Developing Your Art Style Through Experimentation

Every artist prefers to develop their own signature art style. And yet this is a real struggle for many emerging artists! I often counsel members in my monthly membership The Painterly Way on this topic. And in this post, I hope to give you some solid ideas for how to develop your own art style by using experimentation.

1. Channel Your Inner Mad Scientist

Here’s a tough pill to swallow: Your art style will not be found while scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest. In fact, diving deep into those sites will only overwhelm you with the art styles of others and make you feel even more lost.

But how do you discover your own style without looking outward? I want you to look at your studio as a science lab, where you will perform experiments and tests to discover what you like. It’s important that your experiments have the goal of identifying what turns you on artistically rather than the lofty goal of discovering your style. Why? Because the more you can explore and learn what excites you, the closer you’ll be to synthesizing that into your unique style.

Think of it like gathering pieces of clothing that you love and then later coordinating that into a wardrobe that really speaks for you.

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What kinds of experiments should you perform? While it’s totally up to your imagination, here are some ideas for you to consider:

• Mix things together to see what catches fire: Combine subject matters, mediums, techniques, substrates, or color palettes. Put colors together that you’ve never considered before, or add an abstract animal to one of your “usual” abstract floral paintings. Evaluate these mashups later, not while you’re in progress. After all, it’s a normal part of the scientific method to evaluate experiments after the fact and then refine the inquiry.

• Paint with different tools: If you usually use brushes to paint, try brayers, your fingers, or found objects instead. See if any of those methods excites you enough to pursue further.

• Try things three ways (or more): How many ways can you paint the same thing? Pick one small subject (like a tiny still life or a flower) and try to paint it as many ways as possible, using various mediums and styles. Pat yourself on the back for the number of different versions you create rather than the perceived success of any of them. Afterward, look at them closely and record your findings in your studio notebook.

• Go deep on one subject: This is similar to the previous exercise, but a little different. If you find a certain subject matter exciting—say, shiny Christmas tree ornaments—set yourself a challenge to paint them 30 different ways. In this way, you’ll get to know this subject matter deeply and discover what ways of painting it are uniquely you.

2. Play at Improvisation

Have you ever taken an improv class? This strikes fear in many people, while others find it a fantastic experience. Artists can borrow from the improv playbook by using the “yes and…” prompt.

Improv players use this prompt to build on the storyline that has been tossed to them. For example, they are told, “You are a pregnant woman giving birth in a convenience store.” The “yes and…” that the player creates changes the story and moves it forward: “...and the store is filled with clowns.”

In your artwork, you can use this to take your paintings into new and surprising directions. Look at a painting that is almost complete. What kind of “yes and…” can you create that would radically change the final version of the piece (while making you smile)? Would you rip it up and collage it back together? Would you overlay something completely different on part of it? Would you turn it upside down and start painting that way?

This is True Creativity

You may think, Caryl, I’m going to make a bunch of wacky art this way and it’ll be a waste of time and resources.

Au contraire, my friend.  While many of the experiments that you create will not lead to your authentic art style, some of them will move the ball down the field. And if you want to talk about wasting time, think about that time spent on the internet looking at other artists’ work rather than getting experimental in your own studio! 

I’d love to hear about the results of your experiments. What kind of mashups are you planning? Do you want some guidance and added support in this area? Join The Painterly Way, my monthly membership—doors are only open for two more days, until November 11th!

One of the valuable parts of this membership includes exercises that help artists to develop their own unique style while experimenting with a variety of proven painting techniques. I have exciting new projects in store for you, along with helpful small group transformation discussions and critiques. I’d love to see you in the membership and watch your artistry further develop and grow!