Art style and what it can do for your creative business

I talk a lot about art style because I think it’s the most important thing for an artist who wants to sell their art. Creating my art style meant honing in on qualities I loved in my paintings, and when I perfected my style, I fell in love with art all over again. 

What is an art style?

Your style is made of choices you make consistently in your artwork. 

Line and shape, color palette, subject matter, composition, and texture all play a role. 

If you paint with thick outlines consistently in your work, that’s part of your style. 

If you never use the color gray, that’s part of your style.

If you always include text in your work, that’s part of your style. 

If everything is consistently blurry, that’s part of your style.

You don’t “find” your art style. It’s not something you discover underneath your canvas or come across walking down the street. You must actively create it. In choosing to consistently use certain elements in your artwork, you make your own style. 

Some parts of your style are natural or unavoidable. 

For instance, your personal sleight of hand will show up no matter what genre you choose. It’s like handwriting. It develops however it develops, depending on how long your fingers are or how you learned to hold a paintbrush.

In another sense, realistic images are harder for me to create. I COULD push through that and practice hard and achieve that type of style if I wanted to. However, I like the ease and flow of illustration type work because it comes more natural to me, so I choose to practice in that direction instead. Some styles will come more naturally to you as well. 

Want to see my art style? You can look at my portfolio here.

What can an art style do for you?

An art style can:

• Make you feel confident + proud. 

This was the driving force for creating a consistent vibe for me. I was never satisfied with my illustrations. Nothing was cohesive. I was frustrated. People would send me images of other people’s art and say, “This totally reminded me of you!” and it was a piece of art I did NOT resonate with at all. It was discouraging.

When I focused on my art style, it grew into something I loved. I became proud of my work and suddenly I was comfortable showing it off to anyone willing to look at it. 

• Attract certain types of opportunities. 

What you put out is what you get back. Your artwork is no different.

When I developed my style, I noticed that the type of opportunities I attracted started to change. I still got contacted for art shows and gallery work, but I began to see messages about nursery murals in my inbox, as well as greeting cards, psychedelic commissions and children’s book contributions. My work looks like something that belongs in a kid’s book or in a trendy gift shop, so those are the opportunities that come to me.

Your work will attract opportunities that match your style.

• Bring you an audience that likes you for all of your work, not just one piece. 

When you produce a lot and create a consistent body of work, an audience will find you. The type of person that buys your work will depend on what kind of work it is.

When you’re hodge podge and wishy washy, your audience will not be uniform. One person will like one piece and dislike your others. Repeating customers will be a challenge for you without a style.

When your artwork is consistent, if a customer loves one piece, they’re likely to love all your pieces. With a style, your customers will all have a common taste, vibe, or interests. If your style is excellent, you may even start to form a community around your art.

• Help you with marketing. 

Art style and branding go hand in hand. Branding is another topic entirely — if you’re interested in personal branding you can check out my blog post here — but part of branding is visual brand. If you’re an artist you can rely on your art style for a huge portion of visual branding. Your marketing will become easier when you have a set of images that all align with each other to use.

If you aren’t aware already, this means more brand recognition, more sales and more money for you!! 

• Reduce overwhelm. 

The creative process can be stressful for some when they’re overwhelmed with options. You don’t want to be stressed and directionless. Setting parameters around your practice can help you focus, create more artwork, and create better work. My creative process is centered around my art style. You can read about my process here.

How to make your style

Some things come naturally and will never go away for you, just like your handwriting.

Other aspects you have to consciously choose and work on. 

To make an art style, you have to set defined rules for yourself. What choices will you consistently make every single time in your artwork?

When it comes to line and shape: Will you choose thick or thin lines? Rounded or sharp shapes? Black outline or colored? Heavy shading or flat colors? 

When it comes to subject matter: Will you make all your art central around the theme of plants? Death? Sex? Veganism? A political view? You’ll find that certain themes show up naturally according to your interests. You could be a portrait artist exclusively, or paint only pets, only landscapes, only abstract concepts, only still lifes, etc. For me, this is the category where I place the least amount of rules on my artwork, and compensate with strict rules in the other categories.

When it comes to texture: Will you use only watercolor? Ceramics? Collage? Colored pencil and marker combined? Medium and texture go hand in hand. My watercolor paints create a bumpy texture that shows up in my work. My digital paint creates a smooth texture that shows up in my work as well. Tiny lines and mark marking also shows up as texture, which you can layer on top of each other. A lot of small nuances in someone’s style comes down to the details of how they create texture.

When it comes to color palette: What’s your theme? Cool colors? Beachy hues? Vibrant or dull? To me, this is the most defining and immediately noticeable part of any art style. It was the first major rule I made and stuck to in my work.

When it comes to composition: How much space will you give between objects on the page? Do repeating motifs make a pattern? How do objects relate to each other? Many artists focus on composition as a method for conveying meaning. Putting something in the background as opposed to the foreground can send a message.

Set your own rules in these areas, and then follow them!

If you want to learn more about this, make sure to check out the Elements of Art Style class, where you can get a step-by-step guide on making your own signature art style.

Don’t wait for it to just happen

You create 90% of your art style with active choices and practice. 

Consistent choices in your artwork define your style. So first and foremost, be consistent! Stick with something for a while before you decide to try something else. A method might grow on you.

Also remember to practice often. Part of style is skill, and skills are only developed through experience, aka practice. 

Happy painting,

Carolyn Whittico