How to find your artistic style in drawing?

Do you draw but feel like you're imitating without truly having your own identity? This article guides you through finding and asserting your artistic style with practical and inspiring advice.

Introduction

Every artist asks themselves the question: "What is my style?" Finding your artistic identity is like discovering your inner voice: a subtle blend of influences, experimentation, and personal discovery. Your style isn't decided overnight; it's built through your practice, inspiration, and choices. Here are some concrete tips to help you craft a unique and authentic style that truly reflects you.

1️⃣ Explore different mediums

Pencil, charcoal, ink, watercolor, acrylic paint, digital art… each medium has its own language, rhythm, and visual effect. Experimenting with different techniques not only expands your skills, but also helps you discover what works best for you.

• The pencil promotes precision and detail.
• Watercolor invites spontaneity and letting go.
• Digital opens the door to an infinite number of styles and quick corrections.

By varying your tools, you will learn to understand your natural preferences and identify the media that highlight your artistic sensibility.

2️⃣ Get inspired without copying

All artists draw inspiration from others, but the key is to transform these influences. Observe the illustrators, painters, or designers who have an impact on you: their choice of colors, the way they construct a composition, their relationship with shapes.
Instead of imitating their work, ask yourself:

• What attracts me to their style?
• How can I adapt this approach to my own world?

Inspiration then becomes a springboard to create something personal. Copying trains the eye and the hand, but it's only through reinterpretation that your style stands out.

3️⃣ Observe your natural habits

Even without you realizing it, your drawings already have recurring elements: the way you draw your lines, the colors you like, the themes you spontaneously approach (nature, portraits, fantasy worlds, etc.).

Take the time to analyze your past works:

• Are there any recurring motifs or topics?
• Do you have a particular way of styling a character or a setting?
• What emotions are you trying to convey?

These clues are often the first building blocks of your visual identity.

4️⃣ Experiment without fear

Your style can't be born if you always stay in your comfort zone. Dare to try techniques that seem difficult to you, mix genres (realism + abstract, for example), explore unusual formats (large format, miniature notebook).

Experimentation allows you to:

• to break the routine,
• to discover new facets of your creativity,
• and sometimes accidentally create elements that will become emblematic of your style.

Accept that not everything is perfect. It is often in the “failed” attempts that the seeds of an original style are hidden.

5️⃣ Practice regularly

Like a musician or a writer, an artist shapes their style through repetition and experience. The more you draw, the more natural and recognizable your choices become. Regular practice allows you to:

• to refine your technique,
• to consolidate your visual preferences,
• and to bring out automatisms that make your style identifiable.

Don't try to "find your style" at any cost. Focus on the joy of creating and let time do its work: your style will gradually reveal itself, like a unique signature.

Conclusion

Finding your artistic style isn't a race, but a journey. It's a living process, fueled by your inspirations, your trials, and your errors. With practice, curiosity, and an openness to experimentation, your artistic universe will naturally emerge. The most important thing is to stay true to what you love to express: your style is already within you, simply waiting to be cultivated and affirmed.