CULTURE
Your Art Style and Authenticity
About being authentic and finding your artistic style
I’ve been drawing for a long time, so I’ve developed quite a skill, but when it came to developing a style and finding something that I was satisfied with, it was not an easy task, and I felt stuck.
Drawing wasn’t something I enjoyed doing anymore, and I deleted years’ worth of drawings just because they were portraits of models or celebrities and had nothing to communicate about me or the things I wanted to actually convey.
Yes, I was pleased with making it look so similar to the original photo, but that was not my goal; I did not want to copy photos that already existed anymore.
So I started looking for inspiration to make my first-ever piece of actual art, and I stumbled on Troy Brooks, looking at his work for hours and thinking “I want this to be mine”, this thought spiraled into another thought ..uhh what about not copying anymore and being authentic?
Authenticity in art means creating original content or pieces (of art of course) that reflects your unique perspective and style. But how to actually do that?
Well, in theory, that doesn't sound so hard, right? Because everything you draw is technically original since no one ever made that before you or can make it exactly the way you did, unless you’re a photorealist artist then this doesn’t apply to you.
As a non-photorealist artist I think I reached a point with my personal style that is satisfying for me and the viewer (I hope). I’m gonna walk you through what I’ve learned and it might get you somewhere too.
Finding an inspiration, as sad as I was that I’m not Troy Brooks, he was a great help to me, or his style if I may. His art is narrative film noir-style portraits. I liked the pale elongated faces of the female protagonists that dominate his work. I was also drawn to the vibrant colors and the strange elements that make the whole old Hollywood drama-like scene.
What I did, and what you can also do, is identify which elements you want to have as a distinctive characteristic for your work, something you can have for each piece, something that people will recognize your work for. For instance, if you enjoy drawing faces, it could be as big ears, a certain mouth shape, or thin brows, all of which will differentiate your characters and convey your thoughts or whatever you want to be the focus.
You can adopt the style of your favorite artist while adding your own unique touch to create your personal style from the original one.
And surely, as with everything else, it comes with a lot of practice because it is quite difficult to generate original faces, or anything else for that matter, without a model.
It’s not something that should be avoided; and I don’t know why I was so against it, almost every artist you look up to does it, so I still use portraits to make my characters but instead of stressing about not copying, I used what I was fond of to find my elements. I’m still nowhere close to perfection, but having my first actual piece was a huge shift for me.
A color palette will help you define your style by deciding if muted/toned colors or more vibrant colors will be more suited for portraying your thoughts and shaping the character of your style.
I did not pick a few colors for every drawing and stuck with them but decided that I want at least one vibrant color or an accent color to contrast the drawing and be my signature trail. Red and shiny pearls or glitter was my answer, brightly red cheeks or lips, and I could extend it to other parts of the portrait if I wanted to.
You could also find a range of colors for the background or the hair or any part you want it to pop, play around with it as you wish until you reach a satisfying point.
Your materials also have their role in your style, if you're used to drawing or painting with certain materials, I would advise you to stick to them since you already know what you’re working with, and you already have the skill.
But if you're not, or you think the style you want to have can only be conveyed with certain materials then try what’s most appealing to you and find your niche.
I did explore a little bit with other materials like oil and watercolors, even digital, but I found it way more satisfying to work with pencils, and the materials are not what I needed to have a style.
Even if you have a vivid idea of your style, it's gonna take your hands some time to master the movement and create their own memory, I know it can be frustrating sometimes but practice is truly the key.
