Alright, here’s a thread on that elusive thing called ~art style~ and how I recently found one that made me happy! (For now)

Ft. Art from 2017 vs 2020

Ok as always, starting this off by saying this is just my own experience and a lot of the stuff I talk about only really applies to me! It’s NOT a guide or definitive path.

Also, I still think that a defined style isn’t what makes or breaks art, but we’ll come back 2 that

Ok so, this all started late march this year when my wrist went owie and I had a lot of time to think about my art instead of just making whatever it was that came to mind next. Turns out this was really important...lol

For reference, I’ve been making digital art since 2013, and ACTIVELY making art since 2017. Actively meaning actually putting out every week (or more recently, every other day) instead of making something every other month.

Before 2018, style wasn’t really the first thing on my mind, but it was still a really important period of experimenting and just...making things... that let me form the skeleton of everything that came after. Really basic things like anatomy, subjects, composition... the core.

Like, I made a bunch of different art about different, disconnected things, but it helped me practice anatomy, composition, proportions, and finding what was I trying to say with my art. It’s not active thinking, but the kind of stuff that ends up being instinct!

Stuff like, the fact that I like drawing natural backgrounds and clothes, that I LOVE texture, and prefer planti furries instead of digi/feral. Also did a lot of studies/pose refs to understand anatomy! Fundamentals I hammered in thru sheer repetition.

So in 2019, I really picked up the pace at which I made art. Partially because my audience was growing, but mostly because I started being happy about the result. A lot of that core anatomy/technique development was kicking in, and the art was FUN to make!

And if there’s one thing I hope you’ll take away from this thread, it’s that developing a style is useless if you’re not already having fun making your art. You don’t have to be 100% satisfied with everything, but having fun is what lets you find which parts you enjoy doing!

Everything I’ll talk about here on are like the icing on the cake—for presentation only. Decorating is fun, but only because I can see what cake I’m icing? This is a bad analogy. ANYWAYS.

So come March, I was nursing my dumb wrist and thinking about which parts of my art made me happy. As much as I liked making art in general, I felt disconnected from the result. I liked it, it just didn’t reflect the aesthetics I actually enjoy?

I love critique, so I turned it on my own art. What would I say to this piece?

Moss, It feels overwhelmingly digital. Saturated colours and smooth gradients everywhere. The characters get lost in how much is going on everywhere else. Is it that important?

My problem was that there was TOO MUCH going on, and the actual story was getting lost. I was much more happy with the simpler supervibrants that gave the character space to breathe, with minimal shading.

And the feeling I wanted to express with my cinematic art has always been softer and more gentle... so how do I convey that?

First, I tackled the colours. Everything was too saturated, so I made a dedicated neutral colour palette to pick from. I also found a way to neutralize any colour towards my new scheme! V useful for matching ocs.

I’m also really influenced by print texture/techniques, so I wanted to keep a limited range of bright “spot colours” that gave a kick to my neutrals. This works really well with the supervibrants too!

Then, I narrowed down my toolkit. I did NOT need 300+ brushes to pick from! I made a favourites list of brushes that worked well together. These all have textures that I liked, and there was a wide enough range to cover all my needs. Flats, washes, halftones...

and a liner. I have a love/hate relationship with lines. They used to take me EONS, which i hated, but it was still fun and also fundamental to how my shapes form. So I compromised and went with a liner with no pen pressure. The shapes could stay, but no more thinking abt weight!

And when I put it all together, it adds a coat of polish that ties all the fundamental messages and branches of art I make into something that belongs together. And...that’s what style is, to me! Packaging that makes all the stuff I make look like part of the same whole.