Recently I’ve been really digging into thinking about what it is I like about my work, and how to replicate it more often. I’ve discovered that what totally works for me right now is doing layers of loose watercolors to flesh out the painting, then going in with gouache and tightening things up, with a lot of mark making and texture.
This is a painting I recently completed with the lovely Noctemy as my muse was a really great “Aha!” moment for me. There have been a couple paintings recently where I had been playing with the concept of trying to replicate my drawing process with paint, and they had come out similar to this but I had no idea how I had gotten there! Most of it was total accidents, and it just kind of happened without me knowing.
So I sat down with this one and really tried to create some kind of formula for it, and I finally think I know what I’m doing now.
One thing I’ve been really learning lately is that this doesn’t just happen over night. If you look at my earlier work you can see these things starting to form, but there were only hints of it here and there. Over the course of several years this has been developing!
While they are similar, there has been a huge leap between these last two years!
The best way to find your style is to try everything that interests you, just do it. A lot of it will fail, and you will stumble a lot. Eventually you’ll see something evolving and becoming more consistent. It helps to look at your inspirations to see how they do it, and maybe take small bits of their process and see how it fits into yours.
Heck, I’m still trying to evolve it! The best and worst part of art is you never stop learning and changing. And honestly, that’s a good thing.
What are your thoughts on finding one’s style?
I Myself, am strange and unusual 