Exploring Style Evolution: How Personal Quirkiness Defines Your Art

Ever wondered how personal style evolves over time and how it's influenced where you least expect it? Welcome to this flavorful chat where I deconstruct my creative journey, highlighting how it was nurtured by familial influences and fresh perspectives gleaned from diverse cultural experiences. Let's embark on a style exploration together.

Starting off by reminiscing about my mother's Victorian-style sketches, I share how her artistic leanings found their way into my style. I venture into a whole array of techniques to enrich your practice.

Just dig deep into the courage it takes to explore new themes, the importance of seeking feedback from the art community, and how keeping abreast with current affairs can inspire your work.

Don't shy away from embracing your unique quirks because, as I’ve discovered, it's those personal touches that truly define your style.

So, join me in celebrating our creative evolution and forge your own path in this world of art.

Mama’s girls illustration

Today's doodle: a pickle dressed as a pageboy! 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

I wanted to thank everyone for following along. These have been so much fun to put together, and today I want to talk a little bit about style. This is such a huge topic in the creative world. So let's pick our doodle to get started, because I feel like I have a certain style in my doodling. If you look back on them, I think they all look a little similar and we'll talk about that. So our handy dandy want to draw is a pickle. It's a page boy. I think a page boy is in the wedding party of the royalty, those little guys dressed with the little tailed jacket, the red and gold in the certain hairstyle, the page boy hairstyle. So a pickle of the page boy. Okay, get this little party started.

Speaker 1: 1:23

So funny, I'm making homemade refrigerator pickles and getting the little mini cucumbers in the summer to make those, but my husband doesn't like them because he thinks they still taste like cucumbers and he hates cucumbers. I can't win and make them because I'll end up eating them all. I still do. I still make them, but they're so good, they just are so good. I'll continue to make them. I like them. So pickles, oh my, so yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:57

So this style, I feel like, is very loose and frilly and reminds me so much of my mom. My mom can draw like this and she always would draw things that were in her mind and like what she thought, especially children, and there was illustrating kids and women that look like in their Victorian era, because she likes drawing the little edges very roughly. And I feel like when I start to doodle it just emulates that's the right word, emulates. There we go, the style my mom had and I'll have to try to find some pictures that she's drawn. She drew a series of little girls and then I made a pattern out of them because I wanted her drawings on something and I'll have to find that and I brought them into my appropriate program and added some colors and just her style is just so cute and it reminds me of just growing up, when she would draw just like mom draw a cow or mom draw a girl or whatever, and she would draw and it would always look like that, so pencil or pens, squiggly, line style, and so I find my doodles looking like her work and it's just I don't mean it to be, it's just a style that happens to just come out of them drawing. So that's why I wanted to talk about how people are on a constant search for their style and what it's supposed to be and what it's supposed to look like, and I don't think that we land on something specific that is like concrete, solid.

Speaker 1: 3:46

This is your style and this is the only way that you're going to create, or the only way that you're going to create, a business. You're allowed to evolve. You're allowed to explore and try new things and add new things to your repertoire. You don't have to just stay in your lane. I hate when people say that because it's just no fun. There's no reason in the world that you can't take something new that you've learned and develop it into something that is you, and that's what I wanted to talk about is part of evolving and growing and developing, and there's. I mean, if everything stayed exactly the same as you started, that would be horribly boring. So your style is going to evolve, with all the things that influence you at that time and the people that you meet and the things that you do, and that's how your style, you know, ebbs and flows and transitions into representing you.

Speaker 1: 4:48

So your style isn't just one thing or one way, and I think that if we explore different ethnicities and cultures and, you know, diversity and really, looking at how you're drawn towards either a pattern or a set of colors, or maybe it's something in their heritage that you know someone celebrates and you just really, you know, get a lot of joy in learning about it and participating. That's going to develop you and your style and that's wonderful. That's what you need to do. So, if you're not in an area that has those opportunities, that's what your libraries are for. Go research and you know you've got a library in your pocket.

Speaker 1: 5:39

I guess you know you can Google stuff and look things up, but explore diversity and see the things that you are drawn to and other cultures, and this is a wonderful Pinterest activity is to create a private board. You know, make your board secret style and just start pinning everything in different cultures that draws your eye. Maybe it's a color palette, maybe it's a celebration, maybe it is something in their clothing patterns, maybe it's a certain hairstyle, maybe it is, you know, like I said, a celebration and the things that go along with that celebration, like the accessories or the the core that they use, or even the music, you know if something has got an amazing like tempo and it's fast and it's, you know, vibrant and loud. You can translate that into pattern and color and, just you know, really immerse yourself into a new culture and find what you love about it and explore it. That's going to really help you develop your style. You'll just take a small, you know, bit from that and translate that into your work or your business. You know, maybe you'll find out that there's a celebration that you would love to highlight and you could honor and, you know, create something around that and, just you know, broaden your mind and your outlook and see what you can do to celebrate things on a more global scale, and that's going to really help you to find your style. And then, another way that you can develop your style is try new techniques.

Speaker 1: 7:35

I know that when I started drawing digitally, it's been about five years now, I think on a consistent basis. Before that, I was painting mainly with acrylics and I didn't really explore or take classes for anything else. And since then, you know, I've taken oil painting classes and I've taken a watercolor class and I've taken a landscape class and I've taken tons of classes online, where they were, you know, printmaking and paper collaging and jewelry making and hand building with pottery, and just see what that does for your style, because you're going to look at, you know, these two-dimensional or three-dimensional things in a whole new life. Maybe you are someone that works with clay and porcelain and pottery and now you see that you could take those shapes and you could draw those out and make a beautiful fabric pattern to accompany some dishware that you're. You know, some dishes that you're creating, and you would have a print and your three-dimensional pieces. So just explore different techniques and different materials to you know, expand your style and textures and treatments and again pin everything on this board, your style board, and see what comes of it, see what develops, see what you can do with trying to look for new techniques. Maybe you don't, you know, have the funds I can't afford to, you know, invest money in tons of new materials this year.

Speaker 1: 9:17

I think this is the biggest investment of materials, where I got a laser last year so I could take my drawings and make three-dimensional products out of it. And then I tried new, different you know, new paints, new acrylic paints, golden brand, and never done that with some new classes that I was taking and that's been amazing. So you never know what you can do with new materials, but you can also research them on YouTube, for example. So look on YouTube for people using new materials that you're interested in to see if, okay, I do wanna try this. I do wanna learn how to crochet or knit. I don't know how to do it and I would love to have a machine because I think that would go faster. I'm terrible about being patient with needles and hooks, but I do wanna learn that. I need to learn the basics, but I love watching tutorials. I'm like, oh my gosh, they make it look so easy and I can start here. I can start with a little bit of being a beautiful yarn and one crochet hook and I can learn to do a square or whatever. So just explore.

Speaker 1: 10:35

Take a moment. If you're scrolling mindlessly on the internet, take a moment and research some new techniques and new materials and see what you can find. Or go to a new bookstore that you haven't been to. There's so many great used bookstores around here and I talked about those last week and I love finding like new DIY books and I just I have a whole library of books. I love finding new techniques and new things to do. I can remember in the early 90s learning how to vinegar paint and doing that on wood shelves and little boxes. The shaker was huge then, like Williamsburg colors, and I was getting these wooden nesting boxes and painting vinegar, painting them with these beautiful repeat patterns that they were just real old world looking. And I still have the little cabinet that I made and I just I still have some of the nesting boxes and it was just such a neat thing to see and do and learn and just explore, explore different techniques Even if you don't have your hands on them, look them up and find out how to do them and what it would cost to invest in it.

Speaker 1: 11:50

So another thing that you're going to have influence your style is really your personal preferences, and it's okay that maybe you like to stick with just painting and maybe I'll explore different techniques and different types of paint. Maybe you have no interest whatsoever to do sculpture or you know work in paper or photography. I mean that's totally fine. Your style is going to be influenced by what brings you joy and what you enjoy doing, because that's gone to radiate through your work and that's what's important. So it's totally okay for you to have a personal preference and it's going to come through.

Speaker 1: 12:30

Maybe you hate pastels and you're going to incorporate, you know, this color palette through all your work and it becomes your signature and so everything that you keep doing it's getting great feedback and you love seeing it out in the world. And let's say you've been doing it for three or four years and then you're like, well, I need a freshened things up. You know, pop in one bright neon color. You know, make something that has a little bit of a surprise that, oh, this is usually what this person does and now they're interjecting. You know, I don't know bright purple and it's, you know, a little bit of a game changer and that's good. But it's going to be your personal preference and that's going to translate into a style for you and explore that. You know it's okay to stick with what you know is in your heart and go with it for a while and then don't be afraid to mix it up a little bit by interjecting something that's unexpected. So just don't get so hardheaded about it. It's okay to explore, but you can stay with your personal preferences, practicing regularly.

Speaker 1: 13:45

I don't think that I can say this enough. I love getting up in the morning to the show Grand of my husband, and I mean early, like 4am, and drawing. I love having the quietness of doing that, while dogs are asleep and nobody is talking to me and I just time flies. I wish it stood still and it doesn't. It time will fly while I am creating something. If I am working on a painting and I can get up and I'm not bothering anybody and I can paint for a couple hours and it's just. I don't have to let dogs out, I don't have to do anything, I can make a cup of coffee and just dive into a project and just do that for a few hours. Oh, it's wonderful. I absolutely love it and if I could do that every day, I would, because it is just. It just fulfills such a need.

Speaker 1: 14:47

I have to create every day and you have to practice. And just if you don't have the ability to get up that early and have that time to yourself, if you have 15 minutes you know five minutes sitting down to draw ideas, write down a list, pin a few things, whatever you can do to practice your creative thoughts or practice something for your dreams, do it, find a moment to do that and Don't apologize for it. It's totally okay and you know you can make it work and Just just do something to practice what you love every day, if you can, and if you miss a day, don't be yourself up about it, it's okay, just you know. Get back up and practice the next day and don't throw anything away. I have said this multiple times keep things so you can see the progress that you're making. It's really, really important.

Speaker 1: 15:47

So look through different challenges to Help you develop, develop your style. There could be different themes, different seasons, different things that I'm Influence you to develop your style. I love following things on social media to help me get out of that rut of what am I going to work on this time? If it's the color or combos from a stay, my cloud, I love those. I love a stays, color combinations that are influenced from Art, history and historical or just you know, pieces that are already out in the world. It's such a great like twofold. You're learning something about an Artist and their style of work, and then the colors that are pulled from that Really help you like oh, this is going to be a beautiful landscape or still life, or I'm gonna draw an animal with this, and or maybe it's something I love the doing, folk art, and so for like six months I took those colors and I did a bunch of folk art series based on this colors and it was so much fun. I've got great feedback on those. So that may be something I will start back up in 2024, but it's just a boost.

Speaker 1: 17:03

It helps you get out of that blank page syndrome, staring at it going. What am I going to do today? So research themes and challenges and concepts and current events and Things that will make your creativity flourish. Don't be afraid to Jump in and participate in those. Even you don't have to share them. You don't want to share them, don't share them, but at least you know. Create your portfolio With things that are inspired by those concepts and other people and pin them and and just keep track of them, because that's gonna Help you develop your style. You'll find your voice in that. Maybe you realize that you have a heart for you know Allyship would say, and you're creating series of you know posters for like pride month, because you know you've got something to say and these colors translate well for this and you know they're very powerful. You never know what will come from your work based on concepts and themes and current events. So don't be afraid to have that part of your style and it's what you're known for. That's so important, because it's you and that that's that's what matters the most.

Speaker 1: 18:17

I know a couple of episodes ago talked about feedback and critique and it's okay to ask for it. So if you're creating something and you really want to know, okay, how's this look, and just be ready. People are gonna hate it, people are gonna love it, people are gonna tell you I don't like this. Color changes, background better, an outline around this. You know, do this. And you know looser style, tighter style, who knows? But if you're gonna ask for p feedback, be ready for it, because you're gonna get it. And If you don't have a huge following on social media, then ask your friends and family.

Speaker 1: 18:52

Or you know as people work, ask the art community. There's tons of Facebook pages that are groups that you can join. They don't cost anything and they're people that are interested in what you are. And you know business communities. If you've got a business and you're, you know, wanting to run a special or create a new menu, share it in a community that you can, you know, ask for feedback in. And If you're afraid someone's gonna steal your idea, you can like kind of hide some of the important things, but you can just you know a simple concept and share and see what people think. And it's good to get feedback. It's okay if it's negative. You know, everything is a lesson learned, so it's. It's something that you're still going to want to have and don't be afraid of it. You're my cats. They don't like that feedback. They're back there hissing at each other.

Speaker 1: 19:50

Okay, the other thing I want to talk about is the evolution that I mentioned at the beginning, and You're going to evolve. Your line art is going to change. Your mark making is going to change. Your color palette will change. How you draw something is going to change the more you practice. It's going to evolve and be open to that, and you want it to be something that grows with you and that's good. So it doesn't have to be it end all be all that. Nothing you know stays exactly the same. You don't be afraid to evolve into something, because that's part of style, you know. Of course there's going to be those those traditional things that you're going to hold on to, but don't be afraid to make things your own and then watch them change as you develop. So don't hold on. Everything's not so precious it's, it's okay if it changes a little bit in it's.

Speaker 1: 20:52

It's also pretty important to look back and study your work. I think that it helps to look where you've been and where you're going and Don't be so hard on yourself when you've seen some growth like, oh, I can't believe I put this out in the world. You know two years ago. Look how terrible this is. Don't do that to yourself. It's again okay that you're going to evolve, but you do want to look back. I think it's really important to see if we're you're where you're at now. I Love that.

Speaker 1: 21:24

That's why, as a parent, you keep stuff that your kids drew. I just got a letter from our granddaughter and she had written grandma and grandpa across the front of the envelope and it went down the right side and I'm like I will never throw this away. It is absolutely darling. We're writing a book together. So she's put the book together and nailed it to us and we are writing and Starting like some little drawings and then going to send it back to her and then she's going to Continue the story and drawings and fill things out. We're gonna do this together since we live so far away. So she's she wrote the cover and staple all the pages together and drew a picture inside and then put it in the mail. I just love it. It's so cute, so I'll be anxious to share that as this develop, because this was something for anyone to do and I loved it. So we're doing that together and again, go back through history when you're studying yourself.

Speaker 1: 22:20

Go back through the history of art. Maybe there's a certain age or you know era of art that you really are drawn to and you want to learn more About it. It has to keep that. Get books about that era and the artists that you know Transformed that era and art history that's fascinating to learn about. You know how they did things and how they painted and or how they created and what developed from there. Everything has not been done because you haven't done it.

Speaker 1: 22:54

So Just realize that what you're going to develop, based on your love of art Hundred years ago, it's not that you're copying it. You're developing it into your own style. So just Be influenced by the people that were before us, because they're not you and you're not them and you're gonna have your own spin on it. So it's okay to Practice a modern, impressionistic look with your hand, because it's not gonna be identical. I mean, there's some people that can make Exact replicas and the computers can do that too, and you know I guess there's a time and place for that. But try it in your hands and how you Translate that, and that's totally fine. You want to do that to develop your style.

Speaker 1: 23:45

So try to try to be consistent with being forgiving with your mistakes. You know it's not gonna have to be perfect, not gonna be precious, it's. It's okay that you want To be influenced by what's happened before and so you're going to be totally okay if you like, copy a layout and or maybe colors and Draw it and create it your way. So don't listen to the naysayers saying you can't do that. Do it, practice it, see what comes of it in your hand. That's what's important.

Speaker 1: 24:27

And really the last thing I want to tell you is just be patient. Your style is not going to develop in the span of a class. If you're on taking classes and it's going towards the end, you're like, hey, don't even know what my style is now, that's okay. That entire class is influenced. Everything that you've done to that point and I'm telling you, your style is coming through. I Battle with this myself. I have a friend taking her mastermind, margo, and she was like I like your style. And I want to cry every time she says to me because I'm like, I have a style.

Speaker 1: 25:06

So you're not the only one with that imposter syndrome, thinking that you don't have a style and your stuff doesn't look Unique. It does. It does and you're gonna find it. You're gonna find your voice and you're going to Develop your style. What you're doing now is your style, what your stuff looks like now. That's your style and it's going to turn into everything that you want it to be. Just have to be patient and trust the process. Trust yourself and Enjoy. Enjoy having the time and ability to make something. That's that's the most important thing.

Speaker 1: 25:48

So I'm excited about this month. It's the first Friday in December and I'm really excited about Holidays, and I hope you are too. And if you want to share Pinterest boards and style ideas, send me a message. You know, let me know I would love to. We can create a Pinterest board of different styles and we can all pin to it together. Let me know I'm. I'm on Pinterest. My, you know, links are in my link tree and on my website, so I really enjoy that. I hope you like my little pickle spear legged pickle boy, but I drew here in front of I know that's not booking in palace, but it's little castle. So I hope that you have a wonderful weekend. I'm excited I've got some activities this weekend with the house, tours and stuff going on and decorating. So check out all the giant oversized decorations under posting on my Instagram. I've been making and putting out in our yard. It's been a lot of fun.

Speaker 1: 26:49

So, yes, I I love pretending to be a borrower. I loved that book growing up. I love either teeny, tiny little mini things or or ginormous ones that make me feel like I'm in my own little world, because you know we are that. That's my style. Is that exaggeration and eclectic? And my pets as they're shaking around. So have a wonderful weekend. I will talk to you again and stay brutally made and enjoy your time creating. That's most important. Take care, bye, bye, bye you.