“Art Style”
Those two words defined my early career as I desperately sought a unique way to make art. Now, they linger in my head—both meditative and frustrating:
I create wildly different styles—Ghibli environments, edgy sketches, digital painting, linocut, pixel art, cell shading, anime-like, impressionistic, sharp lineart… Like, bro, pick ONE??
Early on, mentors told me to settle on a style to find work. Luckily, I still found work across styles, but always in specific ones:
- Concept art – digital painting / Ghibli / sharp lineart
- 2D game art – wildcard (pixel art, cell shading)
- Illustration – block graphics, impressionism
So, does art style matter? Imo, Yes and no.
Art style is a derivative of past movements and materials, shaping what an artist is known for. Artists I love who’ve curated a style: Bryce Kho, Sparth, Miyazaki, Tyler Jacobson, some older artists: Thomas Moran, N.C. Wyeth, Bruegel, Yoshida Hiroshi. For all artists, tools and context define style—Yoshida wouldn’t create woodblock prints with just a palette knife, and Miyazaki wouldn’t be creating anime in the 1600s.
Yet, some artists defy singular style—Picasso, Da Vinci, Michelangelo—adapting their form and even material as they pursued mastery. Style shifts with time, taste, tools, and projects.
For me, Ghibli-esque paintings stem from Nausicaä, pixel art from Pokémon, digital art from concept masters. I create such a variety because I cannot settle on liking a single way of making art, and so I shift from style to style.
So, while I still look for my art style, (as you might be able to tell), part of me loves that I can experiment without fear of losing my ‘style’. Even as my art style changes and evolves, there still exists the stylistic thread each of us always have:
Our unique way of seeing and responding to the world with art.
So, if you want to experiment, don’t stress it.
Anyway, here’s Martch 18 + 19. Maybe I’ll figure out my art style someday lol.