Developing a Personal Style

A guest blog from Lina Maria Carrillo on developing a personal style as an artist.

I have loved to draw ever since I can remember. Looking back at my work, I can see how I have gradually developed my own style as an artist. When flipping through my sketchbooks now, I laugh how many identical swans a 4 year old could possible draw over and over again. I like to hope that this level of persistence and commitment some day will serve me well in my artistic career. Later on, I have also cringed at some styles I have experimented with, particularly my naked life-drawing phase!

I think this is basically the same story for every person who likes to draw; we each like to hope that our work has evolved over time and stands out in our own way.

I believe the best way to develop our own artistic identity is to follow what we love. If you love to draw realistic, abstract or even finger paint, go for it!. There is no use trying to emulate someone else’s style, as at the end of the day our best work should clearly reflect who we are as an artist and our love for art.

At a personal level, now that my passion has turned into more of a career, I have to think about whether my work is pleasing to the audience’s eye, whether it is commercial enough to be used for advertisement purposes, and most importantly, whether it is effective in putting my point across. Having my own blog pushes me to come up with new ideas every week. I experiment with new techniques with digital media; I like to play around with my watercolors to create patterns that I can scan and play around with on my computer.

Eventually, when a stranger can pick my work out of others because it has my personal touch, this is something I definitely strive for. Developing my own style seems to be a continuous evolution but I am happy to forever be learning new methods and techniques. This is what I love most about being an artist!

Lina Maria Carrillo

Paperplaneslmc.blogspot.com