Finding Artistic Style

When I first started, I did online tutorials. I learned through courses on Udemy, Youtube and Amanda Hawkins (I recommend for learning about composition and identifying value). Somewhere along the way, I discovered my style and my medium (acrylic). 

When finding your style; practice, practice and then some more. Buy canvas paper, sketch out ideas, write notes on what you love. Research on Instagram, Pinterest the styles you like and learn how to. Also, your art may not look like you want…embrace it, learn from it. I found my style from doing a youtube tutorial (I now forget which one) and I did it accidently ‘wrong’ but yet I loved that way I did it. And I kept doing it that way. Over and over again, I filled up notebooks, ruined canvas and then my way started to be my style and it has slowly evolved over the years. It did take me around a year of experimenting, quitting and starting again. Just because I found my style doesn’t mean it’s easier, it’s not. I still do create pieces won’t be shown lol; just means I discovered yet another way of ‘what not to do’.

In all of this, the reason I created was to tell my story. I'm not naturally a writer but my love of this land made me want to record it in some way. So I put brush to canvas to represent myself, this land and my memories. 

General notes I’ve made on creating:

-Don’t make art that sells. Creating art in your voice and style is the best way to represent your authentic, unique and genuine vision.  

-Critique.I believe having someone else offer their constructive critique is important. There’s always something that you may not have noticed or occurred to you. Take it, with a grain of salt sometimes.

-I have a board tacked with random bits of life, photos of my life, nature photos and faith verses. There’s also notes/musings I've written about birch, prairies, name ideas for paintings and notes on what I have made.

-Block out the noise. Instagram, Facebook and all social media is great for inspiration, following other artists etc but the noise, the rush to create is overwhelming. Turn it off periodically.

-Everything influences your style, your story, the way you create and your mindset. I listen to classical music, podcasts, indigenous talks online, paint while listening to courses (indigenous history, art and composition) I do a lot of hiking and exploring in my area to get photo references. I drink tea having discovered coffee does make me jittery and it’s hard to focus and suddenly I’ve started a dozen paintings and nothings done.

And don’t stop, your artistic style will always evolve and develop. I sadly did not keep all my art from years ago and I also did not photograph as much as I should. So now I do have blanks where I have no record. From me to you, please photograph, write notes on what went wrong and enjoy it.