a perceptive person will be able to discern the unique signature of your style. There are many artists that not only work with different styles, but different mediums as well. Writing is a good example.

Answer 5

A good artist is one that goes with what the canvas tells them to do. Think about it if you try to draw a Picasso on a day when you really want to do Michelangelo then is it really going to be your best work? Some artists have no defined style but still make very lovely pieces that people like.

Answer 6

Who said you have to just pick one.

Ok look at it this way, if you're paying attenion to other artists you may be copying who you like more than you realize. It's not that t's a truley bad thing but at the same time you don't get that all important voice of your own. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Pay less attention to them and more to you. Everyone steals, I mean, "borrows" something from everyone else because we see something we like and use it. The trick to it is tweaking the idea to truley fit what we do and make it more your own.

From what you said you have a pretty good range to go with. Try combinding what you know into one style. If you can't because of the broad range you seem to have just keep working on it. Take a bit of this and a bit of that and you start seeing a bit more of you come through. Eventually you will come up with something that is more you than someone else but I would just stop looking at the work of others all together (for now). Just deal with your stuff. You may enjoy checking out what others are doing but I strongly suggest you eliminate the work of others and just deal with the stuff you have done in front of you. It's kinda like putting blinders on, you can only see what's in front of your face but when you really start paying attention to you and not others things will change a bit in what you do.

On the other side of the coin no one ever said you had to stick to just one thing. If you like to work with different styles of art then why can't you do them all when the mood strikes you? It's called range. It's something most "artists" don't have. If you can do more than one style of art and do them all well I think you have an advantage over others in that fact that you don't limit what you like.

Now, as far as artists not changing up and doing different things there are a few reasons for this. One is simply the fear of change, you find something that works for you and you stick with it. As a whole people don't like change because it's going to upset a routine they get comfy with.

Another reason is sometimes when they find something for themselves (their voice) they keep it because that's how they want to represent themselves. They worked hard at giving their art the look it does and their finally happy with how things are going. (Maybe not individual pieces, but the style they're using.)

Sometimes people are just happy with using the style of others. Look at Frazetta and how many people copy him. That's what they like and go with that even though they will never have a style of their own.

Then there's the popular aspect of it. If you were to get known for a particular thing you're kinda obligated to keep producing things in that manner. It keeps your fan base happy and money in your pocket so in a way you can get locked into just one thing. Then again I know of some that have the make money style and the stuff they do for themselves is completely different!

It takes time to get you to come out in your work and it takes patience but the biggest thing is to just let go and let things happen. try not to think about it so much and just let your cards fall where they may. You may be pleasantly surprised by what you come up with. (Use the force Luke! Let go!)

Hope this helps a bit

Answer 7

You dont, I think it finds you. Dont worry about being influenced by others work, thats your mind wanting to experiment. Eventually you will settle into a style that suits you, chances are it will be a mixture of everything you have tried.

Answer 8

My favourite answer to give is to take a deep breath of all that influences you, from nature to the efforts of those whom inspire you, then isolate yourself for an indetermined amount of time and give yourself a try.

Simply put, shut the world out and see where your own mind takes you.