Your art style is your superpower

Your style is your signature.

In the creative industry as well as in pursuing art as a passion, we often judge ourselves based on our own style. We don't realize how much authenticity our creative style brings into our work. Whether it's a painting, a poem, or a song—authenticity flows from within us, and our style reflects pieces of our inner world. It's almost as if we're creating our own personal trademark, one that makes us recognizable. Often, people remember us through the style of our work rather than by name. Visually, we tend to remember people more easily—and with them, their art.

Even if we haven't found our style yet, or if we have several—that's perfectly okay! We can still create beautiful, meaningful works, even—often—without being fully aware of it. That’s still our superpower. Having your own style doesn’t make you any less artistically valuable in the chaos of realism. There will always be a group of people who resonate with your art. Appreciate gestures and people—not numbers! This is an important aspect we often forget: that it’s people who support us, not social media stats.

Without looking through the lens of monetizing art through social media, we should pause to reflect and learn to appreciate even the smallest achievements we reach—especially those outside the social media realm. The number of likes or followers you receive does not define whether your artistic style is better or worse.

Artistic styles are like everything else in this world. Some resonate with us, some don’t. We must remember that art will never be objective. Our work may only appeal to a small audience, but that doesn't mean we should change our style or give up our passion or hobby. Like I mentioned earlier—your style is your signature. Something that is yours and only yours. Even when we encounter artists who replicate the styles of others, we can still often recognize the original creators.

Process of finding your style

Interestingly, in the process of finding your style, it may turn out to be very similar to your inspirations. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as it doesn’t distort originality. After all, you don’t want to be a copy of someone else—you want to be your own original, especially in the world of art, right?

When taking their first steps, people usually fall into one of two paths when it comes to finding their style.
The first is drawing entirely from imagination—to allow full control, or rather to let go of control, and be carried by one’s own creativity.
The second suggests seeking inspiration, looking at works while creating, and trying to recreate a certain style with your own additions and modifications.

I don’t have a clear opinion on which approach is the “right” one. Through self-reflection, I can admit that my path turned out to be the first one. I was too stubborn to let anyone influence my linework, which made the journey harder. Now, while refining the other drawing styles I’ve developed, I work with an inspiration collage. Once, I compiled three slides of sketches and drawings that visually spoke to me, and I started learning from them—mixing them together. So the second path entered my life, too, but at a later stage.

Our art style and pursue realism in art

Another issue is the pressure to pursue realism in art. Of course, there's beauty in being able to paint breathtaking, realistic portraits, landscapes, or still life scenes. We don’t dismiss the years of practice that go into that—but it’s not the only type of art that is valid. In contemporary art, we see many… interesting paintings that are far from realism. And yet, they still don’t lose their value. These works often focus on the message—on what they communicate. Your drawing style doesn’t have to be tied to a message or realism. It can be—but it doesn’t have to. Creating should first and foremost bring joy to the artist. There are so many branches of art and creation that you’ll easily find your place—or places, because you don’t need to limit yourself to just one niche.

How to find your art style?

Experiment. Try your hand at imitating creators who resonate with you, but don’t strictly stick to their style. Give yourself freedom when you feel like doing something differently. Also remember—style evolves over the years, and there’s nothing wrong with that! Allow yourself to grow and explore your abilities.

The process itself can be lengthy and tiring. Often we are too impatient to discover our own skills and polish them to the level we ourselves require. The trick, however, is to fall in love with the creative process itself. As we learn about different techniques and styles of creation, we also learn about ourselves and our own tastes. Sometimes we may like something that did not necessarily appeal to us at first. The same applies to work that has already been done. It is good to assimilate the fact that an artist sometimes has to create ‘bad’ art. One that doesn't appeal to us, probably won't appeal to most people - but still - it gives us a reflection, like any of our work. It shows us what we need to refine, what fields we are weaker in, or it illuminates a whole new perspective on making work from scratch.

Process of creating our style and seeing the progress

Certainly don't throw your work away. Even if they are ‘scribbled’ sketches - sometimes leave them tucked away in some file folder and in time you will not only see your progress, but maybe they will inspire you to create something even newer. 

On a self-reflective note, I can admit that I threw away a lot of my unsuccessful work and regret it to this day. I have not been able to compare my progression over the years fully for myself. It was only when I was able to find individual pieces of work tucked away between notebooks that I noticed the progress I had made, and on top of that, I caught a fresh perspective on an idea that at the time I hadn't managed to realise the way I wanted to. 

Looking back at one's work from years ago should not be embarrassing, but a moment where one feels pride in one's progress - even if it was only a few steps. I have not been a fan of talking about discipline in art, no less, in this case, I will use the belief that in the search for one's own style there is a need for the discipline to keep searching and training. It is important for our hand to ‘code’ the movements of our new style. It is also good to look nevertheless at reference pictures at the beginning of the adventure of finding a style or changing it.  We associate art with the creation of expressive works, either realistic or with a large, hidden message. However, we sometimes forget that each of us is different and therefore the art we create is also diverse. Although I myself am a huge fan of realism and continue to train myself in realism when it comes to portraying people, I more often create characters in my own cartoon style, which has slowly become my trademark.

Dont be ashamed of your style

Let's allow ourselves to catch skills widely without being ashamed of our style, having many of them or even not having one and creating it differently each time. Your art style should be your reason to smile and be proud, not ashamed and sad. 

Your style of creation is your superpower because it is authentically yours.