I was asked in a recent podcast interview on Escape From Illustration Island about how I arrived at the style of illustration that I currently work in - this really got me thinking.
Style is such a tricky thing for an illustrator and something that I’ve definitely struggled with. There seems to be two schools of though on this subject, each with pros and cons:
1. You must have a signature style to set yourself apart from the crowd
- Pros - Your work is unique and so you become known as the go to guy/girl in your niche
- Cons - You may be narrowing the field of job opportunities by only working in one very specific, unique style
2. You should work in multiple styles so that you are able to serve a wider range of clients
- Pros - You open yourself up to many more job opportunities through being able to adapt your style to work with a wider range of clients
- Cons - Art Directors may be hesitant to hire you as they they don’t quite know what they are going to get back
I tend to lean towards the ’signature style’ way of thinking - but then I am a big believer in business that finding a niche is always the way to go. The problem then becomes…what is my style?
This can lead to a lot of over thinking, procrastination and could ultimately become crushing. These are some key lessons that I learned along the way - hopefully they will help you too….
Put away the art books and turn off the computer (unless you work digitally of course 
)
It’s fine to have inspirations but you should never set out to mimic another illustrators style (you’re never going to out-Jon Foster, Jon Foster). Your influences are already going to be locked in to your illustration DNA, so don’t surround yourself with images by your favourite illustrators and let them become a crutch. Produce your illustrations not someone else’s.
Don’t force an illustration style
Your style is something that will and should evolve over time - observe, but don’t get in the way of your work. This can be tricky when you’re trying to put together a coherent portfolio of work and each piece looks different. Keep at it, and over time you will see certain elements of your personal style bubbling to the surface.
Just make sure you stand back from time to time to allow yourself to see these elements or ask a neutral person to look through your work if you’re struggling to see them - this can be quite eye opening.
Try a bit of everything
Experiment with different media and subject matter, try working in pastel, try working digitally, try collage, try working in oils, acrylics or watercolour. You’ll soon realise what you do and don’t enjoy and what you naturally gravitate towards.
It isn’t set in stone
Just because you may land on a specific style now, it doesn’t mean that you are trapped into working in that style forever. Your style will naturally evolve and change over time, but this should be a natural progression. Keep it authentic, experiment on your own personal projects and the interesting results are bound to naturally filter into your professional style/work.
On a side note, check out what super talented and successful illustrator Sterling Hundley had to say about influences and style in this great sidebarnation podcast interview.
I’ve pulled together a few pieces of my work over the past 12 months to demonstrate how my personal illustration style evolved through experimentation with different media and subject matter.
Clockwise from top left: Paint/pastel, pastel, digital, digital
Clockwise from top left: Traditional collage/acrylic paint, traditional collage/digital, traditional collage, traditional collage
As you can see, it wasn’t long before a pattern started to emerge and my love of animals and birds started to filter through into my work. It also became apparent to me that my favoured media to work in was traditional cut and paste collage.
Why not try this exercise yourself - gather together pieces of your work from the past year and see if you can see patterns naturally bubbling to the surface? You might be surprised at what you find.
I also asked some other illustrators their views on illustration styles, influences and how they developed their own style. Here’s what they had to say…
Viet-My Bui
I started out, as many fledgling artists, idolising and emulating anime. As a child, I had been completely enamoured with shows like Sailor Moon; I spent hours trying to perfect the style. I gave little thought to colour and depth, and focused only on executing clean lineart.
However, as I got older and my interest in anime waned, I realised that I was pouring effort into imitation rather than innovation. So, gradually, I began to observe realism and Western-styled cartoons. I sat in cafes and sketched passersby. I attended a few life-drawing classes, and took more note of perspective & anatomy. I started to explore numerous types of art: animation, photography, graphic design, concept art, fine art, music and fashion, etc. My influences grew exponentially and I began incorporating what I’d learnt into my art – particularly expression, emotion, colour, composition, costume & character design.
My artwork has since evolved into what some describe as ‘semi-realism’, or a mixture of Western & Eastern influenced illustration. While I’m partial to digital painting, I’m quite open to experimentation with different concepts & media. I’m also trying to be looser & more expressive with my colours & brushstrokes. However I’m still growing and still trying to find my own voice, and as such, still trying to find my ‘own’ style.”
Ciaee Ching
When I started taking up some freelance projects (mostly concept art) after graduating from art school last year, it made me question what my heart really wanted to do. I guess I was living someone else’s dream. I really thought that I would be happy as long as I was drawing or painting for a living but I found these jobs to be quite stifling to my creativity. Because I was required to follow the brief so closely most of the time I became extremely frustrated with the lack of flexibility and little room for personal interpretation. Although I learned a lot and gained some experience on the inner workings of the industry, I knew that I do not want to be doing this for the rest of my life. I wanted to convey my own feelings, tell my own stories and I wanted people to be able to learn something about me and my thoughts through my paintings.
I don’t know how I came to work in my current style. Someone told me once that it is not we who find the style, but rather it is the style that finds us. What I do is to mess around with the paint- values, colors, composition… until something ‘clicks’. These days I don’t have a very clear image worked out in my head before I paint, but I usually have a very solid something that I want to say. I keep that in mind, and make my decisions along the way based on the message or feeling that I want to convey. If anyone feels something by looking at my painting, my work is done.
Rowena Aitken
I suppose my style takes a lot of it’s cues from cartoons and animation. I have always loved drawing and being a child of the 80’s I was heavily influenced by the fantastic array of cartoons on offer. This lead me to study as a 2D animator at Duncan of Jordanstone, University of Dundee. Looney Tunes, Warner Brothers and Chuck Jones had a huge influence, as did the Hanna Barbera classic Fred Flintstone.
After graduation I lost my love of animation, animating 1 1/2 minutes of abstract footage traditionally can do that to you! I decided to work more in photoshop and found that it was a great medium for drawing and not just processing and colouring frames. Between 2006 & 2007 I worked for a couple of mobile games companies which harked my art back to my simple cartoon style days, and definitely influenced my art. From then I have experimented with a lot of styles and genres from realism to more cartoon children’s illustrations. Right now I am branching out into more fantasy work and I see little things creeping through; organic lines, big character-filled eyes, bold colours. I have always been conscious of style and never really felt I had one until recently. I suppose that’s just it; one tries to be unique and have that certain something but at the end of the day your style is just going to be what and how you like to draw.
Andrew Smith
When I look at Bamfurlong (see right) I see the influence my love for cartoons and comics has had on my style. I can see the comic proportions of Farmer Maggot and the exaggerated posturing of the Black Rider. I can see the illustration leaking out of its borders in the same way a comic panel bleeds into the next. The foundation of my style is the detailed line-art that started as a homage to Travis Charest and then more recently borrowed strokes from Charles Vess. I want my line-art to stand on its own with the colour being the cherry on the top. Until Bamfurlong I had never rated a coloured version of my work above the original line-art. With this piece, though I felt the colours have finally taken the lines to the next level. Where previous work the colouring had been “by the numbers”, filling in white space, Bamfurlong allowed me to explore mood in a way the line-art alone could not.
If I were forced to choose one word to describe my style I would choose ’stylised’. In the end, any attempts I make to draw in a realistic style are twisted and distorted by my comic heritage. It is a consequence of absorbing the styles of the artists who excited me in a medium that was accessible to me. My jaw drops at the work of Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo too but I know I don’t have it in me to paint like that. To emulate my comic illustrator heroes, on the other hand, I only needed a pencil and some paper.
Andy Fox
I started doing this kind of figurative yet cartoony work back at uni, (7 years ago now) originally using gouache paint with areas of flat colour. I later convinced myself to learn Illustrator which obviously made life much easier in terms of adding detail, the speed I could work and the versatility of what I could do.
A year or two down the line, I started taking what I’d done in Illustrator and messing about in PhotoShop with textures and all kinds of other effects, which again seemed to open up all kinds of other possibilities. I’ve also recently bought myself a stylus which has meant I can get back to working in a bit more of a painterly way. I think it’s fair to say that my style has developed as my computer skills have grown - although my work still relates to how it looked back in the old days when I was working with a pencil and paintbrush, only much improved (I hope).
Influence wise, it’d be hard to pinpoint really. I’ve been drawing pictures for as long as I can remember and have always had an interest in art. If anything, perhaps Pop Art is something I was into back at uni, so maybe this has rubbed off a little. I love travelling too so I think you kind of pick things up as you go that make their way into your work. But generally, I think all areas of pop culture influence my style.
Jeffrey Lai
I think I realized after uni I needed a better understanding of the basics, such as form, tone etc.. which I don’t think I did enough (too many essays for me..) so went back and read lots of books about it! I used to really dislike colour, and work only with b+w pen work for a while (but wow I think thats changed quite a bit.) Digital is just a tool I suppose, I like the flexibility of it. (I’m horrible with the cleaning up phase with traditional media).
I love John Singer Sargent, Monet, Russian artists are amazing eg: Repin and Shishkin (I don’t think I could nail it down to any one person, the list could go on forever). I think i’ve become a little bit looser in terms of mark making, seems more.. painter-ly. Its a constant learning process! which I will never seem be satisfied with!
Subject matter hasn’t really changed though, I love fantasy stuff
I’d like to thank Viet-My Bui, Ciaee Ching, Rowena Aitken, Andrew Smith, Andy Fox and Jeffrey Lai for taking the time to share their thoughts and wonderful artwork with us. Be sure to check out their websites to see more of their amazing work.
What are your views on single or multiple styles within your portfolio? How did you develop your illustration style? Why not join in on the comments and share your experiences.
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Hey Jon,
Thank you kindly for the feature, and what a great article. Informative & educational. Ciaee & I have often talked about styles and how they tend to evolve through your own growth as an artist.
Wow, what a great post… After a long career in a non-art related industry I’ve gone back to art school and am currently at this very phase of trying to figure out exactly what my style is. Having the other artists show their work as well and how they got to that point was very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you Jon for the opportunity to take part in this post, it’s certainly very useful to compare my experiences with other illustrators!
Great post, Jonathan. It was nice to hear the input from multiple Illustrators. I’m in the middle of working my way towards just one style while clinging to variety in my portfolio for its benefit in getting me more local work. It seems that there is a point where you ultimately choose to leave that behind to make your mark with your signature style. There are always ways to add variety to your style, after all.
Cheers,
Thomas
A fantastic summary I can’t wait to see more like this.
@Viet-My @Rowena Aitken Thanks for taking part, it was great to have you guys and your amazing work be a part of the post.
@Jennifer LeBlanc - glad you liked the post and found it useful. The style thing is a tricky one isn’t it - best of luck with your artistic endeavors and art school. I look forward to seeing what style you settle into!
@Thomas James - Hey Thomas, thanks for the great comment and for the awesome EFII site, you were the one who inspired me to get some readers and twitter followers involved in the post. Keep up the great work with the EFII site and podcast - it’s a must listen each and every week!
@Boris - Thanks for the feedback Boris, I definitely plan to be writing more posts like this and getting readers involved to share their experiences too.