How I Found My Style In Art?
Hi, I am Jean and I am an illustrator. I have around 10 years of experience and I am one of those people who would never be able to imagine themselves doing anything else, but art.
I am a very visual person and I like to experiment in art. To me art is like a place where “I can make mistakes” in order to create something that I really like.
One of the things that I am grateful for today is that after a lot of years of incredible struggle I finally feel comfortable with my work, it feels natural to draw and I feel it’s my style. Don’t get me wrong I am not bragging, but this is something very important in this business, to enjoy what you are doing. Still, I don’t think my style is complete and “finished”, I believe one’s style is always changing, evolving. Just like people change, their style changes too. Their art changes too.
I will never forget how obsessed I was a few years ago, and how I desperately wanted only one thing: to find my own style. It was all that I could think about and could not rest, because I wanted it to happen. Soon, very soon.
I was longing to find my identity in art, I wanted to define my style and my style to define me.
I was always interested in art, I remember in middle school I was accepting my classmates’ requests to draw them whatever we had to draw during class. It felt relaxing to draw, it helped me to quiet my thoughts.
As I grew I became more analytical but I still had my curiosity for art. In high school I finished maths-informatics and I can’t say I was passionate about it, although I am a rational person, but I have learn’t programming and algorithms. It was a great challenge but I have to admit that I still find these studies very helpful even if I later chose different directions (University of Arts). In my last year of the university, I started to have this huge desire, to find my style. I felt like I am at a point where I had studied anatomy, forms, colors etc. but something was missing. And even if these studies are based on observing and copying what you see, we can not say they exclude the artist’s unique gesture or style.
But I wanted something very very different, I wanted my style to be recognizable, and in illustration I had plenty options and a wide range of tools, techniques that made this possible. I like to think that the way I perceive everything is pretty scientific and to me art is like science, where I can experiment and discover new things. Probably this complexity and freedom in illustration triggered my curiosity and passion. I remember gazing at amazing illustrators’ works, styles and wanted to have this identity in art, to be like them.
I can’t sort all the things that I did in order to find my style, because there are a lot, but I will try. At first I want to point out some mistakes, things I believe were like obstacles in front of me, between me and my goal:
1. First of all, we should know that there are a lot of battles in our minds, and in order to achieve something, at first we need to have the right thoughts. In high-school I finished maths and informathics, so this is known as being very different from art (Warning! Labelling is very very wrong). I wasn’t very good at it, but I’ve always known that I am pretty rational and analytical. My rational background (maths-informatics) and the lack of creative studies before the university kept haunting me limiting my abilities in my mind. I always thought, “art is not really for me, I am too rational, I am not really an artist because I’ve studied programming before”. This was a huge barrier, and a huge mistake. You should never ever believe that you can’t do something that you put your mind, heart, and effort in it.
2. The second mistake I had was that I wanted to hurry the process, I think I was considering more important what I showcase to people than what gratifies my curiosity. I slowly learnt, that artists don’t have to showcase every little piece of art, sketches, anything that they make. Because we are not in the university anymore, and the sketching, learning process is behind our finished piece, and is very personal. In order to create a masterpiece you have to build things up. Just like when you go to the cinema you don’t even think of watching the whole storyboard and alternate scenes, you only want to see a movie. You don’t have to show everything, just what you find worthy to show to the public. Even though I was and I am a pretty patient person, I know now that I didn’t have much patience then; I wanted my first sketch to be perfect, to instantly scan it and to turn it into an illustration. And to show it to the whole world.
3. I was afraid of making a mistake. This goes hand in hand with patience, because somehow I felt like I was during a test and I had to make the first sketch perfect. Whenever I didn’t make it, I started to blame myself, and I was ruining my mood, my curiosity with it.
4. Comparison. This is a tough one. While for an artist art is like food for soul, it’s simply inevitable to look at other artists’ works, achievements and success. We need to grow visually and this hunger brings us in a great error: we tend to compare ourselves with other artists. It’s something that at first I didn’t recognize, because I guess I was too driven, but it’s definitely a big “mistake” and it’s not fair to compare yourself to artists who are probably in the business for ages. Or if I put it this way: do you think it’s fair to compare the IQ of a toddler with the IQ of an adult? Another fact that I found also very important is that we are all different and we all have different journeys. We can’t compare each other’s lives and journeys because these are the things that make us unique, we are all uniquely different.
So what really helped me?
I tried to calm down and started to listen to podcasts from various artists while I was working, I understood they ALL have gone through these struggles just like me and I started to work with less hesitation and fear, with more focus and I was content
Started to ‘force’ myself to think positive and to believe that I can achieve great things
Learnt that I don’t have to showcase anything, perhaps just the final piece; I am not doing art to impress anybody, I am doing art (strictly) for MYSELF (this changes when you work with clients)
I imagined that if I was successful I would have a certain attitude, and I tried to adjust my way of thinking to that. In my mind a successful person is someone who goes through the struggles and becomes much stronger. I was thinking of what would I do differently if I was successful, what steps would I make, would I be optimistic or pessimistic? Would I be content or blaming myself for every mistake? To control our thoughts is a constant struggle but it’s necessary to pay attention to our thinking. Because the patterns of our thoughts create feelings, which then create habits, which will easily be merged into our personality and change it. The roots of a great personality are great thoughts - every single day!
I bought children’s books and studied them
I spent hours in bookstores hunting for new styles, artists, wrote down the names and made my research when I got home
Created various sketches for one single illustration, and then I picked the best one to illustrate it (this is actually the right process)
I was working for stock websites where I didn’t receive critics, earned some little money and I could follow the trends and work freely
I constantly analyzed what can I do to improve, and made a list of what to add to my “style” to be more unique
After a lot of studies of anatomy, it became more natural to draw forms from different perspectives without references
After watching a lot of cartoons, I started to understand more how characters were made, how they are turned and were drawn from different perspectives
My knowledge of anatomy and cartoons were fused together and I slowly started to create characters on my own
I studied great artists and tried to understand their way of thinking
I understood that skills are like muscles, it takes effort to get better and better and you can’t jump from one point to another, you have to go through struggles; in order to have muscles you have to make a lot of sit-ups a day, but if you don’t do them you can not expect to see visible changes
After all, I became a nerd for art!
So if I had to start all over I would do the exact opposite of the first 4 mistakes that I did:
to understand DEEPLY that I am capable of doing anything, and I would “throw away” all the labels that I and others put on me
live in the present, and enjoying it; I would make sure that I don’t rush things
wouldn’t be afraid of mistakes; wouldn’t deny them, not in art; perhaps I would do a marathon day of drawing and trying to make as much mistakes as I can
I would somehow forbid myself to compare myself with others, I would find a way
With all that said, I don’t think art is an occupation, or a hobby. For me art is a lifestyle, where I absorb everything, I brainstorm, compare, analyze, compose and create things. This is how I process what I consume, this is how I process “reality”. Most of the things I said above, I am still doing them, because it’s natural for me. I find it fascinating that in art I can always learn. Someone once said, in order to be a professional you have to make 5000 artworks. I have around 2500 until now, so there’s still plenty to go.
I want to tell you that this is only my perspective, my personal experience, and this is what I’ve learnt through years, and how I got to where I am now, which is just a stage and I am working so I can go further and further.
If you just started doing art seriously, or you want to improve but can’t see visible changes yet and it’s frustrating and you are struggling - you should know that you are doing exactly the right thing. Because if you ask successful people they would all say that it was extremely difficult in the beginning, and it was a real struggle. The beauty of success and achieving things is that you have to fight for it and that is why you will value it tremendously. We have to go through the battles, fight the doubts down, defeat fear to gain real skills. The things that are hard to achieve are for stubborn people who really want to achieve them.
I truly believe everyone has talent and I wish you good luck, lot of patience, peace and finally great success on your journey of finding your style in art!
Follow me on these websites:
www.instagram.com/jeanbalogh
www.facebook.com/JeanBaloghIllustration
www.behance.net/gyongyibalogh
https://www.etsy.com/shop/thecreativeblossom
If you have any questions or would love to work with me on a project, please feel free to send me a message on any of the accounts above! Thank you!
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