One of the top ten questions in creative art classes is "How can I develop a style?" The bad news is you can't pick a style any more than you can choose a new personality. You can copy someone else's style and some artists are really good at this. But that isn't authentic style.
Your true style is like your handwriting. After you learn to form the letters of the alphabet and make them into words, your handwriting takes on a life of its own, influenced by your personality, physical energy and circumstances. You don't even think about it. And if you deliberately try to change, it may deteriorate beyond repair. I know, because I tried. My sixth grade teacher didn't like the slope of my natural handwriting, so she forced me to write "backhand." As a result my handwriting became an illegible scribble. So I took myself in hand and taught myself rudimentary Italic writing. For awhile my handwriting was fantastic. But when I let down my guard, I slipped back into my old ways, and now I can only say my editors are grateful for my computer and typing skills.
The good news is–you have within you the resources for a unique artistic style. But you have to let it find you. Read that sentence again.
Your style finds you. You don't magically find your style. Style is the imprint of your personality–your spirit–on your art. It comes about as a result of your experience, as well as your choice of materials and the way you handle them. Style doesn't happen in a flash. It evolves over a long period of time. The only thing that can stop it is your determination to master a style that might be totally wrong for you. Don't force style, or you'll never cultivate one.
Even beginners have a style. After a couple of weeks of basic watercolor classes, I see differences in the way each student handles the brush, applies a wash, mixes color. It's important for a teacher to notice and encourage these differences, not to insist on a single "right" way of doing things. In time, when you hang a collection of your work, people will say they recognize your style. This may come as a shock to you, because you think you don't have a style. Well, you do, and it is always hovering somewhere under the surface, looking for a way out. Yes, style can change, but it's usually a gradual change, not a big jump.
Try many things and see what works best for you. Keep on doing it. Don't paint by imitation. Make every artwork a statement revealing something of yourself and choose the materials and methods that best express what you want to say. Tell your story your way–no one else can do this for you. Believe in the value of what you have to say.
The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning ....That is beautiful which is produced by the inner need, which springs from the soul. Wassily Kandinsky
Labels: artistic style, creative artist, creativity, handwriting, kandinsky, quotation
Welcome to my studio. I've been doing a little clean-up and rearranging to clear the decks for working on illustrations for the new book. Floor space keeps getting smaller. I had to add a folding card table to pile research books, file boxes and such for the book. I'll be using my long tables to do some of the art work and don't want to keep moving stuff on and off the tables. My dream studio would have the office and computer in another room so I could devote the entire space to making art. Not gonna happen in this lifetime, but maybe next time around. This is a great workspace, though, and has good vibes. I'm going to see if I can photograph some of the art here under the full-spectrum lighting. I was reading my new camera instruction book last night and it says I can take a reading from a gray card and lock the exposure to shoot several pieces. It's worth a try. Any advice out there?
Well, I did it. I've been reading reviews to a fair-thee-well and when I talked to my camera guy, Paul, at Fairborn Camera, he recommended the 
