Developing Your Painting Style As An Emerging Artist

Anyone working in a creative industry will understand the challenge of establishing a distinctive style – and how important this is for success. Consistency and cohesiveness are essential to building your brand and distinguishing your work from others helps you stand out against competitors. 

Follow these top tips for developing your painting style to help you grow from an emerging artist to a recognised name.

Exploring techniques

Finding your natural style will involve a degree of experimentation to discover the mediums and approaches that best align with your artistic vision. Each technique has a unique effect, from the delicate dots of pointillism and bold blurs of palette painting to the strong geometric shapes of cubism à la Pablo Picasso. 

Studying the works of iconic artists, historical and contemporary, can provide invaluable inspiration. Classes and online tutorials are great places to get expert advice on the different techniques. Remember that you don’t have to limit yourself to one type – have a go at mixing methods for a unique finish. 

Using your identity

For all creatives, your identity is a powerful tool in individualising your style. Your cultural heritage, personal experiences, beliefs and fears are key to creating pieces with stories that speak to people, inspiring strong emotional responses. 

Authenticity is key here: playing off genuine facts and feelings resonates more deeply with your audience and will help you create a natural and loyal fan base. Remember that art is about the sensations you create and the visual appeal. 

Practical exercises

It’s all very well knowing what you want to do, but achieving this is another matter entirely. Practical exercises are invaluable in getting comfortable with your preferred mediums and honing your skills to a professional standard. Stock up with canvases and sketchbooks, quality oil paint from a specialist shop and plenty of brushes.

Establish a daily routine that includes time for your art. You don’t have to paint masterpieces: repeating techniques and ideas little and often is the quickest way to make once-challenging tasks seem second nature. 

Replicating masterpieces enables you to deconstruct painting techniques and explore the steps necessary to reach your desired product. You should also experiment with small features you find difficult such as eyes so you can overcome frustrating obstacles that could hinder your style.

Embracing mistakes

Finally: don’t expect to be perfect from the outset. It could take years for you to settle into your style, and there’s plenty of mistakes to be made along the way. It’s important not to see these mistakes as failings but as opportunities for growth, helping you find the right direction for your art and giving you awareness of your strengths and weaknesses. 

Bear in mind that some definitive styles such as Impressionism were mocked when they first hit the markets but were used to create some of the world’s most recognisable and appreciated pieces of art, many of which hang in leading galleries such as the Louvre.