Your Artistic Style. All famous artists have a distinct style. Some call this "voice". It is a combination of subject, medium and technique. Technique includes style.
How to discover your style / voice: (I allude to a little bit here in crashing through the blank canvas article).
But let's jump in with both feet here, and really get wet!
In developing your artistic style, it is best to make sure all aspects of your being are lined up with your art.
What do I mean?
Let’s say you’ve figured out how to paint certain subjects really well, but you are stuck with the blank canvas. Your heart & mind are not aligned with your abilities, and you’re not sure which road to travel. I talk in more detail here.
Let’s say the opposite is true, in that your mind is exploding with ideas, and your heart aches to be able to communicate something deep, yet, your hands just don’t seem to know how to put it down on canvas. You don’t know the technical aspect of how to create your art. You need the technical training to discover your voice, your artistic style. This website is dedicated in helping in that part of the equation. So read on….
(a little talk about portraits)
Most beginners love to jump right into portraiture work. They believe falsely, that because they know the human face they can reproduce it. The problem with that is most folks do indeed recognize certain faces,(especially close family, they’ve been looking at them for years.) It is indeed the most recognizable thing our human brains do. The skill set and control of medium required usually requires some formal training. Because a 1/16 of an inch mistake in a lip line, eye lid or nose placement can completely destroy a likeness, it is one of the most difficult genres to attempt. The modeling alone of the human face with its fine subtleties are something no beginner should attempt. So, with that said, keep it in the back of your mind as you develop your voice. If your artistic style will include Portraits in the future? Great! Just don’t leap too soon, and have your dreams crushed!
…if it’s the technical skill set you are short on, then get the best training you can afford. Plain and simple!
Do
you already have what you feel are good technical skills, but not sure
which direction to take your artistic style and voice. How do you align
your heart and mind with your hand and eyes?
Try this!
Finding your voice & artistic style using an artist hard bound sketch pad!Keep
a journal! (Artist notebook or a visual diary) Even Leonardo da Vinci
kept one. It should be a bound book with unlined pages. Large enough
to be able to make comfortable drawings but small enough that you don’t
feel encumbered to keep it with you at all times.
Work in it
daily jotting down notes of the flimsical to the profound epiphanies.
Sketching ideas and writing down insights. After a month or so, a
pattern will emerge.
When?
Maybe do this first
thing in the morning with your morning java, while planning your day?
Maybe in the evening, before bed, when you are winding down. But at
least do it! For at least 30 days. Like most good habits, do it for
thirty days and it becomes an ingrained habit.
Limit yourself
from 3 to 7 minutes to accomplish this. The ideas put in your journal
don’t have to be strokes of genius or major works of art. Don’t feel
you have to follow up on every thing that jotted down. It’s like any
brain storming session where you put down quickly, the flow of your
thoughts.
After a time ( a few weeks) a pattern will emerge (your
artistic style). You will review these ideas, and some will seem
exciting and deep. Your heart will ache to do them. Pay attention to
these ideas as when anything is tugging at your heart strings, your
conscience and subconscious (that yet small voice inside you) is
speaking.
Keeping focused:
Success will come when you have mastered the medium, you know the subject matter well, and from painting to painting, a specific artistic style will be readily seen. Then, you will be able to hear your “Voice” strong and loud. As will your customers!
Click here to go to the top of our Artistic Style article
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Care to see more of my work? Click here to head over to my fine art site at delmusphelps.com