How to Find Your Art Style: Easy Guide for Beginners

Introduction

A very common question among aspiring artists is: How do I find or develop my own art style? And while this question might seem tricky, in this article I have gathered some tips that I found to be helpful for you to find your art style. It’s commonly known that the more you practice art, the more your art style reveals itself. In this post, I’m going to share with you some ways to influence the process and find your art style a bit quicker.

1- What is an art style?

I can define an Art style as a color scheme, a feeling, or facial features of characters or specific subjects to base your art. Anything that makes your art unique and yours is an art style!

What does an art style look like?

You can get an idea of how an art style might look in the examples below. An art style gives character to your art and makes it look more like your signature. The more you observe, analyze, and practice different art styles, the better you get at finding or creating your own art style. Here is a little look at three of my favorite artists with different art styles to help you pick on the elements that create an art style.

• Lindsay Rapp 

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Let’s begin with Lindsay: whenever I look at her paintings, I can’t help but think of mermaids, sea, pearls, and feminine energy. When I analyze her art style, and what makes her artworks look like her own, I spot the palette in the first place. The different shades of blue and the little colorful/white details remind me of waves and sea life. Another thing I can notice in her paintings is the posture and the body language of the muses screaming feminine energy, beauty, and powerful emotions. → Having a special palette to define your art style with, is very tricky yet very expressive. If you can stick to the same colors every time, you’ll get creative with the subjects and materials you’re leaning toward. You can even switch from abstract to figurative while still having your artworks stand for you.

• Azyza

I have been following Azyza on Instagram for a while. What caught me in her art style is how experimental she is. Although most of her artworks are acrylic on canvas, she always plays with different textures such as lace, gold leaf, applique, and newspaper… The thing is, her art style is so recognizable because her element of art style is the facial features of the characters. If we look closely at these characters, we can spot that they belong to the same family, which makes us instantly tell that she’s the artist. -> When you choose facial features as your art element, especially as a beginner, it gives you room to juggle different materials. Such fun experiments help you grow as an artist and boost your creativity.

•  Blizzart (Oussama Benjelloun)

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Last but not least, the artworks of this brilliant artist call his name whenever I see them on my feed. The contrast between the traditional Moroccan elements and the futuristic vibe is extremely catchy. You can spot the element of his art style in the futuristic accessories, and busy backgrounds which allow Oussama to keep up with trends, touch on different subjects, and express his Moroccan identity in the most authentic way. → Using specific art elements of your choice as your art style is a very smart move. You can learn and experiment with a wide range of topics and styles which will allow you to grow as an artist while standing out to your audience all along the way. Conclusion: You can now tell from the previous examples, what an art style is and how to figure it out. But why would you really need an art style?

2- Why Do You Need Your Own Art Style?

Having an art style isn’t necessary to be an artist. But if you want to make a career out of your art, and market your creations properly, you will need to develop your Art Style. It should be something you’d feel comfy and happy going back to every time. An art style then will help you :

1. To be recognized in the art community.
2. Find your audience and opportunities easily.
3. Create original artwork. (Keep in mind that no art is 100% original and it’s absolutely fine to be inspired and to use references).

It will also help clients who are interested in a certain style, color, or theme find you and reach out to you easily. Now that you can see its importance, how do you find your art style or develop one?

3- How to Find Your Art Style? 

Now let’s focus on how you can find or develop your art style. The first thing is to forget about your own art and find some artists you love or some artworks that you would wish to have created yourself. Look for the art style that you would love to have, and exactly as I did in the second part, break the artwork down to what element you really like the most!

• Is it the color scheme?
• The feeling it radiates?
• The medium used?
• Or the unique look of the characters?

I would recommend you pick two different Art Styles (or more), from two different artists, different eras, different schools, and different subjects as well.

• Here’s an example of two very different art styles:

1- Impressionist by Claude Monet

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2- Abstract by Ashley Mary

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• Now observe and mark the element that makes each Art Style stand out to you:

– Let’s start with Claude Monet’s paintings : My favorite elements here have to be the brushstrokes and the colors used (as demonstrated by the red circles in the following picture). By staring at this painting, you can get so absorbed in it and feel the serenity of a late spring afternoon next to a French chateau and a calm lake. The same goes for the two remaining paintings mentioned above. Moving on to this artwork by one of my favorite abstract artists “Ashley Mary”. This painting is so happy and positive, I love it! It has so much color, life, and energy. The artist did a great job with the different animal-like patterns and the diverse color scheme. The paint texture is calling me to touch it through the screen as well.

• Now, it’s your time to practice. Let’s do it together!

-Let’s get a new photo, and recreate it as accurately as we possibly can. Reference :

Accurate recreation :

-Go back to the two elements you chose in the different art styles. Let’s see how we can include them in this recreation, to hopefully come up with our own Art Style. What I did is :

• Copying the technique from Monet. I added visible soft paint strokes to my painting to give the artwork the feeling of Monet’s Art Style.
• Adding elements of pattern and colorful paint Like Ashley’s Style to parts I chose from my painting to make them stand out and give that happy vibe to the viewer.

Now you can judge if this Art Style and the combination you chose is the one you’re willing to take as your own Art Style, or if you wish to experiment more. I recommend you do it at least a couple of times so you decide based on different choices and possibilities. Also, experiment with different Art Styles, tools, textures, and colors. Don’t rush the process so you can find your art style and work on developing it to what would make you proud and happy to go back to create each time.

4- How To Know If You Have Found Your Art Style?

This part is for the artists wondering if they have found their Art Style yet. Answer these questions:

• Do your artworks have something, anything in common?
• What are you focusing on in your Art? Subject? Colors? People? Feelings?
• Is the Art you create unique and stands out from other existing artworks? Or is it just another figurative landscape or pencil portrait?
• What do you enjoy the most in the process of making art?

-Notice if every artwork of yours has an art element that exists in the rest of your work, that might be a part of an Art Style that you can manage to develop. -Also if the colors you’re using are what makes you excited about making art, focus on choosing a color scheme that you love and stick to it so you will be able to work with it on the upcoming artworks. -If your art stands out, what makes it stand out to you? Moreover, make sure your friends think it stands out as well. From that on, keep on adding that touch. It’s your hidden Art Style. In finding what makes you the most excited about making art, you can take that technique, part of the process, material, or whatever that is and make it the one key element in every artwork. That’s how you’ll have created your art style. So Based on the answers, do you think you have found your own Art Style? Let me make it simple for you, if your paintings together look like they came from different artists, the answer is no! But If they look like they were made by the same artist, the answer is yes!

Conclusion : 

To summarize, finding your art style is all about observing, analyzing, and practicing different art styles. Here are more tips on how to find your art style:

• Copy the artists and recreate the artworks you love.
• Stop trying to be original.
• Practice and be consistent.
• Be patient. It’s not about getting there first, it’s about who you are when you get there.
• Explore and try different mediums.

Reminder :

The art style you choose doesn’t have to be the art style you’ll die with. Art is beyond what’s right and what’s wrong, it’s beyond limits and rules. Art is for you to be enjoying it and expressing your soul in the process, don’t put pressure and cause yourself a block.

Question: Have you found your art style yet? What does your art style look like?

Share your paintings with me on social media or in the comments section down below <3