Developing Your Own Drawing Style!

A lot of people ask me about how to go about developing their own unique drawing style, and I came across this great (if not a little... wordy...) tutorial on developing your illustration style by fellow YouTube artist Sycra (https://www.youtube.com/user/Sycra) The following is a fantastic exercise for those who are looking to develop a unique art style.


He makes some really great points in this video, and I couldn't agree more! A few hightlighted points to consider when developing your own style....

• Always master the foundations of realistic drawing first!

• Experiment with exaggerating characters in unique ways

• Try lots of different styles

• Avoid referencing other artists! Reference reality! 

• Don't learn to draw from the way other artists draw. It will become obvious that your style isn't your own.

• Stay true to yourself. Every artist has a unique voice. Embrace yours.

Sycra says, "I've seen this a lot- Artists who reference disney styles, like Glenn Keaton's style, or they'll do an Avatar The Last Airbender style-thing and it's very easy to see they copied from the style instead of learning how to draw properly, because you'll see little mistakes show up. More as with foundations, you can push things sooo far."

Sycra also answers one of my most frequently asked questions; "Will you create a video teaching us your artistic style and how to draw just like you?"

Sycra says, "As for people wanting to know how to do my own style- that's something I really don't want to do. And the reason is; I feel at that point THAT is what you create yourself. Right? I don't feel bad teaching foundations, but I wouldn't feel entirely good about teaching how I go about my own version of simplifying reality because that's MY way of seeing things. It's quite individual." 

So check out the video and try some of these things yourself!

AND

 "Remember, inspiration is different than EMULATION. We are all inspired by each other and the things we are exposed to- but your work should become it's own unique manifestation of these things and your OWN interpretation of reality, not someone elses."- Leilani Joy ^__^