How to Find Your Artstyle

How to Find Your Artstyle

An art style is a recognizable set of line, color, composition, proportion, and subject.

Finding your art style can be tough and may take a lot of time. And I must say, although beginners might strive to achieve an art style of their own, chasing a "look" before the basics may seem more like producing imitations, rather than genuinely expressing your art.

Even as an intermediate artist, you could be indecisive on whether to use varying styles between pieces, but ultimately remember, many don't need a concrete art style, the important thing is to know the basics and experiment with the things you like.

So if you're looking to be inspired, this article might have something useful for you. We will be introducing questions and methods to inspire you to experiment and find your own personal art style.

Before we look at different types of art and decide which route to take, it’s good to decide what your goal is when you make art. For example, if your goal is to sell your art and commercialize it, then maybe you want an easily recognizable style, and on the contrary, if you want to tell stories like in manga or comics, then you may want to opt for a simpler, easily replicable style.

For example, many splash artists have a very similar, recognizable style; mainstream game companies like League of Legends would hire artists capable of drawing in the game’s preexisting style. If that is your goal, developing your skills to draw in a certain game or show’s style is the way to go.

Your style is shown through your daily life, your hobbies, your environment. This doesn't mean you can't make your unique art into your career and only big stylized splash art artists can make it big. In fact, many pursue their own art career and become indie artists rather than drawing for big corporations. There are still many unique artists that sell prints, pins, stickers, even going beyond their art and making animations and live 2D art for projects!

When we talk about mediums as artists we usually mean the material, traditional tools or digital media used, and the majority of mediums can be grouped into these main categories:

1. Drawing

Drawing is the foundation of many art forms and is broken down into two types of media.

Dry Media: Graphite pencils, charcoal, colored pencils, pastels, and chalk.

Wet Media: Pen and ink, and markers.

2. Painting

Painting is a liquid type of paint and can be of the following:

Oil: Slow-drying, highly blendable, and rich.

Acrylic: Fast-drying, water-based synthetic paint.

Watercolor: Transparent pigment that relies on water.

Gouache: A more pigmented version of watercolor.

Drawing and painting mediums mostly differ based on the method that the materials are applied with; usually, you use pencils and pen tools to draw, and materials that are wet and can be smudged are considered paints, where the consistency of the material can be blended.

3. Sculpture

Clay and Plaster: For modelling and shaping.

Wood and Stone: For carving.

Metals: For casting and welding.

Glass: For blowing or casting.

4. Printmaking

Relief Printing: Woodcuts and linocuts.

Intaglio: Etching and engraving.

Planographic: Lithography and screen printing.

5. Mixed media and digital media

Digital art: Art created or modified using computers, digital tablets, and software

Mixed media: involves collaging paper, inking and paints.

6. Photography

The art or process of recording light with a camera to create a lasting image.

If you don't know which medium you'd prefer, I really recommend trying any medium you can get your hands on, so you know which ones you like to use. Even as an intermediate artist, if you have not tried a medium before, you might end up with a medium that creates a distinctive texture that you particularly like, or one that creates a specific visual effect, and these could be one of the focal points or things that become relevant in your art style.

Personally, I knew from the beginning that watercolors weren't for me, as I am a bit impatient. Whenever I use watercolor I end up wasting the paper because I can never wait for it to dry. On the contrary, many artists love and excel in using watercolors. That goes for every other kind of medium; some people might love acrylic more than oil paints because they are easier to work with and cost less,  whereas oil paints are much more expensive but easier to manipulate and mix colors with, as they take a long time to dry up.

So, it’s great to experiment with different mediums; you may find one that you might particularly like!

Once you are starting to develop your style, remember to continue to learn the fundamentals of drawing, that includes anatomy, direction of light, etc. Being knowledgeable about anatomy, light, and how forms sit in space. Being familiar with these fundamentals helps you express your ideas more clearly.

Your style should grow from these basics. The better you understand how things are built and how light works, the easier it is to show your ideas in a strong and clear way.

Think of fundamentals as something you always come back to. They keep your work grounded and help your story feel more real, even when your ideas become more creative or abstract.

Another way to motivate yourself to draw is by creating a story behind your piece, it could be a memory, a social issue, or a small everyday observation. Then allow the meaning to develop as you work. The certain textures and inspirations we talked about earlier often reveal what you are trying to express. And that is also a way to develop your style. It doesn't just shape how the image looks, they also often reveal what you are trying to express before you have the words for it.

As you draw, think about a texture that feels right, a mark that surprises you, a composition that suddenly clicks into place; these are all clues about what the drawing is actually about. This back-and-forth process is also one of the most natural ways to develop your style. Style isn't something you invent in a single moment or decide on in advance, the materials you're drawn to, and over time those traces accumulate into something recognizably yours.

So when you sit down to draw and if the blank page feels intimidating, aim to draw something you find interesting, like fanart, original character (OC) art, or concept art for your story!

Once you have your goal and chosen medium, try to find things that pique your interests the most and inspire you as an artist. If you don't know where to start, look at your favorite art pieces, or even things from your daily life and try to find what you admire the most. When you're looking, ask yourself this question: what in particular makes you like this?

From here, I challenge you to build a mood board of things you like, highlighting the things you want to be present in your art.

You can include anything in the mood board. It doesn't matter if it is the texture brushes used in the painting, the quality of light, or even something as niche as the way the colors are presented can be crucial to include in your mood board if you personally find it interesting in the artwork!

This is a mood board I made including what I am inspired by!

In the mood board above I was looking at the rusty metallic armor texture and rendering styles. I referenced artists Ruan Jia, lululucid on Twitter, and Akihiko Yoshida from SquareEnix. I also included patterns I liked and a model I made myself when I was experimenting with the light quality with a subject.

Once the mood board has been created, try to draw a piece relating to the things that inspired you in the mood board. The key thing to do is build your style. Be consistent and be motivated by the things that inspire you, as motivation is the best way to keep improving.

The piece doesn't have to be perfect, I recommend setting a timer for a quick sketch, 10 minutes or 20 minutes will do. This exercise is to make yourself more confident and quickly master your style!

Here is an attempt of mine:

Finding a style that works for you requires a lot of experimentation. The most important thing, however, is to enjoy the process of your work. The only way to motivate yourself and improve is to consistently draw through a set routine. You can only do this if you enjoy what you're drawing. So, never forget to have fun!