How To Develop Your Art Style (And Do You Even Need To?) (Patreon)

Finding your art style can feel like this big important thing when you’re starting out and sometimes even when you’re an experienced artist, so I wanted to share my thoughts on developing an art style and whether I think you even need one.

First of all, I think artists pressure themselves too much to find their art style. If you don’t think your art is yet defined by a set style then that just means you’re in an exploratory phase where you’re jumping around different ideas and every new thing you create is unlike the things before - and I think that’s great!

To me, having an ‘art style’ just means that your work can be recognised because it often includes similar colour palettes, shapes, textures, techniques and compositions, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all to try out lots of different things so that you know what you like. You can be a great artist whether you have a set style or not - don’t let your art style (or feeling like you don’t have one) hold you back.

It’s also really normal for your art style to change over time. If you scroll back through my Instagram feed you’ll see how much my style has progressed as I’ve slowly added new techniques and elements to my illustrations, and I like that.

So although I don’t think it’s necessary to rush to find an art style, there are times when it might be useful like:

Building an audience on social media

Selling commissions

Doing illustrations for client work

Customers and clients generally like to have an idea of what they’ll be getting when they’re paying for you to illustrate something for them, so having an established art style can help give them confidence in your work upfront. A similar thing is true for social media because people often like to follow accounts that they can see are consistent in some way.

That doesn’t mean you need a solid style to get started though! I started posting on Instagram with the intention of learning how to draw and documenting the journey, because I was tired of holding myself back just because I didn’t think I was a good artist and didn’t have a consistent art style. It was a really great way of figuring things out as I went along, but now that my style is more established it’s easier for people to follow my account because they can see from my feed what style of art I create and they can decide whether or not they want to see more.

So here are some of my tips for developing your art style:

Try Lots Of Different Things

Let yourself experiment with different techniques, mediums and colours without trying to be cohesive. When you find elements of your art that you like, do more of that, and when you see things you don’t like, try doing them in a different way next time.

Admire Other Artists

We are all influenced by the things we see and I don’t believe art is ever truly original, and that’s ok! You don’t want to directly copy other artists but you can absolutely take elements that you like about their work and incorporate it into your own art in a way that is unique. If you like the way another artist draws flowers, try a similar style in your own work and see if you like it.

Study The Basics

Understanding the fundamentals of drawing gives you the basic building blocks for art that you can then shift to suit yourself. I spent some time studying human form last year and although my human characters aren’t realistic, it gave me the foundations to build my style on because I could adapt what I had learnt. Basically: learn the rule book and then you can choose to follow it or throw it out the window.

Practise. Lots.

I’m sure you’ve heard it plenty of times before but honestly the best way to learn what you do and don’t like is to practise. The more regularly you can practise your art the sooner you will progress with your skills and style, but if you can’t practise often or consistently don’t let that stop you! It all adds up, and even if you’ve had a long break you won’t magically forget everything. And remember that good things take time so be patient with yourself and embrace the creative journey.

I hope that some of these things help you on your own creative journey! In summary:

you don’t need an art style to be an artist

it’s ok if your art is different every time

don’t hold yourself back because you think your art style isn’t developed

and give it time.

You’re doing great! ♥