In this post when I say art style I mean that in terms of creative voice, not just the surface level of the artwork but also the deeper levels of your creativity. I think when artists want to find their art style they are looking for the elements which are unique to them, a deeper truth that is beyond just the surface level mark making.

Why is Finding Your Art Style Challenging?

To understand how we can find our art style in a fast manner we first have to address the elephant in the room, why is it so hard to begin with? Why isn’t finding your creative voice as easy as having your speaking voice? 

The reason it isn’t so easy to find your art style is because you may have built up expectations about what your art should look like. These expectations become barriers to your creativity because it puts pressure on the end result instead of focusing on the joy that comes with creating things from a natural place.

This has become especially true recently with the advent of social media, it is easy to fall into the trap of wanting to make art like your artistic heroes and get caught up in what is popular. There is nothing wrong with getting inspiration from other artists but it can easily start to impede your own creative voice because you might build narrow expectations for what you want to make.

So ultimately we have to get beyond the stories that we create in our heads about what our art style is and we have to lean into our natural voice.

The Detox method

This is where the detox method comes into play. The detox method is an approach to finding your art style that focuses on reducing the amount of consumption of art and increasing the amount of output.

So we want to make as much as possible while not looking at the artwork of others. I recommend putting aside 2 weeks to a couple of months (if you can) where you dont look at any art by other artists and just focus on making more art yourself.

Why does this work?

If we create a ton of artwork we will start to get a better sense of what we actually enjoy making. Then with the reduction of consuming art we will start to let go of our expectations of what the art should look like or what is popular.

You will find that in the beginning of this process your art will be a bit rigid but as you loosen your expectations you will start to draw more interesting concepts. This change will be faster the more you draw per day, if you don’t draw very often this process may take many weeks.

After you have done this for a couple of weeks or day, start to look for patterns:

• What subject matter do you repeat?

• Which drawings did you have the most fun making?

• What type of design elements do you enjoy the most?

The Biggest Challenge

So the hardest part of this process of finding your art style is that you have to accept what comes out naturally. Your natural voice may seem bland to you, it may seem so easy that you assume that it has no value but you have to remember that just because something is easy to you doesn't mean that it is easy for everyone else.

Think of friends that you have that are just purely themselves, you love them for who they are and you wouldn't want them to try to be someone else. This also applies to your own art, people will want to see your most natural and authentic voice. 

The temptation will always be to revert back to following trends and trying to copy what is popular, but if you want to be truly fulfilled in your creative journey you have to lean into your natural voice.