Find Your Art Style in 90 Days or Less! | Find Your Drawing Style
Find Your Art Style in 90 Days or Less!
Find your Art, Design, or Drawing Style
Have you thought about going out on your own as an independent designer or artist, but feel paralyzed because you don’t have your own style yet?
You’re in the right place!
Join my art style challenge + learn how to develop your own art style, design style, or drawing style by following my 90 Days of Design project! #90DaysofDesign
Let's face it: every successful artist has their own recognizable style. Learn how to create your own original art in 90 days or less.
WATCH MY YOUTUBE VIDEO
6 Habits to Finding Your Art Style
Or read the full blog post below.
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1 | RESEARCH ART + DESIGN STYLES
The first step to finding your own art style is to figure out what the heck you like! Take this time as an opportunity to research all different kinds of art and design styles.
What type of artwork do you find yourself gravitating towards? What type of styles are you pinning on Pinterest?
When you find a new artist that gives you total goosebumps…
How would you describe that artist’s STYLE?
Here are some examples of art styles that might tickle your fancy:
MODERN
TRADITIONAL
BOHEMIAN
VINTAGE
CONTEMPORARY
CASUAL
URBAN
RUSTIC
FARMHOUSE
Next, create a list of websites and retailers that inspire you. It’s important to admire styles both online and in person!
Some of my inspiration go-to’s include:
And I always love visiting and taking photos at local boutiques!
Once you have your list that feels authentic to you, take a minute to write down characteristics you find in common.
Are you seeing lots of organic lines or geometric shapes?
Does the artwork you’re saving have a young, fresh vibe or a sense of timelessness?
Do you feel hyped-up and energized by this artwork or design? Maybe a sense of nostalgia?
Are you gravitating towards more playful vibes or perhaps sophisticated looks?
SERIOUSLY, WRITE THAT STUFF DOWN. 😂
If you don’t already have an art journal I highly recommend you get one! You are way more likely to accomplish the things you write down. So get those crazy thoughts out of your head and onto paper ASAP.
2 | RESEARCH COLOR PALETTES
Next, you need to get serious about your color research. Nothing needs to be set in stone at this point. But you should start paying CLOSE attention to color palettes that are inspiring you.
Finding your own art style is an organic process. You are tapping into a type of 6th sense, your creativity, to ultimately discover yourself.
I often find a lot of push and pull when I’m resonating with different design styles and color palettes. The 2 entities need to be harmonizing beautifully in a way that feels authentic to you.
In other words, try to identify a design or art style and marry it to a color palette.
For your next exercise, pull out your art journal and write down qualities of color palettes you love. Some examples include:
Vibrant + Energetic
Soft Pastels
Primary Colors
Bold Contrast
Rich Jewel Tones
Classic Casual
Warm Neutrals
Cool Indigos
Spicy Earth
60s Retro
70s Retro
80s Memphis Style
As I’ve mentioned before, you’ll definitely want to keep an art journal. This is the perfect place to jot down notes about styles and color palettes you love.
It will most likely evolve so keeping a consistent journaling practice as well as a sketchbook practice is important!
3 | FIND ARTIST COMPETITORS
I use the term competitor loosely, because I truly believe there is enough space for everyone! While no artist is an island, true artists imbue an originality that cannot be copied.
I come from an abundance mentality so there is absolutely space in this world for every artist and designer to thrive.
But the point is - you need to follow artists that inspire you, who are creating work that resonates the type of art you want to create. If you want to become an incredible figure painter, then you need to find some amazing figure painters to follow! And learn everything you can about them.
Start a spreadsheet with columns to keep track of artists and their website, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube channel, etc, and try to get their email address. Most people’s emails are available in their Instagram account.
On IG, click to get notified every time your top 10 inspiring artists come out with a new post. This way, you stay up to date with their newest work.
Journal down recurring characteristics about the artists you are DROOLING over. Share their work in your IG Stories and make sure to tag them.
DM your idol artists on Instagram or shoot them an email and see if they are willing to go on IG Live with you. Prepare 5-10 questions to ask them and discuss where they get THEIR inspiration.
4 | START YOUR 90 DAYS OF DESIGN PROJECT
Don’t wait!
Start your 90 DAYS OF DESIGN project from Day 1.
The brutal truth is: you can follow every piece of advice from this blog post. But if you aren’t creating LOADS of art you will never find your style.
Commit to a practice of making art for 90 days. Sometimes it’s not always possible to draw every single day, but just keep going until you have a total of 90 pieces of artwork. When you’ve finished a piece go ahead and post it.
You can do it!!
Some days you might only have the time and energy for a quick sketch. Totally cool. Just get that graphite movin’! It really helps to get into a routine or block off time on your calendar. For a while, instead of reading when I got into bed, I started painting rough watercolor sketches in my sketchbook.
To help you stay on track, PUBLISH your work to Instagram.
Or, don’t. It’s no judgement. It’s simply to help you stay accountable to your design community - and to yourself. Use hashtag #90DaysofDesign.
5 | TRY 3-5 ART MEDIUMS
Try 3-5 different art mediums to see what feels the most natural to you and to figure out what materials you enjoy the most.
Some examples include:
WATERCOLORS
ACRYLICS
PRISMA COLOR MARKERS
GRAPHITE
CHARCOAL
DIGITAL VECTOR
ILLUSTRATOR
AFFINITY DESIGNER
INKSCAPE
DIGITAL RASTER
PHOTOSHOP
PROCREATE
I love playing around with watercolors, but if I’m being honest, they’re the most difficult painting medium for me. If I am serious about painting something, I prefer to work with acrylics or to work digitally.
Each medium you master informs the other! So it’s beneficial to hone your craft in at least 2-3 different mediums. Drawing in pencil, for example, will help you become a better painter. And painting by hand will help you paint digitally, and so on!
6 | GET FEEDBACK ON YOUR ARTWORK
As much as YOU may love your art style, part of developing a successful art style involves getting constructive feedback.
After all, if you want your art and design ability to be a career instead of just a hobby you will need an audience that responds well to it.
Each day you post your 90 DAYS OF DESIGN on Instagram, make sure to ask for feedback from your community. We are here to help you and provide supportive guidance! Take advantage of it. ;)
If you are simply posting your work for accountability purposes, say something like, “Here’s my sketch of the day - no need for feedback yet,” and we won’t bug ya! ;)
7 | GROUP YOUR DESIGNS INTO COLLECTIONS
Once you get to Day 30 of your 90 DAYS OF DESIGN project - start grouping your designs, illustrations, patterns, and/or artwork into small collections. Imagine them all sitting together in a gallery or on a shelf of products that all coordinate beautifully together.
Drop your designs or artwork into mock ups. This is one of the best ways to see if your designs work well together on products! Your artwork should exist together like a little family of work.
If you are creating fine art such as drawings, paintings, or sculptures - sketch out a gallery scene and place your work in the scene. Does it look cohesive? Does it make sense together as a larger statement?
From there, go back to your art journal and WRITE DOWN the resounding characteristics that you like about your collection.
Are there certain motifs in your designs that you want to repeat in your next piece?
Is there anything that’s not working so well that you want to scratch?
Is there a brush technique you’re happy with?
Did you surprise yourself with a beautiful line quality? Keep it in your technique library!
Make sure to notate all of the characteristics that are working really well for you and continue these techniques in your next art-making session.
Group Into Collections 3 Different Times
You’ll want to repeat this collections exercise 3 different times throughout your 90 DAYS OF DESIGN project.
The intervals include:
30 Days
60 Days
90 Days
>> YOUR ART STYLE ASSIGNMENT
To help you put everything you learned today into a lasting reality I have an assignment for you!
Click the button below to participate in my Style Challenge and
to get actionable steps to help you develop your own unique art style.
ART STYLE GROWTH
By the way, if you’re wanting to get in the Surface Pattern Design / Illustration game, but you are really struggling to develop your own art style, be sure to check out my free workshop, Sketchbooking Your Style.
It includes my unique process on how to get unblocked and create a system for creating your own, unique Art Style.
Sign up below!
