experiment and take chances?

I do, but it leads me nowhere.

ahhh.

Well is there a specific style you're trying to achieve or quality?

Something that's actually pleasing to look at and that I can be proud to call my own.

By the way your art is absolutey fantastic :)

oh why thank you :3~

Well, this happens to a lot of artists :) So don't worry about it TOO much. If i find this to be troubling, i may go to an art gallery (not that there are much in NJ u_u, but there are the local artists!) or find something on the net.

And for the record, i love your style currently :>

Good sense of depth
nice coloring and atmospheric tones
good use of color contrast
great shadowing and highlightings

Though i can still understand of why you feel you 'stuck'. To me it's just that you MAY have reached a plateau of your skills and wish to transcend that. It may take a while, but you'll definitely get there :)

A lot of professional artists told me to not worry about style and just draw, that style will come with practice.

What I don't get is, how are you supposed to practice if the style you currently have is just terrible. It just makes no sense.

All the stuff you see in my art is just copies from my favorite artists and inspirations. There's nothing original at all about any of it. But I do really appreciate your feedback. Thank you so much *hugs*.

Perhaps then, what you need is to remove yourself from your external inspiration sources and allow your own creative centre to expand out on its own without guidance.

That's true too. Many times it will develop on its own. Kind of like a subconscious and unconscious thing. :)

Well some of it is about acknowledging your current faults and analyzing them on what you can do to seek improvement on. Like for instance, MY skill in coloring is good. But I want to transcend myself into a more painter like quality. So for now I'll have to observe others' work and ask them how they did their approach to their work.

For example, you could go in a more realistic way and a more texturized look to your art. It doesn't happen overnight, but you'll get it.

Ah but it is style nonetheless. And with that you can observe what you can do to improve it. Have an example?

And you're welcome :) *hugs back*

Also, you old have multiple styles. Like for instance, you could try man y different painting style on certain pieces ranging from really simple to complex

You've got more art style in your little avatar than I do in my whole gallery.

My avatar is NOT by me, it's by  Narse

Ah.

Well, it resembles the art you upload, so I figured...


The point is still valid! ;3

That's the entire point of this journal.

haha

Oh wait.
Your right.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...


It's still a good style, don't see what you hate about it. x3

You got style.
No joke.

I will eat you!

You got no special collar this time! I have the upper paw!

I third this^

You're next on the menu!

How do I get on this menu?

I just ranted in a journal of mine about how I hate the idea of "style." @.@ well, that's just me. I don't want to develop any particular style, I always try new techniques whenever I do anything, so whenever anyone refers to my art as being in "my style," it pisses me off to no end.

I feel almost the same way you do about it. At least I used to.

But unfortunately to be successfull in the artistic world you need a style, and that's the cold-hearted truth. It's a branding thing.

I can look at ALL of my favorite artists, on FA or elsewhere, and spot their stuff from miles away (a.k.a. thumbnail skimming).

Plus, it helps to draw in a way that isn't physically hazardous to your health to look at. Which is what I'm working on.

Well, the thing is that I often see artists fall into a certain style and then the style become a limitation. For example, artists like Tojo or Narse reach a certain point where all their art starts looking the same and their forward movement becomes incredibly slow. Styles like that are a limiting factor. I want to avoid that, and I know that so far I haven't found a style that takes my in the direction I want to go - my style doesn't facilitate detail and all that very well, so I need to keep looking until I find one that really works.

I don't think that a style is entirely limiting. Just because you have a method of drawing, doesn't mean you can't draw other things, or try new ways to add on to that style.

For the artists that you mentioned, I think it's a personal choice to keep all their works homogonous. They often do commissions with clients expecting a result similar to the one beforehand, so they're doing so from a buisness and branding standpoint. I'm entirely confident that those artists could diverge from their style whenever they wanted to.

The art that you did here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5136625 has plenty of style in it, in fact.

Any art you see on my page is just a copy of another artists style. None of it is really my creation.

A creator of a style is the one who lets it flow through their hands. The picture i linked may have been referenced from another, but i have yet to see a style exactly like that one.

I want style too, indeed

I'll drink to that!

you're so gay

<////3

It honestly doesn't matter who you learn from, or who your style resembles or whatnot; no matter what, it's always going to have your own personal touches, which will always make something yours.

In a less cheesy way of phrasing it, the fact that you're doing it means that it always has your personality in it to some degree.

Also, there's no shame in having your works compared to someone else's... everyone is fair game for that. ;)

You're right to some degree. But at some point you have to step back, look at your stuff, and say this can't go on for much longer.

Learning from artists is fine for a little while, and I do that all the time, but now I want a style of my own. That's the real problem. And for hell's sake, I have no idea how to go about solving it. But somehow all the successfull artists I know have already.

As stated above, everyone will always have a little bit of them inside their artwork regardless how much they style train themselves to look like someone else's art style.

Think of art like speaking. If you only know how to say a few words, you are very limited on what you can say. I say experiment with different styles that appeal to "you" (not others).

I look at a lot of Japanese art from time to time and so a little of that squeezes in. When I first started drawing, Skadjer was a great influence if you ever seen any of my first works. Eventually, I started experimenting with whatever I found appealing.

Another great thing to remember is draw from reference and draw what "YOU" see. Do not rely on symbols that you have seen in other artwork or images. This will develop a style based on how you see the world. One thousand people can draw the same arm, but they will all look different in some way.

I could have probably went further with this, but I wanted to keep it short, so I am not taking up your journal, lol. Hope it was helpful at least. :)

By all means, say as much as you want. I'm littery bashing my head against the wall figuring out what I'm doing wrong, so any and all help is absolutely appreciated.

I go to cghub.org all the time to look at the amazing concept art there and its another major source of inspiration for me. So I do agree with you on that one, looking at completely different styles and subjects does help, but I usually end up just blending all of them into one big discombobulated mess. Maybe that's just my lack of skill. I often wonder how those great painters do it.

You probably hit the nail right on the head though: I don't draw from reference. Ever.

I mean, I certainly use references all the time for anatomy and texture, but that's usually to help create a picture from my head. I don't draw the reference "as is". Maybe that's why I haven't developed a methodology of rendering that's "my own". The only thing you do in drawing class is draw from life... I guess I figured that's too boring and overlooked it.

I think my amateur-ness is even more blatently obvious to me now since I should have known that myself. I'll make sure to send this info over to anyone else that happens to ask me the same questions. Thanks for showing me the light, haha.

I've been down that road and sometimes still think that way, but have to always remember one thing... "DRAW!"

You can look at hundreds or thousands of images, read tons of books, but the only way you will get better is by drawing itself.

Many artists that you see, especially in the industry, do art as a living. They eat and breath art because that's their job. So after a few years of doing that, of course, they are going to be full of awesome (at least one would hope, lol). I have drawn with a few professionals and even they are still their own worst critic. Just have to accept things the way they are and push forward regardless of the hills and excuses you can come up with to not draw. Since they draw all the time, they usually get more of a chance to observe the world and go do things when they are not working (drawing) or drawing, so they have a slight advantage there that people with normal jobs cannot really do to its full potential. We just have to make that time work with what we have available.

Another side note is try not to fall into a niche. Draw a variety of different things. In the end, they will all help each other in some way, shape, or form.

If you simply "cannot draw", that is a different story, but your situation does not sound like that is the case.

In conclusion, in most cases, all I am going to tell you is: STFU and draw!

Best advice ever! xD

Man, what I wouldn't give to draw for a living. I'd learn so much.

My story is a bit of the opposite actually. I'm leaving for military training next month and will NOT be able to draw for a good half year. I'm not looking foward to it.

But maybe picking art back up after such a long break will let me start anew. I'll make sure to do plenty of life drawing whenever I can. I'd also be seperated from so many of my inspirations for such a long time, that might help as well.

Now I guess the last problem is finding all the motivation to get off my lazy ass and draw everyday. XD

I'M MAD CAUSE YOU STYLIN'

*spills a drink on you* Oops!

Why do you keep doing this :(

well you have you ever thought of doing rough sketches of yourself without the thought of recalling other artist's creations?

That's a lot harder than it seems if I'm drawing from my head, especially whenever I think of the word "drawing" tons and tons of artist's works flood through my mind.

I think the solution is drawing from life, like Slash said.

Don't use the same two furry artists that every other dragon artist uses as inspiration maybe ?

:P

Haha, I use much, much more than just two. But the amount doesn't really change the problem, does it?

Well you already have a style, I can't think of anyone with the same as yours... And that's a compliment.

Also, there are hundreds of thousands of artists in the world... Your... Mine... Everyone's individual style probably is similar to about 500-1000 other artists easy :P

if you want to develop a more unique style, try looking at artist's you normally don't take inspiration from, and your style will slowly change. Something I've also noticed is that you quickly develop a style of your own if you try drawing things anatomically correct (ironically enough)! For example, if you look at a human anatomy sheet and then draw anthro's, you will getyour own way of drawing them, since nobody can emulate perfect anatomy on the first try, etc.

Also, when you draw dragons, look at anatomy sheets of different animals and try incorporating parts of them. For example, a lion-like ribcage with doglike front legs and the haunches of a horse. You are guaranteed to get a rather unique flair when trying to emulate those body parts and combine them :D

I hope this was at least remotely helpful >3>

Combining the anatomy of different animals has been a proud and true way of creature design since the beginning. It's definitly a lot of fun, and a good way to come up with interesting designs.

I also look at hundreds of artists all the time, on many more sites than just this one, and always take a little bit from everyone I see. It's helped me to learn, yes, but somehow I always still pidgeon-hole myself into a certain way of drawing.

And it was helpfull, thank you :)

Not everyone can have a totally unique style, whether you like it or not your art is going to resemble someone else's in some way.

To use an example which a lot of people are familiar with, Tojo's art style is frequently compared to Narse's because of the similarities they share, but you can't say that Tojo's art looks exactly like Narse's.

Your art shares similarities with other artists' styles, but it's not identical to anyone's, this means you have your own style already.

I disagree.

I think it's entirely possible to have a unique (or at least somewhat unique) style that's easily identifiable as your own. I see it all the time in thousands of artists.

Typically when an artist's style resembles anothers, they're using them as a heavy inspiration (like in my case.) There's really nothing wrong with this, especially if it helps you learn to draw. But I'm looking for something more long-term.

For any artist you will be able to find at least 5 others with a similar style. No artist's style is truly unique.

Agreed :3

Hm... style, as far as I know, is impossible to "strive" for. I've always looked at art as an accumulation of subconsciously memorized "tricks". As such, every person will have a different style no matter what.
Perfect proof of that is the fact that I can recognize your style anywhere. It's impossible to see your own style... I've heard I have a distinct style, but I just see garbage and mistakes on mine. XD

So in other words, more style will come over time. The rest you already have. ^..^

You! How'd I miss this? XD I blame OC.

I think it's interesting how you say you can't see your own style. Maybe that's true? I'm not quite sure.

Shouldn't you be drawing more reverse-maw-shots?

o..o;;;;; W-why yes... actually, I should be... XD

I myself probably have a style already, but its all blocky and bleh, I'm actually seeking and training to make it more fluid and believable, and yes, your better then me already :P

But yes, loootsa practice, you tell me to do it, but now, I'm holding up a mirror!

I wanna draw good too, and it hurts when I can't, we talked about it before.

-.=.- I need some...

When I saw your gallery, I got amazed. You are one of a kind....unlike me.