Well, I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I don't actually have any particular style in which I draw or paint and my strokes vary for each piece I make. This does not really apply to my traditional work.
Since my gallery can't really show much, this is my old dev
Anyway, is it good to have a specific art style? Or is it better to be versatile?
Chris Legspi, a concept artist, says in the industry this thing works either way. He says in terms of generalist and specialist.
A specialist is kind of the along of the lines your style. Its something that a public recognizes alot, and therefore, you get alot of publicity for your work. Fan artist can be considered as a specialist. Its mainly that you can do one thing and do it well.
A generalist, is a person who doesn't adhere to specific style and their painting isn't for style. It could be like still lifes, to a drawing of an anime character.
Mostly likely a generalist can get hired, especially in a concept artist industry, because then they can draw more then one thing. It just helps if you need more then one style. Sometimes there is a generalist who can do a specialist thing.
What Im saying is, that most of the time, you want to be a generalist so you understand the whole process and if your a new artist, its a good way to experiement. Style will come later. Worry about drawing and understanding first before doing the specialist thing.
But what if you lack complete distinction in your pieces? I believe it is possible to somehow have each of your artworks look like they have been done by different artists.
No. Actually, I think insisting on having your own style and using that as an excuse for not learning basic fundamentals of drawing and art is more of a set back than not having yet developed a clear and consistent style. Work on your fundamentals, get better, you'll figure out it out eventually.
You find your 'style' when you stop searching for it.
Style is not so much a conscious decision as just listening to your artistic self and your own instincts. I draw the way I do because it is the way I find works well with my hand movements and what I want out of my work. It's not a decision I made one day to draw the figures the way I do, rather that I find certain shapes more elegant and appealing, certain colour combinations that just make me gooey inside, certain subject matters that I engage with and I am passionate about. I find that whether I choose to do super cartoony or super realistic, these underlying things come out in my work, so in a painting my colours might be similar to a piece of typographic design I do, and that's personal style. What makes your art yours.
If you just forget about your style, and just relax into working the way you want to work you'll look back at your body of work and go "oh I do have a style."
Personally I find those who always draw the same way, or always draw the same things, great when I first discover them, but in 6 months time I'm bored I want to see something that's not the same eyes or haircut again. An artist should always evolve, and saying "my style is round eyes and faces" is limiting, not freeing.
Building a style is long and difficult and it feeds of all the experiments you have made. So just continue to do what you like, experiment and study new techniques, YOUR style will come with time And perhaps you will discover you just need to have several
'Finding your own style' is a matter of artistic evolution. After trying out different artwork, you will gravitate towards a set of styles in which you feel 'natural' to work with. For example, if you are assigned to, let's say, draw a character and your have the freedom to render it in any way you want, then whichever style that you come up with with the least amount of resistance would be your style.
I believe they are both equally good. If one has a specific art style, viewers will know that it is "your art". If you have a versatile style, you will keep viewers in anticipation with what will you create next.
Since my gallery can't really show much, this is my old dev
Anyway, is it good to have a specific art style? Or is it better to be versatile?