Finding your creative voice - the essential guide
Most new artists (heck, many established artists) dream of finding their authentic style but feel lost when it comes to how to get there. Read on to learn my top tips for unleashing your creativity, leaning into what lights you up, and making the work ONLY YOU can make!
Before we dive in you must know this: your beautiful, glorious artistic voice is already inside of you. Whew. You don’t even have to go on an endless search to find it. All that it requires of you is that you allow it to come forward and uncover it beneath layers of confusion, comparison, and doubt.
I know for many of us, finding out ‘authentic artistic style/voice’ is a big goal when we begin our creative endeavors. We think about it (all the time!) and wonder how to find it. We have a knowing it’s how we will be able to sell our work. And we really want to sell our work. We want to be unique. We want our art to be seen and sold. We agonize about it, dream about it, and get frustrated when it seems to elude us.
Finding your unique artistic voice is a process and not a destination. Because you and the world around you are always changing, so will your art. Along the path, you simply pick up and take forward on your journey what resonates with you and learn to let the rest go. Below are a few key things to keep in mind as you move forward along your artistic journey:
TAP INTO WHAT LIGHTS YOU UP - take the time to go deep with this inquiry! This can include specific colors, patterns types of marks or shapes, subject matter, or materials. Include what inspires you right now - what’s a ‘BIG YES’? Fashion? Architecture? Sidewalk cracks? The smell of fresh coffee in the early morning? Moonbeams? Journal them out, make a vision board, take photos - whatever method and means allow you to distill down what inspires you and makes you come alive. Get uber-focused on what’s a hell-YES for you. Without expectation, or judgments. Without it having to be right or make sense, be popular, or make work that will sell.
NOTICE WHAT MATERIALS YOU LOVE TO USE - from your substrate, to whether you like texture or not, to your marks and shapes, to the colors you gravitate towards. Let each of these elements of your work point you in the right direction. What feels GOOD and has a charge for you?
HOP OUT OF ‘ENDLESS TUTORIAL MODE’ - I see many new artists spending countless hours watching painting tutorials, signing up for online programs, and watching others create on U-tube. However, finding your voice takes PRACTICE. it takes you showing up and creating consistently. You need to tip the scales so that your practice, in all its messiness, takes up more time than watching others create.
AIM FOR INSPIRATION NOT COPYING - Yes, yes, see and admire the work of other artists but avoid trying to make your work similar to theirs. Instead, get clear on the specific elements of the work that you love. For instance, is it the overall vibe? The bright in your face color? Then ask how you can take these elements and apply them to what you create.
WORK ON IMPROVING YOUR SKILL - if you don’t have the fundamentals firmly in place it can be difficult for your voice to come forward. This looks like you seeing and knowing what you want to express but not having the skill to bring it to a juicy, satisfying, compelling finished piece. So, while you don’t want to spend the majority of your time watching endless tutorials, you will need to know the basics of design, value, and color.
SIDESTEP COMPARISON - comparison is the thief of joy and also something that will hold you back from finding your unique signature style and vibe. So, yea endless scrolling on Instagram can be a killer!
LET IT BE MESSY AND MISTAKE-LADEN - powerful art requires mistakes and many times they end up being the best things about your work. Embrace them, learn from them. Keep on working. Take what works and leave the rest. Learn to love the imperfections and messy parts along the way. If something doesn’t work - NEXT!
Finding your unique perspective and artistic style can be a joyful lifelong practice. Use these tips to shift your mindset. Be open to possibility and honor the creative work ONLY YOU can bring out to the world.
Ok, that’s it for now - so go get to work!
- xo x