HOW TO ACTUALLY FIND YOUR ART STYLE

finding your art style is so stressful so I thought I'd compile some thoughts about it and i hope it helps c:
sorry for the small rant at the end i just hate seeing artists get bullied for having a weird art style like that's not the whole point of being an artist lol

∆ My book Unfamiliar is available here! -

[maxinthemiddle]

Glad to see lavendertowne pointing out people’s weird obsession with hating on artists online, most of the time theyre not asking for advice or feedback and just wanna share what they love with everyone else

[Yoimiya_Lover]

I'm personally a big one for the pencil scratching one. Maybe because I was always very guilty for drawing in class instead of paying attention lmfao 💀

[playfulwriter]

Haley’s psychic. She knows just when we need her ❤

[milodoesntknow]

i think another important thing is experimenting - it doesnt have to be sketch, lineart, colour, shade. feel free to mix things up!! use your sketch as your lineart!! colour over your lineart!! ditch the sketch and lineart all together and make your art through colour and shading alone!! the possibilities are endless!!

experimentation is so so so important. it helps you figure out your favourite parts of drawing, which then develops into your own style. it helps you have fun. and the best part is - you don't ever have to stop. you can be years and years into being an artist and get brand new ideas from experimenting:)

basically, arts main rule is to have fun!!

[trappozoiid]

“Nobody is hurt by you having a weird art style” honestly I really needed to hear that 😭 actually, I really needed this entire video

My dream is to create a webcomic, and I’ve been attempting to for the past 3 or so years, but every time I start, I look at my work and think that my art isn’t refined enough, that my characters aren’t proportioned normal enough, that my style isn’t appealing enough or that it isn’t bearable enough to want to read a story in it. Not enough, not enough, not enough, I keep saying to myself. But if I keep asking what is “enough, ” I will never EVER have confidence in my art.
My style is what it is, or maybe it’ll change and be completely different as I’m developing, who cares! I think as long as I’m doing what I love, I’ll get to where I want to be naturally as I experiment. Who cares what others think, at the end of the day I’m making art and comics because I want to, not because everyone else wants me to 🔥
Thank you, Haley!

[aquifercandy]

I’ve seen artstyles that I don’t rlly like, but since I’m a nice respectful person I like to take a moment and remember that the reason people make art is often for themself. If the person who drew this likes this style, that’s freaking awesome! People have preferences, but that doesn’t mean people should go out of their way to break people’s confidence. Be nice ppl

[Strawberry_Animates]

TYSM 😭 I struggle so much with trying to find an art style. It always makes me feel upset when making comics. Your art is amazing as always! XD

[the_goofiest_whajje]

i love the proportion clown guys. absolute freakazoids, love them

[sstarpop]

just earlier today i was upset about how i didn’t like my art style and started to try and change it (unsuccessfully.) haley’s an angel for helping us out ❤

[paisley]

lavendertowne! at some point in the video you get a call and it shows someone's full name! i'm not sure what your boundaries are when it comes to privacy but i thought i should bring it to your attention in case you want to keep your privacy. i'd give a time stamp but i don't want to bring it more attention.

[Yoimiya_Lover]

Haley has by far the cutest voice out of any YouTuber ever 😭
It's so soft and dainty sounding I can'ttt

[somewhereperhaps]

The part about people hating someone's art style resonates with me. I had four roommates who had similar art styles to each other, and they would always compliment and hype each other's art up. Every time I showed them my art, the reception was luke-warm. Their art styles were similar to Disney and Cartoon Network styles, and mine far from that. I had to learn that my art is worth love and praise as well.

[TipsiesSpiderCat]

I honestly wouldn't consider myself as an beginner artist nor a professional artist more like a In the middle artist and I never really did like my art style that much but watching you makes me a lot more comfortable and proud of my art style :)

[LeotheLizardKwing]

I am LIVING for pencil sketch line art, I mostly work with markers and pens but I’ve recently fallen in love with colored pencils and more messy sketches, there’s so much less pressure to make clean line art!

[RememberTheDuck]

Y'know, I had a really funny conversation with an artist friend the other day: She complained about not being able to write as well as me, I inversely complained about not being able to draw as well as her. We both looked at each other and burst out laughing. No matter your medium, you're going to have bad days, and you're going to wish you were as good as your idols/friends.

I also think the best way to explore your style, whether it be in writing or art, is to consume other media/your peers' media. Put the pen/pencil away and explore a little bit. Maybe keep a notebook/sketchbook so you can capture rough ideas you like. Style is a collection of quirks, ultimately. I have a very Blame!/Usuzume No Hate/Existentialist tilt to my writing (and my beginning drawings), and she has a very colorful and flavorful approach to her art/writing.

It's ultimately a collection of your experiences and your preferences, so the best advice is to simply keep drawing and consuming the media you enjoy.

[inue_draw]

THIS IS SUCH PERFECT TIMING IM TRYING TO MAKE A WEBTOON I LOVE YOU LAVENDER!!💖💖💖

[Daisy_Intersteller]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, LAVENDER THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!(Really..this is so important to me…I can finally draw freely without hearing things about my art.You’re a special artist to my heart ❤️!)

[MythicalWater]

Personally, i think experimenting is hugely important to finding what style you like most. Sure, looking at art and picking what elements you like *looking* at can be inspiring, but actually drawing and trying different ways of drawing things is irreplaceable. You can point out things you like to look at all day, but it simply might not be whats actually enjoyable for you to draw. It does mean you'll probably end up with a lot of drawings that are ugly or aren't fun to draw along this journey, but its only by getting those out of the way that you'll discover what you do like, and it might not be what you expect.
This might be a bit of a controversial art tip to give, but also changing your style for whatever piece of art you're doing is fine. The main downside to this would be that less people will recognize your art, which means you're essentially not very effective as a brand. Furthermore, if you do commissions, there might be confusion as to how the piece will look (For me, I've found that asking a commissioner what art of mine they want it to look like solves this problem. If you're still learning you're probably not taking commissions so this isn't a huge deal anyway though). Basically by not trying to stick to style guidelines for the art you draw, you're sacrificing brand consistency for breadth of skills. Not saying there's one of these you should prioritise over the other, but you do have a choice.
As a personal anecdote, I've tried drawing more anime/manga style stuff here and there, and tbh, I just don't find it that fun. I used to watch a lot of pokemon anime as a kid and I thought that was how i wanted to draw, but over years of drawing I've come to learn I really enjoy digital painting, and clean lineart, while beautiful to look at, is a bit hard on my patience.

So yeah, it can be a little daunting to try and build a style from scratch, but I think it's important to know that you don't have to decide immediately, or ever. I've been doing art professionally for about 3 years now and I still can't decide whether I prefer drawing characters with or without noses haha. I might in the future, but who knows. I'm still learning. All I know is that at the moment I don't really commit myself to one style, and I'm having so much fun with illustration.
I think this video is a great example of some things you can try if you're a beginner artist. What I'd encourage to any budding illustrators is rather than picking one thing in this video to try and recreate, try as many as you can! If i watched this video when i was a teenager just starting with digital art, back when I wanted to draw just like LavenderTowne, I think it wouldve been a great push for me to stop trying to tunnel-vision myself into having my art be one specific way.

TLDR; don't let your idea of what you want your art style to look like limit you. Pushing outside of your comfort zone means you're probably gonna end up with some failures here and there, but in the long run, you'll end up finding out what you really enjoy most.

[Idiotbox]

Artists uplifting artists!!!

This video was so helpful, and im so happy you pointed out the insane bullying going on in the art community. Its just weird, loser behavior that only serves to push people away from art

[GravityDontMeanTooMuchTooMe]

Bullying and criticism are two different things. And sometimes people use "its critism!" as an excuse to bully. No one wants to get bullied not even online. And some people dont even want just critism.