Finding Your Style = Line, Color, Form, Values, Composition...

I love internet art sites. I am active in both WetCanvas! and the brand new forum started by American Artists magazine (http://forums/myAmericanArtist.com). I learned an incredible amount from other artists from around the world. So I have chatted with lots of beginners, and besides the commercial side, the most common question beginning, self-taught artists ask is "How did you develop your style"?

I often hear, "My style kinda found me". What does that mean?

To me, that means learn all you can from crits, study and silently pick apart what works on pieces you like, and what doesn't on those you don't. Look at lots of art. When I went to an art show last summer, I realized that the art that I really enjoyed had some living thing in it, whether human or animal, or was so dynamic that the movement in it seemed alive.

But if you're asking about style, it tells me that you haven't been making art that often to feel comfortable to find it. If you're struggling with drawing skills, with color mixing skills, with basic composition skills, etc., you can't relax and try things out. If you're afraid to deviate in any way from a photo reference, you can't develop style. (The really good photo realistic artists make their art look MORE real than the photo!)

There comes a time when you have to step away from your mentors and teachers and books and have the boldness to do it your way. This is the start of style. But you can't get to that point without the foundations and the grandaddy of foundations is putting in the time. Make art every day. You can draw every day. You can look at art every day and pick it apart. You can read crits online of art.

I collect art postcards from galleries around town and print out small images of art I like and post it in my workstation. Every day I have some time to think about why Vermeer did this, or whatever. And I have a postcard from a Chuck Close show I visited and have Chuck looking right out at me all day. He inspires me to make art. Being tired after working all day is not an excuse, with Chuck looking at me! I'll talk about finding style more, but first I have to make some art! I have a long way to go, there's never going to be time to learn everything I can about art. And I don't want to be one of those smug artists who become static and stale because they know it all. I've seen that...and their art reflects it.

Do you HAVE to draw? The problem with tracing.

That means two things to me. Ever since I was little, making a mark on a piece of paper has been an almost daily activity! A new box of crayons was...heaven! When I take a break from art for some reason...like it's spring planting season...I get "itchy" inside, just have to get back into it. I enjoy it and I NEED it. I know the artists out there can identify with that.

The other thing about having to draw is, that it's a necessary skill to develop. No matter where you start, you can improve and you should. It just makes it so much easier to accomplish what you see in your head, and want to put onto paper or canvas. I have a problem with colored pencil instruction books that provide patterns to trace or advise tracing. Or even worse, artists who print out pale photoshopped photos to color over. As though the artists who view it can't tell.

For one thing, I think it takes the soul out of the work. Even when the coloring is technically flawless, a computer doing your drawing for you robs your piece of YOU. Every choice you make on a piece reflects your style, your personality, your work. I love when I see a group drawing or painting from the same reference, which is done every weekend on WetCanvas! All the same..but so different!

For another, those without drawing skills will always struggle. All that time coloring or painting and yet it still doesn't look like what was envisioned in the brain. The reason? Drawing skills. A great idea without a crucial ingredient.

That's why I use a support I could erase. A nice hard paper like Mi Tientes is great for beginners, especially. I sketch my subject with a pastel that is nearly the same color as the paper. Erasing then is just a brush of the hand. Then, go over the pastel marks with a colored pencil. Or use colorease, the colored pencils from Prismacolor with the eraser on the end.

Drawing is the cornerstone of art. You can draw anywhere, anytime and should incorporate it into your day. Sketch your dog, the guy 2 rows ahead of you on the train, the flowers outdoors, a branch. Your foot. Drawing anything improves and sharpens your skills for drawing what you like to draw. And makes making art so much more fun when your skills keep up with your creativity!

Next time, I'll talk about coaxing out your own individual style, whether a beginner or not. If you haven't visited my pet portrait website, it's http://robinzebley.com and if you'd like to read more of my blog, click on the title above to go to the top.
Have a great art day! Robin