Analyzing Style

 

Analyzing Style

Earlier in the week, I posted my promised verbal style project, Your Style in Letters. If you didn’t see it, you can check it out here. The visual style project using Trillium is here. I will refer them below.

Now that you’ve spent a little time looking at, thinking about, and playing with style, take a little time to think through what you learned about yourself and your art. Jot it down so you can refer back to it later to see how you change and grow … and to see how it affects your art.

Pieces of Learning

I’ll share a little about what I am processing about myself and my style as a result of these studies. Maybe you will identify with a few.

~I love a multitude of styles. Each idea I tried opened a new challenge and its accompanying adventure. I didn’t know the end at the beginning, even with all of my notes and planning. I love variety and trying new techniques.

~Personality speaks loudly in style. Maybe my style includes variety because my personality does. I can be bold and timid, fancy and casual, messy and tidy, original and average, serious and teasing.

~The combination of ink and watercolor creates a contrast that draws me. I love the scratching of the dip pen on the paper and the crisp, yet varied lines. I love the unpredictability of the watercolor. I love those two things together, crisp and unpredictable. 

~Doing studies is a great way to explore different ideas about the same subject. I want to do more exploratory studies. Even if they are similar to this one using different subjects. I found myself wondering what other flowers would look like in this kind of study or what an animal would look in various styles. How many different varieties of the alphabet could I come up with? Want could I do with location sketching in this way? And, on a practical note, some of these would make lovely gifts as cards.

~Trillium colors are beautiful but not my go-to colors when painting. I repeatedly go toward bright colors. Think color wheel. The colors that look happy and jump off the page. The colors that mingle well in yellows and reds and oranges with a hint of pink, green and bright blue. Alternately, I’m a sucker for a good gray.

~Sometimes a style opposite my usual preference turns into something appealing. In all fairness, maybe I should have scribbled more with that last trillium. Maybe I was trying for pretty and delicate when I thought I was making messy and scratched. That subconscious sneaks into everything!

~The one I thought I’d like the best (the realistic watercolor), I liked the least. Purely because the perfectionist in me wanted it to look like a photo. Which it didn’t. However, one thing that surprised me was how much I like the white flower … made with a pale gray. I have a lot to learn about realistic watercolor painting. It’s not like drawing, and I fight perfectionism every step of the way. In the same moment, I think I’m okay being at that stage. Do I want to improve and paint like the masters? Sure, but I can enjoy the meandering on the way.

~Sometimes I choose to do something small because I am overwhelmed with my bigger ideas. The “I can’t” mentality shows up fiercely and I don’t know if I can make what I see in my head.

~Trying a new style can take practice. I felt uncertain about painting a full-scale abstract, so I painted a trial. I ended up with no less than three trial-runs before I decided to add one to the actual page of my study.

~I think differently about my work than others do. When I asked people to tell me which of the abstracts they liked the best, they picked the one I like the least. I still can’t see what they like about it. Which one is your favorite?

~How I feel when I’m painting comes out in what I paint, sometimes whether or not I want it to. I heard some sad news before painting my final abstract. It came out more complicated than I intended. To me, it looks as stormy as I felt.

 

As you wrestle with your barriers and move ahead with your learning, I hope these studies help you identify what holds you back and what motivates you to move forward. Both provide helpful insight into your creative process.

And always, keep creating.

Write it. Draw it. Dance it. Dream it.