How to find your artistic style?

Developing a style – One of the main things that separate a hobby artist from a professional is having their own voice, content, and style. How do you develop your own style?

1) Explore

Create a list of artists/artworks you like on Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest and identify what you like most about their work. Is it the way they paint their brush strokes? Is it the objects or people they focus on? Is it the medium they use? Was there a composition style that really appealed to you? I’ve created a google drive sheet to help you get started with this. Go to the link here and copy the file into your own google drive to begin adding content.

2) Identify

Once you have filled out this sheet, go through it, and identify common themes that came up for each area. What medium style did you gravitate towards most? What subject matter really caught your eye? Create a list of the top three styles you would like to try.

3) Experiment

Now you have the top three styles you would like to incorporate into your work, but you don’t know how they would fit them together or whether you have the skills to create them. This is where the true work of an artist comes in. You can explore different YouTube videos, look for basic tutorials on Pinterest or Instagram, or for more complicated pieces, take classes online or in-person to experiment.

It’s important to remember when you are doing this, that any ideas you explore don’t have to be permanent. You may like a style for a short while, and then want to switch over to something else. You might feel inspired by certain topics or themes later that you had not seen in your initial exploration. That is why it’s important to go back frequently and note down any artworks or artists that really inspire you. The more you do this, the more quickly and easily you will be able to refine your style and grow as an artist.