Developing a style

I recently took on the Sailor Moon Redraw Challenge. I was so excited to pay homage to the series that inspired me to take drawing seriously but most of all, I was curious as to whether or not I had a style. It took many years for me to realise that I had one and it was only when I looked at my recent work did I finally see it. So here are some of the things I did to help me find my style.

I studied my favourite artists/writers!
I listed all the people whose work you like and took note of what it was about them that drew me in such as the detail they put in their characters, how they did the backgrounds or their use of colour and shading. When you begin to understand what it is that you like about your favourite stories you begin to see that reflected in your work.

I reverse engineered their techniques
I took the time to write/draw the features that I liked about their work. If they had sketches or tutorials I would study them to see how they achieved a certain effect and then try to replicate that. This included tracing over their work to get a feel for how they drew a line or coloured pictures and then applied those lessons to my own work. This had the added bonus of fast tracking my practice.

All of the YouTube
I found great shortcuts that helped speed my practice and work along. There are so many awesome tutorials on improving lineart, backgrounds, dialogue, pacing; you name it, YouTube has it! Finding those small ways to improve my work gave me the sense that I was moving forward and accomplishing something.

Get feedback
This was the hardest part. I got into the communities in forums and discord servers and began posting my work for review. The feedback I received really jump started my progress when I reached a slump. Be sure to open yourself up to constructive criticism as a fresh perspective can push you to the next level.

How did you develop your style? Let us know in the comments below! And join us on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST). We’ll be following up on this topic so be sure to tune in and give other creators your tips on how you found your style!
Let us know in the comment section below! And join us on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST)!

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