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clockbirds — 2016 vs 2017: thoughts on consistent art styles?
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Published: 2017-05-28 05:41:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 13117; Favourites: 483; Downloads: 70
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i just finished the image on the right today (it's for a larger reference sheet for my dragon oc, emphia. i'll be posting that once i finish painting the anthro design *v*)in the mean time, i thought i would post this up with a comparison against a drawing of the same character i made a little over a year ago. this isn't so much for showing off improvement or anything, i didn't actually start the more recent drawing intending for it do be a redraw (they just kind turned out with similar-ish poses haha)
but i thought it would be a cool opportunity to ask people what their opinions/experiences are with having consistent, recognizable 'styles' of art? especially anyone who has ever had, or currently has, a consistent way of drawing - what's that like? i'm genuinely curious to learn how people found art styles that so deeply resonated with them that they're able to stick with it over a long period of time. like, i know for the longest time (and tbh even now) i really, really wished i had a go to way for drawing eyes/heads/expressions/body types, as well as for lining/shading/colouring etc... because i always thought it would make life SOOOOO much easier. even more so now that i've started doing commissions and it's important to be able to deliver consistent products. but clearly after 10 bloody years of drawing i still haven't had much success doing that lmao
in the past, i've had periods where i /thought/ i found an art style i liked and could stick with, but those never lasted any longer than a few months. either i just got bored of drawing things in the same way and with the same process, or i'll see some art and go holy shit i want to NEED TO draw like that now. and so that's my other question to people who have a consistent art style - have you ever felt the need to change? if you currently have a super clean, crisp colouring style but you really appreciate soft, realistic, textured shading - what stops you from changing?
this time last year i was still on the sketch-line-flats-cellshade bandwagon (drawing on left) and i only adopted the more paint-y, lineartless style about a month later. in hindsight, it was the best decision of my life but at the time it was a HUGE change for me. i literally just ditched the reliable lineart-flat-shade process that was so familiar to me and which i had been using since i STARTED drawing. figuring out how to paint and shade with no lines was a huge, unexpected learning curve that at times made me feel like i was back at square one and having to relearn a lot of the basic stuff. i think i'm back on track now though. still a lot of learning and practice to be done but i'm definitely not as discouraged about my art as i was a while ago. ANYWAY, let me know your thoughts and experiences on the whole art styles thing!
also thank you all for your amazing support and comments <333 art has become such a bigger part of my life now and i'm superrrr happy about that (i'm kicking myself for doing so little drawing throughout uni ;v
i just passed 1000 followers on tumblr, which finally brings it up to speed with da and fa. so i'm definitely hoping to do some sort of a giveaway across all those sites soon! <333
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Comments: 37
what the hecc, that change tho! its amazing!
but anyway, what inspired you to ditch linework in your art?
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I think you had a drawing style back then. It's not just how you paint but also what you paint and in which medium. I'm struggling really hard right now because I use so many different things and I feel like the style I'm sketching is kinda stolen from other people.
In my opinion everything is okay if you just like what you are doing and I defintly love your work. It's one of the uniquest and most recognizeable styles I know (:
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awww thank you so much for the comment <33 i'm glad to hear my style is recognisable!
but i definitely know what you're feeling about taking bits and pieces from other people and having so many different influences and inspirations *o*
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Everytime I stunning artwork I'm Like: I need to draw like this. Right now ^^
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I think the shift in your style looks wonderful, I really love the creamy, smooth rendering you've got now. :] Thanks for sharing your thoughts on style as well! Great way to get a discussion going.
I think style is a really big issue for developing artists because so many people are told to push it out of the way to make room to build fundamental skills first (anatomy, lighting, perspective, etc.) However, many professionals believe it's important to nurture both one's foundations and individuality as an artist (and I agree), but of course people should do whatever feels natural to them and their art journey. :]
After finishing art school, I am constantly worrying about whether my art looks fundamentally correct and don't spend enough time thinking about whether it actually looks beautiful haha. As a result, I've been told that my older works are much nicer to look at in spite of the faulty fundamentals hahaha~ I still haven't even discovered what I actually want my art to look like! I think a good style should be one you can describe to another person in words, and I can't do that just yet. ^^ Hopefully soon!
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ahh no worries, i love rambling on about art with other people *v* i only recently realised how much i care about drawing and improving, but i don't have many rl friends to talk to about the subject matter haha (SO INTERNET NEXT BEST OUTLET /CLINGS)
anyway, thank you for commenting and those are some really good points! its really interesting to know how people who are actually in the professional industry view the matter. having a defined and unique style would certainly make your work a lot more recognisable and easy to market/produce.
haha that's a terrible irony, but i can totally relate!! i've been trying to work on my colour choices recently to make them more realistic and complex since i felt i was relying too heavily on high contrast and saturation to create really superficially 'pretty' art in my older pieces. and i know a lot of people like to ooh and ahh over bright glowy things, but restraining my use of those has really helped my learn a lot even if my newer pieces aren't as necessarily beautiful to look at~ your current work is absolutely stunninggggg <333 i think you're definitely on the right track with you art, i hope you'll be able to find a style you're comfortable and happy with soon!
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I totally getcha, I don't have rl friends to talk about it with either! ; w; thank goodness for the internet haha~
I suppose it's part of maturing as an artist that one's work goes through phases of blandness haha, but really I think your current pieces look amazing! There's something to be appreciated in your older work too of course, but I can see in your newer style you're stretching your skills quite a bit more. :]
But I'm really happy you like my work haha~ I hope the same, I guess I just have to keep working on it. :]
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I love your style now and then, both represent different feeling and experiences, and I totally have the same story as yours.
I always thought that I found my style and tried to stick with it but somehow when time passed, it changed.
And then I told my self, that was another lesson of my life. I think all these previous styles still have some little pieces in me and one day they will contribute to my own style.
I appreciate how humble and supportive you are. You're an amazing talented artist and I'm glad that I got to know you.
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yes that's such a good way of thinking about it!
i think i spend way too long ruminating on the time i think i wasted trying to pursue a particular style that didn't work out in the end. but in hindsight, i can see how it wasn't a waste of time and there were plenty of things i learnt from drawing the way i did that still reflect in my art today.
and homg thank you friend <333 (and right back at ya!)
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Goodness, that's AMAZING. And I say totally let your style grow and change.
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ahhh thank you for your insight!! i can definitely agree that being too concerned about setting a style for yourself is torturous ;v; and its only in retrospect that i've realised how much time i've wasted trying to do it? there's definitely a point to letting it develop naturally, and having it parallel your skills and knowledge as an artist. and it happens at different speeds for different people. can definitely agree that forcing a style on yourself is not the way to go - have personally experienced all the dissatisfaction and frustration when i tried to do that T^T
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I absolutely have little consistency. Part of it is being on a constant path of learning (I have so much to learn it ain't funny), looking at others peoples arts and finding out what I like and how I can integrate it into what and how I draw. 'Personal style' is really a hole you can put yourself in once you feel like you've achieved some sort of 'mastery' but it will not sit still until you've mastered the basics. If you find people with consistent styles they have mastered art foundation and have made conscious choices about what 'mistakes' they want to put into their work that strays from realism.... That is what style is. The conscious choices you make about colour, proportions, physics etc. that stray from realism. Of course, there are also people who have stagnated into a 'style' and find little to no improvement for long periods of time. If you're not doing that on purpose it can make you feel like you're stuck and not improving, that is what art block feels like in my opinion. My two cents.
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oh yes so true, that's really well put!! i know a lot of people with really simplistic, dynamic art styles typically have massive portfolios of realism and studies that really show their artistic understanding. i can totally understand how people who have attained a certain level of mastery would then find it a lot easier to solely work in the single style that's enjoyable and interesting for them!
it's definitely the people who stagnate into a certain restrictive style over a long period of time who baffle me the most. i'm very much subscribed to the definition of art block being that period where your knowledge/eye for what is good art exceeds your current skill level for making it. for me that'll happen every few weeks or so whereas for others its a much longer stretch of time.
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I agree too. The 'artistic eye' developing faster than skills is a cycle that is pretty frustrating... but a good sign you're getting better.
I hope the day you develop a style on purpose instead of by accident is sooner rather than later!!
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Sometimes I feel having a consistent art style is limiting and aggravating. My consistent art style has me draw everything in the same way and I feel like as a result I improve REALLY slowly.
I saw the new drawing on the right when you posted on tumblr and I GASPED bc wow they look so majestic! I love love how you paint scales!
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god i can imagine! you seriously have one of the most recognisable styles on neo, i could always recognise a beauty contest entry was yours from a mile away *U* but it can definitely be a hard thing to break out of, esp if you've been drawing the same way/using the same process for years ;; what aspects of your art do you feel like you need to improve on?
and thank you <333 (and also, it is apparently ur birthday tomorrow??? /whispers happy birthday *^*)
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Omg really? ;o;
Mmm I feel really limited when it comes to drawing different animals. Anthrax are really difficult for me, too, but I'm working on that.
You're welcome! (thank you!)
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Whenever people tell me that they like my style I'm secretly like WFT what made you think I had a 'style'?! Like seriously, I feel like my art looks so different in every piece (some have outlines, some don't some are cel-shaded, some are not ...) the only consistent thing is probably that I LOVE using a lot of colors and that most of my drawings have a background. I've always been trying to figure out what style works best for me and I still am
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i feel you bro! i remember when i first started drawing every piece would look different from the next. for some reason even when i was TRYING to aim for some consistency, things would still do awry haha and yessss colours and backgrounds are <333 i think even without a particular drawing style myself, a lot of my own work is distinguishable simply because it has a heavy focus on background lmao
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My stye has changed so ridiculously over the past 2 years, oh my god. I went from stick figures to like "WOAH THAT PERSON'S ART IS HELLA GOOD LET ME TRY TO IMPROVE". So my changes are definitely shaped by other people's work. I honestly don't think much of changing styles. Other people may be like, "Oh, your new style is super pretty! I sort of like the old one though :0", but honestly, just draw with whatever style makes you feel comfortable at the time.
Consistent art styles may be nice, but they aren't really necessary. I think people who have them are just really happy with whatever they're doing at the time, but if you're not, that's not a bad thing! That means you're still improving as much as you can! (I like both the 2017 and 2017 versions, btw. They're beautiful <3)
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really good points, thank you!!
i'm glad to hear you've managed to work your way out of stick figures in the last two years haha xDD and it's definitely a good thing not to be restricted to any singular style early in your art career, its honestly the best time to be experimental and flexible in the work you're putting out.
it's weird i can never imagine being happy with my work or a set style, you'll always see something someone else draws and be like MUCH ENVY
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I'm not an artist, but I'd say it's habit for some people. We are creatures of habit.
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I prefer the colouring of the new one but I actually like the old one better just because its a lot more eye catching and lively ^^ Both are great in their own ways though
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thank you!!
yup the old one definitely still has its charms haha which is why the new one isn't really a redraw, just a way to... illustrate a point i guess *w*
i really liked the composition of the old one and remember thinking i was a genius for making the figure 8 with the water when i sketched it xDD
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I agree with Kaiodi, its good to have a semi consistent art style which is whatever you enjoy and marks your art and yours, but it's also really good to experiment with different styles cause sometimes you can learn new things to apply to your normal way of doing things? I just think experimenting in general is a super great thing to do.
I quite like painting, starting from rough and refining at I go along or dabbling with textures and different brushes. It's relaxing most of the time, Unlike with lineart which usually drives me up the wall because I can never seem to get in quite where I wanted it. I actually used to do lineart things a lot from 2010 to late 2012, after that I started to mess more in Photoshop and gradually shifted into painting without doing linearts etc. After I had an accident which resulted in a hand injury I gave up on lineart all together and got more into the painting side of things. Holding a pen tightly to do that lineart got too painful, meanwhile painting I could keep everything loose and not worry about it being perfect. Even though my hands fixed now, I will keep on with my way of painting. I'm still trying to branch out and experiment with different things as I'd like to get way more into things like character / creature / environmental design and concept art.
I think thats why I enjoy painting so much, to me you can either be in control or just let loose and see what happens. It's relaxing that freedom I suppose, and you can get more expressive with textures and so on that I dont feel I can get with linearted / cell shaded type pieces. I dont think style can be kept concrete into one thing, its something that you always seem to be adding more to and expanding the more you draw 
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yessss i can feel you on everything you said about painting homg *u* there's something about that's so much more intuitive and natural to me.
did you ever find that sometimes lineart would just take too long and by the time you finished you could already start seeing the flaws and problems and it would just get worse once you started laying down the colours (and oh god don't get me started on flats, because damn my work always looked like shit when i started laying the base colours down orz) also that feel when the lines don't look as good as the sketch? /whispers slay me now ;w;
i'm glad i'm not the only one who gripped their pen too tightly when lining~ sounds like that hand injury was serendipitous in hindsight haha xD
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Oh all the friggin time with lineart, it just ends up looking "ewwww" to me after a while whenever i attempt it. Can look better when the flats come on and you start playing with it more but then you see all the mistakes and its like "end me now". Also the problem with the sketch looking better, feels like the lines and everything flow better? I don't know how to word it but it feels more natural and not as stiff? I take my hat off to anyone who can lineart and make it flow and look so beautiful, I wish I could figure out how to do that myself sometimes.
Ahh I had a fall which made art in general hard, Punched a hole right through my TFCC in my right hand. Was a pain in the butt to get fixed (and a pain 24/7) but it was kinda worth it in the end cause it did push me towards painting and exploring more with art in general 
Also your icon is absolutely adorable and I love it to pieces
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Honestly, I think style is irrelevant and it's pointless to think about it. Unless you're doing some kind of finished product (like comic, animation, illustrative series etc.) where you want to have consistent style from start to finish, thinking style is bad: it restricts your creativity and improvement. I remember thinking some years ago along the lines "I can't do it like this: it's not my style", and now I realise that that's poison, trying to keep to one style stops you from doing something you'd like to do, and slows down improvement as you don't try as much new stuff you could be trying out. Since I stopped giving a fuck about style, I've felt much better about my art and creating; I've number of styles I use whenever I feel like, and I'm not afraid of jumping to something else c:
Also, even though you wouldn't see it, most people who have been creating for years have a recognisable style even though it could vary a lot; you develop habits, techniques and preferences you might not even be aware of, but an outsider who experiences your art feels it and knows it's your art. Like, I personally never wonder who's art is it on my notifications when you upload, I unconsciously always know it's a 'clockbirds' piece.
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thank you for commenting and yes i totally get your point! i hate the thought of someone not being able to develop and improve once they feel like they've committed to a certain style.
i'm so glad to hear the not-giving-a-fuck about style anymore was so helpful for you and your art! it took me a while to get to that point, but i think i'm now content to accept that and the freedom that comes with it too *u*
at the same time, the fact that the restriction of a single style just isn't a problem at all for some just baffles me? like how does one stick with drawing in a certain way for everything for YEARS not get restless and start questioning themselves and their art? but i guess i'm also biased in that respect, since most artists aren't necessarily putting all of their art out in the public light and i will never see the art they're not publishing owo
and yes that's so true! its too easy to focus on really noticeable, salient characteristics when one thinks of art styles, especially things that come at the really start of the drawing process.
i think that's what i used to really envy when i looked at the art of people with consistent styles. i felt like my sketches never had that recognisable 'thing' about them, but it was everything that came after (the colouring, lighting, backgrounds etc...) that made it one of my pieces.
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While I think it is important to have a semi consistent art style, I definitely don't think artists should confine themselves to just one. Like maybe they have a cartoonier style they draw in sometimes and a more realistic one sometimes etc.
And of course, experimentation should never be out ruled because it goes against whatever style you have for yourself
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yes all the experimentation! interestingly variety & experimentation typically may lead to faster improvement and artistic growth, but at the same time style consistency will tend you make you and your work more marketable
i guess it also just comes down to an artists own personal values and what they're getting out the art they're making at the end of the day.
someone who's creating a product with a consistent aesthetic pretty much /has/ to make sure they're drawing in the same styles and using the same techniques.
whereas learning/more general artists have a lot more freedom and definitely should never feel like they MUST CHOOSE a style and stick with it for the rest of their lives Owo
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Definitely! It's also sort of a commissions vs personal work kind of a deal
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I never hade consitant style, its changes a bit. But less about me, THIS IS AMAZING!!
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yes join the club haha and awww thank you so much!
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