In any form of art, standing out from the crowd is how artists make a name for themselves. Whether it’s how a painter paints a face, or a designer sews a stitch, it is a unique style that allows artists to put their own stamp on something in a world where everything has been done before. Many young artists struggle to find their niche and individualistic style. This process can take years to develop and sharpen. How can someone develop their artistic style in their medium of work? This is something I personally struggle with and something that evolves daily in the lives of many.
Experiencing life is a key factor in developing your signature. You cannot paint a picture if you have no paint on the brush. Filling in the gaps in your knowledge and expanding your world view can help strengthen your likes and dislikes. Not only does this give your art a message, it allows everything you create to be a freeze-frame of where you are in life at the current moment of creation. You don’t have to travel the world for 180 days; you can read new books, visit new places, talk to people cut from a different cloth, and reflect on things that you deem important in your life.
Embracing other artists in the past can also help. Studying past artists in your field can help broaden your sense of understanding. Art is influential, so seeing past art can help you mold and create something that is original in nature yet pays homage to history. This is not to be confused with stealing, although there is a blurry line in art and style, you must take an idea and mold it into something that is yours and not just a reinterpretation of the past.
Start by finding your dislikes. This might be difficult to explain but here is an example. In high school, I worked at a shoe store in the mall making minimum wage. I absolutely hated it and spent so much time thinking to myself that I do not want to do this for the rest of my life. I would spend hours and hours daydreaming about my future because working for little money and no incentive will be the death of me. It was the monotonous job of serving ungrateful customers their new pair of shoes that drove me to find my passion. Taking what you don’t like and transforming it into your own style is something that takes time yet is very rewarding.
Discovering your signature and style is the same as discovering yourself. Art is just small tidbits of the human experience bottled into a consumable form. If you don’t have a personality, your art will suffer with you. The best artists in the world take their pain, enlightenment, and emotions into consideration.
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