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How to Find and Define Your Art Style

This week, we are discussing the age-old existential question of, “What is my art style?”. If you are reading this, you likely already have some inkling of what your style is. That said, how do you know if it is right for you? Likewise, even if you already have a style, it doesn’t mean that you should stop evolving it, especially in the wake of AI becoming an increasingly useful collaborative tool.

Let’s dive in.

What is an art style?

In its simplest form, an art style is a recognizable way in which you create. It tells the casual viewer that a piece of art is yours, and acts as an artistic signature or fingerprint.

Your style can consist of the subjects or characters you create. For example, artist Mumbot has developed a signature character called Aughostus, which appears in many of her artworks.

Your style can also be related to your medium, or a message you choose to convey with your art. It can even relate to a color palette. Artist VanGoDoodle for example, is renowned for delightful purple art that explores the themes of mental health.

Do I need an art style?

There are different schools of thought out there with regards to finding your art style. While some find it absolutely necessary to land on a distinct recognizable artistic signature, others believe that it is not only okay, but essential to keep evolving your art practice and experiment with different styles and mediums.

First things first — there are plenty of successful artists who don’t have an immediately recognizable style. Hence ultimately, we believe that as artists, you should embrace what feels authentic. That could be honing in on your point of differentiation, or going completely wild with experimentation, so long as you are creating in a way that keeps speaking to you.

Nonetheless, it can still be incredibly powerful to find and more importantly define your art style. It makes it easier to put your art into words, and can also be useful in introducing yourself to prospective buyers and collectors.

Tips to finding your art style

Firstly, developing your own personal art style should not be feel daunting. While some may describe finding their style as something mystical and elusive, we believe that just like any other element of the artistic process, it can equally be deliberate and intentional.

Lean into the knowledge that style can be something that you build, brick by brick.

#1: Make a lot of art

The best way to finding your art style is to keep creating. The more art you create, the more likely you are to hone your skills and identify what makes you tick.

If you can, develop a daily practice. Artists like Sylvo have committed to creating art daily to explore the boundaries of what’s possible. Do everything you can to keep the creative juices flowing, and recognize that these do not have to be finished pieces and can also take the form of rough sketches.

#2: Analyze your own work

Now that you have created a whole portfolio of work, put them altogether! Create a mood board, either digitally using a platform like Pinterest, or assembling them as a simple collage, or better yet — create a physical board.

Once you have all of your artwork gathered side by side, you can go ahead to jot down what you like about your art. See what trends you can pick up on, and if there are colors, stylistic elements, or subjects that stick out to you.

#3: Identify artists and art styles that resonate with you

Pick a handful of artists and/or art styles that you really really love. Feel free to mix and match different inspirations, but make sure that each of these relates in some way to the type of work you want to create.

For example, you could be a digital illustrator, but could still pick the work of a watercolorist if you are inspired by their color palette. Likewise, you could be a character artist, but could similarly be inspired by an artist of a different medium whose line work you admire.

#4: Understand and get inspired by the elements that you like

After selecting a few artists and art styles that you love, analyze their work in the same way you have analyzed yours. What is it that you like about their work?

Write down the various elements you like about each piece, and think about whether it has a role to play in your work. We want to be clear. This does not mean literally copying the work of others, but rather drawing inspiration from different sources and combining them into your own work.

Note, you can do this with AI too! Artist Marleen Weijman recently created pieces that was based off prompts that she had fed into AI text-to-image generators.

#5: Don’t be afraid to pivot and evolve

Pivoting may sometimes carry a negative connotation. That said, it simply means adjusting your direction if something is not working out. All artists will pivot and evolve their style as they continue to garner new sources of inspiration

Artist lilyillo used to focus her work on hand-drawn illustrations, but she now makes AI a part of her process. Similarly, Box Palette has developed a different style for selling her work on a different blockchain.

Closing Thoughts

These tips are meant to serve as a starting point in helping you find your art style.

Ultimately, style is something that is deeply personal, and beyond the tips we shared, we also want you to remember the following:

• Every artist has their own timeline. Commit to the practice of finding your style, but be patient.

• Create the way you love, not how you feel you should.

• Be open to feedback, but stay true to yourself.

• Keep analyzing and re-analyzing your work, and don’t be afraid to evolve your style over time.

• Lastly, enjoy the process! Creating art and discovering yourself through it should be fun.

In the News

Industry News

• Twitter has officially rebranded to X - check out what this means and what new product features could be coming to what was formerly known as the bird app.

• Despite market conditions, several galleries and physical spaces are still bullish about digital art and displaying NFTs.

• Mastercard’s Web3 Artist Accelerator for musicians will be debuting AI-driven singles by five exceptional artists, demonstrating their commitment to embracing emerging technology.

• Apple has been testing Apple GPT, which includes large generative models and an AI chat bot that could rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Tools and Resources

• What are some of the life lessons from some of the world’s greatest digital artists? Monty Medici from The Monty Report compiles them based on his interviews with the likes of Grant Yun, Emily Xie, and more.

Notable Creators

• Muralist, designer, and illustrator Efdot is celebrating the underlying and eternal beauty of the natural world through his latest collection, Elements.

• Learn about how Jack Butcher’s custom ThreadGuy Opepen Edition went viral, and ended up taking over our entire timeline.

• The Jackson Pollack Studio launched a collection of NFTs from Pollock’s studio floor, making over $500K of sales in 3 days.

Artist Grants and Opportunities

• Calling all photographers! Get your work displayed in Bali, Indonesia at Superlative Gallery as part of World Photography Day. This is a 48 hour only open call, so learn more and apply by July 26, 9am PT.

• HUG is offering $500 USD grants to two artists each month in exchange for unminted artwork to raffle off to our community. Learn more and meet all our HUG Visionaries here.

• Take part in 404, August 2023 Art Catalog, where glitch artist Patrick Amadon will be acquiring $3,500 of submitted art, alongside a number of different collectors. Learn more and apply here.

This Week’s Art Drops

Did you know that these are just 8 of 300+ art drops on HUG? Get a full list of this week’s art drops from HUG here.