Fast Track Your Art Style

Most professional artists will tell students not to worry about art style because it is something that will come naturally. Although I agree with the sentiment because a lot of beginners will use it is an excuse not to create, I do think it is something we should discuss and teach strategies to help people find their voice quicker. 

Finding your art style quicker is possible but it will require a lot of hours drawing or painting smaller pieces. There is no way around actually creating, so if you were hoping for a ‘hack’ or ‘trick’, this isnt the article for you. A word of warning, there is no hack or trick to finding authentic expression in art. The fact that it is a challenge is why it's so valuable and sought after. Keep that in mind as you move forward. 

How do we do it?

The best way to quickly find your voice is to create a massive amount of work in a short period of time. This will mean that you can't spend too much time rendering or shading a single piece and you will have to jump from concept to concept. Ideally, you will be drawing a piece per day, this is why so many artists have found their voice during Inktober because they drew a finished piece throughout an entire month.

Why does it work?

Creating a lot of art gets you beyond your expectations and the stories you have invented about what type of art you want to make. It is easy to come up with a fantasy image of the artist you want to become, you look to your inspirations and think “if only I could create that” and start to push in that direction. The problem arises when your voice is drastically different from the people you look up to.

Finishing many pieces also makes you less precious and less concerned with being clever with your art. Spending too long trying to make something “cool” or “witty” is a sure-fire way to make something bland and boring. The parts of yourself that are actually interesting won't seem that cool to you because it seems so mundane.

You're too Close to Yourself

Art style is something that is will flow so naturally that you won't really notice it at first. It's like a contact lens, once it's on you just don't notice it because you're too close to it. Almost all artists who have distinct styles feel like their work is kind of bland, but the key part is that they love the process of making it because it aligns with their inner reality. 

Self-Acceptance

The challenge with finding one's art style is accepting it once it's there, you may want to do the very serious realistic painting while your natural voice is more fun and goofy. This can feel disheartening because you've created a story in your head where the joy will come from having created something “good”. This is a false story, the joy will come from creating in a space where you already feel okay with yourself.

Your art can be about your struggles and it can be about things that are difficult but to express that honestly, you have to accept that you actually feel that way. You have to feel okay with expressing these emotions on paper and that can be challenging but it’s also worth doing.

Why Arent You Creating?

A lot of the artists that are the most worried about style also happen to be artists who don't really create that much work. This isn't always true, obviously, but it is a question you should ask yourself. Did you invent a story about style because you are afraid to start creating?

I mention this because I was that artist, I was the artist that was too afraid to create so I was always using different types of excuses to hide from what I truly wanted which was drawing. It is especially difficult to create if you feel like your art isn't good enough, but this comes from a place of not being okay with oneself.

Being an artist isn't something you are, its something you do. This was a hard lesson for me to learn but once I adopted this way of thinking, I quickly gained the momentum necessary for me to learn the skills I wanted to learn and grew tremendously from there. 

Your Style Evolves 

There will never come a time where you have found your art style and everything is rainbows and unicorns (unless all you want to draw are rainbows and unicorns). I think we want to believe that once we have found our style that everything will be perfectly fine. No more doubts, no more anxiety about making new work, no more staring at a blank sheet of paper. These are fantasies we come up with to try to mitigate our fears.

Yes, finding your voice and art style may make things a little easier for you. It will make it easier to focus on the specific subject matter and not worry too much about experimenting too far outside of your area of interest. It might reduce some of your doubts and anxieties but it will not destroy them completely. 

Seeking to get rid of these worries is the wrong strategy, make friends with them. Find ways of working alongside your worries and doubts and remember that they are only trying to protect you. Don't let them take the driver seat, leave them in their baby-seats but still care for them. 

Trust Yourself

I have met and listened to artists who found their voice very early on and the biggest difference between them and myself was that they trusted themselves. Instead of being riddled with self-doubt they enjoyed the process and fell in love with being a creator.

Instead of worrying about the end result, they focused on how much joy it sparked to work in their medium of choice. Instead of waiting for “great” ideas or “inspiration” they just dove headfirst into drawings because creating was that addicting. These are all traits that could describe you if you choose to take on these behaviors.

The only thing stopping you from creating is you. Never let style be an excuse for creating.