Signature style = easier art-making

Today I want to talk about how having a signature style makes creating lots of art easier.

A signature style is when your artwork has a consistency to it that allows people to identify it as yours without seeing your name attached to it. This comes across in colors, line work, subject matter, etc. I would define my style as colorful, playful, flat (no texture or shading), graphic, and I tend to draw a lot of animals.

Soooooo, how does having a signature style make creating art easier?

I'll tell you. It's all about process, baby.

You don’t have to think so much when you sit down to work. There are less decisions to make. Less decision fatigue. Less overwhelm. Less barrier to entry.

You can jump right in because you don’t have to take time to decide:

1) What colors to use. (A lot of times having a signature style means a limited color palette that you keep coming back to over and over.)

2) What materials to use. (Often, having a signature style means you know if you are a Procreate lover, a gouache lover, a watercolor lover, etc. Of course you aren't locked in to any one medium and a style can transcend mediums, but by this point, you usually know which ones you like best.)

3) What type of subject matter to draw. (I know I love drawing flowers, animals, and objects. I've drawn enough of those things by now to know how I like to draw a cat, how I like to draw a coneflower, how I like to draw animal eyes, etc.)

When you don't have an established style you can get paralyzed with options! You're looking at a blank page and there are countless decisions to make, countless ways to go. Often this leads to overwhelm and frustration.

Some people think having a signature style would be limiting, BUT I actually think the "limitations" are freeing! Working within parameters can take a huge weight off.