Finding Your Art Style: The Beautiful Struggle Between Joy and Intention

Every artist, at some point in their creative journey, runs headfirst into a question that can feel both exciting and paralyzing: What is my art style? It’s a rite of passage that sounds so simple—just make art, and eventually, your “style” will appear like a signature in the corner of your canvas. But the reality? It’s rarely that easy.

The Pressure to Have a Style

From scrolling through curated feeds on Instagram to comparing your work with artists whose style seems so effortlessly distinct, it’s easy to feel like you’re behind. Everyone seems to have a style—whether it’s dreamy pastels, chaotic ink lines, or surreal portraiture. Meanwhile, your work might feel like a mismatched patchwork of ideas, techniques, and influences. That’s not failure. That’s the process.

In her book Find Your Artistic Voice, Lisa Congdon writes about how artists often chase a “style” before they’ve even given themselves time to explore. Her message is clear: your voice doesn’t arrive overnight—it grows through deliberate curiosity and consistent making.

Joy vs. Consistency

Here’s where the real tension lies.

Painting what you enjoy—whether that’s whimsical cats in space, hyper-detailed hands, or abstract color studies—feels free and fulfilling. It’s the heart of why you started making art in the first place. But bouncing between wildly different subjects and techniques can make your portfolio look scattered. It might leave you feeling like you’re not making progress toward a signature style.

On the flip side, narrowing your focus to develop a style—sticking to a single color palette, subject, or composition—can start to feel like a box. You might find yourself asking, Do I actually enjoy making this kind of work, or am I just trying to be consistent for consistency’s sake?

Bobby Chiu’s blog post Why You Should Stop Trying to Find Your Style offers a comforting perspective: stop obsessing over style. Instead, hone your skills and make what excites you. Your unique voice will naturally follow.

There’s No Shortcut

Style isn’t something you find; it’s something that finds you—slowly, through the repetition of following your interests. The truth is, painting what brings you joy is developing your style. It might not look cohesive right away, but over time, patterns begin to emerge. Maybe it’s the way you layer color, the way your figures move, or the stories you keep returning to without even realizing it.

You can’t rush authenticity. Trying to mimic someone else’s “style” because it’s trending or commercially successful will often leave you feeling more lost than inspired. As Austin Kleon puts it in his book Steal Like an Artist, creativity is about remixing your influences into something new that only you could make.

Permission to Wander

You are allowed to be inconsistent. You are allowed to explore. Your portfolio can be chaotic. That doesn’t make you less of an artist. In fact, it means you’re still learning, growing, and most importantly—listening to your own voice.

If you’re torn between painting what you love and painting to “find your style,” lean into the former. Your style will catch up with you eventually. It’s already there, quietly waiting in the choices you make without thinking—the lines you favor, the emotions you chase, the stories you return to.

In other words: your style is you.

And you’re still becoming. Isn’t that kind of beautiful?

Further Reading & Watching

• How to Find Your Art Style – Adobe Creative Cloud

  
  

  A practical overview of steps to begin exploring your artistic identity.

• Find Your Artistic Voice – Lisa Congdon

  
  

  A deeper dive into developing your voice over time—not overnight.

• Why You Don’t Have an Art Style Yet – Ethan Becker (YouTube)

  
  

  An honest, humorous look at how style evolves through work, not pressure.

• How to Develop Your Own Style – Proko (YouTube)

  
  

  Professional artists share how their styles emerged through experience.

• How to Find Your Art Style – DrawingWiffWaffles (YouTube)

  
  

  A light-hearted and relatable video about the journey of experimenting

This article was created with the assistance of AI.