One of the questions I often get as a professional illustrator is about developing your own 'style'. How do you develop a creative style? This is often a big, important question for beginning artists and people often hope that I have the ultimate tip for this. The only way, however, to really develop your own style is: keep experimenting!
I developed my own style at the art academy. It didn't just happen overnight. My own style was always in the work I made, but at the academy I suddenly had a lot of time to discover this. You draw there every day, so there is a lot of room for experiment!
I started like this, below you see a picture of my first 'schouw', your first official final presentation! I was 18 when I made this. You can see that many different types of techniques and materials were used. That first year was all about 'trying out.' This has been an important part of my style discovery. You find out what you like and what you don't, what works well for you and what doesn't and which techniques you like and don't like.
For me, there were a number of steps I took, a number of techniques I discovered, and a number of key points where I discovered something new that really 'clicked' for me.
In my high school work I did a lot of sketchbook work, in a very loose, collage-like way. I loved drawing, but I loved cutting and pasting and making my sketchbook as thick as possible. When I discovered the laser cutter at art school, I got out of my sketchbook and started making more 3D objects. This was a really important step in my process. I suddenly learned what it's like to separate a shape from its background and really make it more of a simplified shape. I did this for a while and I still get a lot of pleasure out of making objects, instead of just 'drawings.'
So tip 1 to discover your own style: Step out of your sketchbook, make something new (something bigger, or something 3D!). See below the inspection of the following year. Already very different and in terms of 'style' much more sharpened. But certainly not how my work looks now!
The second important moment for me came when I discovered the riso printer. I had done screen printing before, which I really liked but also, if I'm completely honest: too much work to be able to experiment with it properly (I like to make work quickly!)
The riso printer gave me the same beautiful graphic effects as with screen printing, but also gave me a lot of freedom to try out a lot in terms of color and shape in a short time. With this I not only discovered the technique that I still like to work with, but also how you let the creative process lead over your 'idea.'
I only came up with the shapes for the patterns below, but in terms of colours I tried out a lot and also experimented a lot with different colours of paper and different layers. I had not thought of all of these in advance. This is the mantelpiece of year 3 and you can already see my current style coming back a lot more here. You can even still find a number of these prints in my webshop (I really printed thousands of patterns, so I had a whole pile that is only now starting to get empty).
Tip 2 is therefore: let go of your ideas, just get started and let your intuition guide you.
After this I was not only busy with the riso printer. Although I started using it a lot I also always liked to paint. At this time I already had a clear idea about my style and what kind of designs felt good to me. The last step was actually just to sharpen and to be able to translate the experimental way of riso printing digitally. That is why I challenged myself for a long time to go through all the functions with the digital programs I worked in to see what they do. Because of this I now have a very good feeling of what is possible and what works in Adobe Illustrator and also how wild you can go with shape and color.
Tip 3: Don't be afraid to learn something new. Try all the features of a program, even if it is out of your comfort zone or you think it is useless.
Ultimately, the way I work isn’t that far removed from the way I did it in high school. Back then, it was more instinctive and less honed, but I liked to experiment, skip the actual thinking of ideas, and work on my work in a collage-like, graphic way. So your style is already really in the work you’re making now. You just have to find what makes it truly yours.
An assignment I sometimes give during my illustration course is this:
Make a mood board with all the random magazines you have. This is not a mood board with only art and illustrations, but one with everything you find interesting or fun. This can be anything from birds to stew. Then analyze what you have pasted. What are the similarities in terms of shape, color, subject or composition? Do you have a lot of graphic patterns in between? Do you often use the color blue? Do you mainly cut out people's faces?
That is something you will then make your next illustrations about. Because then you have discovered your sources of inspiration, your fascinations. That is already half of your style.
If you think you're almost there but sometimes just need some help with the process: I also offer creative 1 on 1 coaching! If you would like someone to take a look at your portfolio, the work you have made so far and think about the next creative steps you can take, you can send me an email and we can book a session.
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