Developing a creative style and stepping into the artist you want to become is a process so unique to you and may take some longer than others to understand. Your style is your color palette, linework, brushstrokes, marking in addition to your skillset, subject matter, and medium. It’s also your unique perspective and values. Some also choose to focus a creative style on the process or the feeling it evokes within them rather than what it visually represents. This not only applies to art but also to design, style, blogging, photography, etc. Below are some of my favorites ways to help begin to develop and understand your own creative style.
Learn how to feel inspired
There is a specific feeling you get when you see something that inspires you. Usually, it moves you in some way and motivates you to create in that very moment. Learn to identify this feeling. Then, begin to build a library of the things that make you feel inspired.
Processing inspiration is much different than physically copying. Instead of turning to your inspiration as a place to make work from, take time to live with your inspiration, and digest the parts that really excite you. It might be the colors, textures, personality, or paragraph structure. Discovering yourself within the details will help you identify yourself creatively.
Start making work that’s not meant to be shared
Take time to let yourself just create, flex your creative muscle, and reiterate your work in endless forms. From your library of inspiration, pinpoint the specific aspects that excite you and begin playing around with those details. Give yourself the mental and physical space to begin making. Experimenting freely without the fear of judgment from others is enlightening. Naturally, your personality and your hand will show in your work.
Begin to react, not to be confused with judgment, to the work you are creating. Go back to that feeling of inspiration and analyze if you still feel that way about the marks you are creating. Continue to refine, practice, and create.
Don’t be scared of growth
As mentioned at the very beginning, your creative style will evolve. It’s inevitable—without change, there will never be growth. When you find details, topics, subject matters that resonate within you, pursue that. Make tests, experiment, and let yourself just create.
Creative style is a fickle thing. There’s anticipation that where you are now is what your work should always look like. Take a moment to embrace the beautiful things about creative style and let that inspire you. Share the joy in your work and others will feel that passion.
