I think I need to really mull this over some. I am intrigued by your question and yes I know what you mean.. there are certain artists here on TAC even who have very distinct styles (Vex and her's would be a great example IMO) Yet when I consider what mine is... I find myself at a loss.
Certain artists can be instantly recognized by even a novice fan of the medium. I think a lot of us are still in that evolving state, constantly in flux as we are exposed to new influences and other people's work. Yet in a way, to me, to be so concrete in your work flow is almost a bad thing. Yes.. it makes you recognizable and even draws you fans. But, it limits what you expose yourself to and can keep you from trying new styles and techniques. We humans are creatures of habit and comfort, and I know, personally at least, I end up back to the same certain things and procedures simply because I know I can do it rather than being fruistrated with less than perfect results as I explore new territory.
OK so I have have wandered off on a completely different tangent there, sorry.. Yes, I would LOVE to find a way to define what my current style is even if only to recognize it and try to push myself to move in different directions to see if I can grow and evolve some. I'm a typical Scorpio and we despise any and all change until one morning we wake up and decide everything has to be completely different and all in the next 5 minutes. =x However I recognize that and am trying to be more open, so.. yeah, share your ideas for exercises I think that would be very fun!
Navel gazing and Questions of Style
Perhaps it is the new year, but lately I’ve caught myself navel gazing a bit more than usual (and, being introverted and introspective, I do this quite a bit anyway), particularly with regard to my efforts toward art. Now before I come off sounding self important (have I already? Oh dear.) let me just say that I’m not trying to change the world here – I just like drawing pictures of my characters, and other people’s characters, and the scenes and sights that make their way into my head, and I’d like to do all of those things better.
At any rate, I could go on in great detail about my various trains of thought, their arrivals and departures and speeds (like those math problems we all had to do in sixth grade) but suffice it to say that I eventually came to the ever elusive question of ‘finding your style’. I say ever elusive –question- because it seems to me that the answer is clear as day but I struggle to articulate the query to find it. You know a style when you see it, whether you have the vocabulary to define it or not. But the process of finding –mine- has been so mystified that I think I must be asking the wrong questions. I only sort of understand what it –isn’t-, and what isn’t working.
This is quite different from finding one’s niche. What’s funny to me is that style is such an open, external sort of word, focused on outside appearances, but to me it is entirely personal, whereas a niche is ‘a recess: an enclosure that is set back or indented,’ internal, but for me it is almost entirely about outward appearances in the various communities I’m involved in.
In my quest to understand how (why…what is the question indeed) one goes about finding their style, I wandered over to conceptart.org, which proved enlightening for any number of things, both technical and philosophical. In and amongst their vague testaments that ‘it will evolve naturally’ and ‘given time and practice…’ there were quite a few tangible bits of wisdom I could sink my teeth into that made practical sense to me. I’m not going to summarize their advice here because, well, it’s all already over there so that seems silly. What I would like to do is open a dialogue here on TAC regarding style, how to find it, if it’s important –to- find it, and things we might like to do on TAC to further cultivate our personal styles. I have a few ideas that I’m kicking around but I think I’ve talked enough for the moment.
So. Thoughts?
Temprah
19 years ago
ROzbeans
19 years ago
I started digital art with only one thing in mind: how to make my own sigs and save me monies! I've known Vex for just about 7 years now and it was her sigs back when we were in Scarlet Horizon together that started me on my sig-whoring. =D Another girl on our server, Lala did beautiful cartoon art and I followed her ezboard history posts to Norrrath Studios where I saw Vex again. Of course at that point Vex and I hated each other hehe.
I'll be the first to admit that my style is a variation of like 5 people. There's nothing original about my stuffs. I remember meeting Gilae and she asked if I minded her using my style as a base for hers. I told her Id be happy to share the styles I ganked with her =) With screenshot art, I started off very cookie cutter but after a while I got sick of seeing the same set ups. So with the limited amount of freehand I could do, I decided to try and make my sigs unique with different angles. I'd spend a half hour taking a bajillion screenshots of people, combining some or just going for the really different angles to try and make my style my own.
Then this site rolled around and my style became heavily influenced by Jennafae (Just erin). TAC began a bigger and stronger presence in my life and with it came Poser. Julie was a huge influence from NS but ultimately it was Vex that really got me into it. I couldn't really mimic her style, it being so unique and obviously hers but then Eve and Adiene came out hard and heavy right from the start, both having their own style as well. So that kind of left me in the middle, I guess. So I started off with those nekked single light portraits, mostly because I didn't see the dramatic lighting pieces too often, but mostly because clothes pissed me off hehe.
You take your style from what you like and somemtimes you take risks. However, I've seen some risktaking pieces that did not hit the mark. In fact it made me cringe - so outrageously different doesn't, to me, mean unique. It just might mean you're trying too hard.
I like to do poser art from photos I've seen on DA. I did one that became one of the banners on SA.com Boobies are purdy. You know, I started off life thinking I'd be a writer, never an artist. That always implied that if you're an artists, the you can draw which I can't. NS/SMMO, TAC, DA - all those sites opened up my perception of art. You can find it every type of medium, even poser.
I'll be the first to admit that my style is a variation of like 5 people. There's nothing original about my stuffs. I remember meeting Gilae and she asked if I minded her using my style as a base for hers. I told her Id be happy to share the styles I ganked with her =) With screenshot art, I started off very cookie cutter but after a while I got sick of seeing the same set ups. So with the limited amount of freehand I could do, I decided to try and make my sigs unique with different angles. I'd spend a half hour taking a bajillion screenshots of people, combining some or just going for the really different angles to try and make my style my own.
Then this site rolled around and my style became heavily influenced by Jennafae (Just erin). TAC began a bigger and stronger presence in my life and with it came Poser. Julie was a huge influence from NS but ultimately it was Vex that really got me into it. I couldn't really mimic her style, it being so unique and obviously hers but then Eve and Adiene came out hard and heavy right from the start, both having their own style as well. So that kind of left me in the middle, I guess. So I started off with those nekked single light portraits, mostly because I didn't see the dramatic lighting pieces too often, but mostly because clothes pissed me off hehe.
You take your style from what you like and somemtimes you take risks. However, I've seen some risktaking pieces that did not hit the mark. In fact it made me cringe - so outrageously different doesn't, to me, mean unique. It just might mean you're trying too hard.
I like to do poser art from photos I've seen on DA. I did one that became one of the banners on SA.com Boobies are purdy. You know, I started off life thinking I'd be a writer, never an artist. That always implied that if you're an artists, the you can draw which I can't. NS/SMMO, TAC, DA - all those sites opened up my perception of art. You can find it every type of medium, even poser.
Rikr
19 years ago
This is really a great question. Its funny you asked this. I was just thinking about this the other day.
My answer is short and sweet. I've ganked everyting (stylewise) from lots of places. I don't feel that I have any particular style. My problem is I want to try so many different things, and I try them all. Then something else comes along that I want to try, and I try it...but I never stick to one thing too long This is a bad thing IMO, because I wont ever develop a style, if I don't stick to something longer than I do. I think having some form (I think) of ADD has something to do with this. :)
When I was doing sigs, I copied Roz and Gilae quite a bit.....it was Roz's sigs that brought me here to begin with. It was like Carol Ann going to the light.
My answer is short and sweet. I've ganked everyting (stylewise) from lots of places. I don't feel that I have any particular style. My problem is I want to try so many different things, and I try them all. Then something else comes along that I want to try, and I try it...but I never stick to one thing too long This is a bad thing IMO, because I wont ever develop a style, if I don't stick to something longer than I do. I think having some form (I think) of ADD has something to do with this. :)
When I was doing sigs, I copied Roz and Gilae quite a bit.....it was Roz's sigs that brought me here to begin with. It was like Carol Ann going to the light.
jadephyre
19 years ago
well, i dunno what my style is... i get a lot of my design ideas from Scifi Movies.
You could call me a copycat i guess :P
You could call me a copycat i guess :P
Lunna
19 years ago
How many truley original styles are there really in art these days? We are all influenced by what we see in the media, online, our peers, our life, our invironment, etc.
Personally I'm heavily influenced by Art Nouveau -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau -- and comic books. I love line art and the dynamic poses of comics. Is my style original? Probably not. Is it rip off or copycat? I don't think so. Just my 2 coppers.
Personally I'm heavily influenced by Art Nouveau -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau -- and comic books. I love line art and the dynamic poses of comics. Is my style original? Probably not. Is it rip off or copycat? I don't think so. Just my 2 coppers.
Verileah
19 years ago
Wow, great replies *grins*. Temp, this:
is exactly what I want to say but couldn't articulate. Maybe it's because I'm a gemini (I don't know much about that stuff) but I want to avoid getting stuck in a rut while at the same time having some definitions to guide me.
As far as ganking vs. learning from, inspired vs copycat...I think everyone has to define that for themselves. I personally am all for learning from other artists and at the level I'm at, I don't sweat it all that much but I feel it's a good thing to question yourself about every so often.
Oddly enough, two of the things I picked up in my reading over at CA deal with these matters of falling into a rut and ganking.
1. Learn -everything-. Of course they put it better, but they made a strong point in many places about how important it is to learn as much technique as you can, particularly related to the basic elements and principles of art. I think I see where this is coming from in part - I'm guessing a lot of people show up there and defend their pieces against criticism by claiming 'it's a style'. They've gotten good at identifying the fakers. Even so, I think it's valuable advice, and rather than claiming you should head off in one direction, they're saying to constantly push yourself to learn. I think their point is (and this applies to all media) that you shouldn't ever not do something just because you don't know how. That you shouldn't just take the easier road and call it style.
2. Study the masters. Study art history. Find out what you like. I think this is what separates 'style' from 'gimmick'. A style is a choice rooted in knowledge and based on what you believe is aesthetically pleasing. A gimmick is something you throw down to 'look original' and to give things 'a little flair'.
Sooo....what can those of us on TAC who are interested do? There's a bajillion exercises out there to learn technique, but I don't know that we could do that sort of thing as a group here. There just wouldn't be a way to make things appeal to all media :\. If people have ideas though, I'm game to try new things.
What I think we -can- do (and I think this topic is proof of that) is talk. I can sit around and read my art history books and browse the web for artists, but what I can't do alone is have a conversation about what I like and dislike about art and artists. I'd love to have a thread where we honestly hash this stuff out among our peers, without anyone looking over our shoulder and screaming that 'you can't -say- that about the masters!' I'd like to have a place where what matters is our opinions. One thing (among many) that I like about TAC is our ability to be totally irreverent :D.
So...I'm going to start a thread, and if it turns out to be just me blogging I'll pull it off and stick it in a blog *smiles*. But I'd like to see if we can get dialogue going on personal taste with respect to other artists.
Other ideas we can do together would be great :).
Yes, I would LOVE to find a way to define what my current style is even if only to recognize it and try to push myself to move in different directions to see if I can grow and evolve some.
is exactly what I want to say but couldn't articulate. Maybe it's because I'm a gemini (I don't know much about that stuff) but I want to avoid getting stuck in a rut while at the same time having some definitions to guide me.
As far as ganking vs. learning from, inspired vs copycat...I think everyone has to define that for themselves. I personally am all for learning from other artists and at the level I'm at, I don't sweat it all that much but I feel it's a good thing to question yourself about every so often.
Oddly enough, two of the things I picked up in my reading over at CA deal with these matters of falling into a rut and ganking.
1. Learn -everything-. Of course they put it better, but they made a strong point in many places about how important it is to learn as much technique as you can, particularly related to the basic elements and principles of art. I think I see where this is coming from in part - I'm guessing a lot of people show up there and defend their pieces against criticism by claiming 'it's a style'. They've gotten good at identifying the fakers. Even so, I think it's valuable advice, and rather than claiming you should head off in one direction, they're saying to constantly push yourself to learn. I think their point is (and this applies to all media) that you shouldn't ever not do something just because you don't know how. That you shouldn't just take the easier road and call it style.
2. Study the masters. Study art history. Find out what you like. I think this is what separates 'style' from 'gimmick'. A style is a choice rooted in knowledge and based on what you believe is aesthetically pleasing. A gimmick is something you throw down to 'look original' and to give things 'a little flair'.
Sooo....what can those of us on TAC who are interested do? There's a bajillion exercises out there to learn technique, but I don't know that we could do that sort of thing as a group here. There just wouldn't be a way to make things appeal to all media :\. If people have ideas though, I'm game to try new things.
What I think we -can- do (and I think this topic is proof of that) is talk. I can sit around and read my art history books and browse the web for artists, but what I can't do alone is have a conversation about what I like and dislike about art and artists. I'd love to have a thread where we honestly hash this stuff out among our peers, without anyone looking over our shoulder and screaming that 'you can't -say- that about the masters!' I'd like to have a place where what matters is our opinions. One thing (among many) that I like about TAC is our ability to be totally irreverent :D.
So...I'm going to start a thread, and if it turns out to be just me blogging I'll pull it off and stick it in a blog *smiles*. But I'd like to see if we can get dialogue going on personal taste with respect to other artists.
Other ideas we can do together would be great :).
Temprah
19 years ago
I love that idea! In school I was never very "into" art. I was all about writing, so I haven't exposed myself to a lot of the masters, really.