How I Finally found my artistic style.

Hello, friends.

I’ve been working on several different pieces of art over the last several months, trying different techniques and styles of painting until I found something that resonated with me.

     I wasn’t filming as much as I should have, mostly because when I’m trying out something new, I want to focus purely on that one thing without worrying how it looks on camera.

     What I’ve ended up with are a few clips of video that I figured I would condense into one longer video to give you a sort of overall picture of what I’ve been up to. Now that I’ve settled on my artistic style, at least for now, my next venture is to work on making my videos as visually pleasing as possible.

     So, let’s dive into it.

     I love art. All art. Show me something dark and moody, painted three hundred years ago, and I’m smitten. Show me something bright and bold painted by the guy living next door using nothing but his fingers and an old toothbrush, and I’m in awe.

     The problem is, when you love all things art, it’s hard to pin down what’s right for your own creative works.

     So, what do you do?

     I say, try it all. Well, maybe not all, but pretty darn close.

Let’s start at the beginning.

     I have been an artist all my life. Maybe not full-blown painting and creating every day, but more often than not, I’ve created something, even if it was just an artisanal loaf of sourdough bread.

     My stepfather worked for a printing company. When I was nine years old, he gifted me a large black case of sample paper. I’ll never forget it. The sheets were enormous, at least to me, and of all different textures and colors. Looking back, they were probably only 18 x 24, but they were the largest pieces of paper I’d ever seen. I spent countless hours drawing everything from unicorns (my favorite) to the neighbor’s grey cat.

     That simple gift of paper changed my life. I no longer felt sad or lonely. The more I drew, the more skilled I became. When that paper eventually ran out, my stepfather brought me more. He told me I had talent, something no one had ever said to me before, and that lit a small fire in me.  

     The funny thing is, I didn’t like color back then—just graphite pencil. I had mastered it. When I attempted to use color, either through paint or pencil, I was pushed back to square one. I was a novice flailing around without any guidance. I told myself it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t like it, or it didn’t like me.

     Secretly, I yearned for color.

     Years later, in high school, I didn’t have a choice. Art class demanded the use of color, but at least I had some sort of instruction. Back then there was no way for me to pop onto the internet and watch someone paint, learn from their experience, and grow through their guidance. Even so, I dared to believe I could add color to my home studies. And little by little, I did.

     For a while, art popped in and out of my life. Never sticking around for very long, but always soothing a broken heart or filling a boring day. I still lacked skill at painting, but at least now I had managed to leave the fear of it behind and dove in, feet first to make terrible, colorful art. And it was terrible!

     Work, family obligations, you name it, took over for the most part until 2020 when I found myself at home, and for the first time in a long time, free to do what I loved so much. Create!

     I have finally rekindled my love of all things art.

     But what did I want to create? I watched countless YouTube videos and scrolled Instagram and Pinterest until the wee hours of the morning.

     I took classes online. I tried watercolor, oils, acrylics, colored pencils, multi-media, charcoal, and even Photoshop.

     I painted in books, on cotton canvas, illustration board, canvas sheets, watercolor paper, and linen canvas. I’ve sculpted figures in clay and fabric. I’ve sewn dolls from rags and papier-mâché. I even made a cast of my husband’s chest and covered it in mosaic tile like a medieval knight’s armor.

     I tried Impressionism, Creative Realism, Expressionism, Abstract, Pop Art, Realism, Romanticism, even digital art.

     I watched countless videos and read dozens of books on finding your style, most of which told me to make a bunch of different art and then see what others thought of it, what they liked. What sold.

     But that didn’t resonate with me.

     What I did realize as I was trying all these different styles, is that some of it was boring. Like so boring I knew I would never finish it, and the thought of creating like that forever made me find other things to fill my day, like binge-watching Midsomer Murders, baking bread, and avoiding the work altogether.

     Then I realized that if I wasn’t having fun, if I wasn’t enjoying whatever process I was going through, not only would my work suffer, but so would I.

     I needed to create for me and for my inner child, the lonely little girl on a tree swing, and not the viewing audience.  

     I realized that if I created for myself, my tribe would organically find me, and if I loved what I was doing, it would come out in my work. And eventually, others would love it too.

     I would have created true art.

Creative Realism

     That’s it for me today. How ever you found me today, whether you’re watching my video, listening to the podcast, or reading my blog, please go ahead and give me a thumbs up if you found this helpful, comment below if you have any questions you’d like answered and if you like my vibe why not go ahead and subscribe.

     Happy creating and see you again soon!