How to Fix the Problem of Style

Whenever you hear artists talking about "breaking into the biz," the topic of style will undoubtably come up.  We guarantee that at least one person will ask the question "Do I need a style?" or "How do I find my style?"

We can answer that very simply right off the bat:  "Yes, if you want a job," and "Lots of art.  Lots and lots of art."

The first part is pretty reasonable: art directors/gallery curators/talent scouts/literary agents/etc. need you to have a style.  You might wince at this truth, but believe us, it's true.  As a hiring manager, the art director is going to look for someone that is safe, reliable, and they believe they can trust.  For an art director hiring you as a freelance artist, they are literally gambling their career on you.  If you mess up a book cover that delays production, besides you getting fired, the art director's job could be on the line as well.  So it's safe to say that yes, you do need a style as the person hiring you is looking for something reliable, and a style is your reliable method of expressing yourself.

The second part can be depressing or comforting all at the same time.  It can be a major bummer, as there is unfortunately no shortcut to finding a style besides making tons and tons of art.  It's comforting in the way that it is something that will come, and you can only speed up by working really really hard.

Simple as that.

So we've all agreed that you do need a style.  Well, what if you have multiple styles?  What if you like to work in metal sculpture, but you also do spoken word?  Or what if you love to paint detailed landscapes in watercolor but also love huge abstract oils?  What if you're a modern dancer and a short story writer?  How can your fellow artists ask that you choose between your true loves?

Or how about the fact that you like changing your style up from month to month.  Maybe you like photorealism, then you like loose brush pen work.  Maybe switching from well-composed photos in black and white to wild experimentations with exposure and light.  How can you ever hope to just stick to one single thing?

Well, if you know us at all, you'll know that we're big on experimentation, and not big on binary thinking.  The secret to fixing the issue of choosing a style and sticking with it is knowing that you don't have to.  

Yes, you heard us right, you don't have to stick to a certain style.  Please keep reading before you run off and send your art director your new experiment in style, however.  

So while you don't have to stick with a single style all your life, or even all month, it is important that you develop a body of work that has a consistent style.  You want to show curators or art directors or whomever might be asking for your work that you can consistently (key word here) produce the same style of work.  

What you can do, however, is create side projects.  If you find multiple, very different styles that you're constantly switching between, we recommend making an entirely different artist persona.  While Monkey (ie Rick Kitagawa) is known for dark, creepy, scary paintings, his other artist persona creates wildly light-hearted, funny paintings.  By separating the two styles into two distinct artists, Monkey has allowed himself the freedom to constantly work in both styles, but also maintains the commercial appeal of having a consistent style that people can count on him for.  

If you don't want to go as far as to create a whole new alias, you can always just create little sub-portfolios.  You show the art director for the game company your game asset portfolio, and you show your giant abstract pieces to your interior decorator collectors, and you show your giant paintings of purple elephants to your group of collectors who are into that sort of thing.  The main thing is that you don't want the video game art director to think that you're only going to give them purple elephants - you want that person to think you're going to give them awesome game assets.  

So, while it is the harsh reality that if you want to make money, you will need a consistent style at some point, think of it like a project identity, less of like a ball and chain that will hamper your creativity.  

Real Artists Experiment

Often times, when you're looking at the work of any "big name" commercial artist, you'll see a very distinct style.  Sometimes it'll change a bit from solo show to solo show for any given artist, but most likely what you see on their blog and in their portfolio is a very cohesive body of work.

This often leads us to believe that these people don't experiment.  We think that maybe these artists "have found their style" and don't deviate much from it and just keep making paintings all in the same style over and over again.

However, part of this is the game they have to play as commercial artists.  As a high-profile artist, often times there is a lot of pressure to stick to a certain style as galleries are businesses, first and foremost, and if the artist got big doing a certain style, they're going to want what is already proven to sell.  Often times the artist will recognize this and continue to make art in that style to appease the gallery and their fans, as this is what allows them to live off their art.

That said, we only usually get to see what they do in the public sphere.  Just because we see our favorite artists doing the same thing over and over again doesn't mean that they aren't trying out new mediums, or new styles, or new subject matter.  We just don't get to see it.

So go out there and experiment.  Try something new.  If you paint, what about some sculpture?  If you do installations, what about some pen and ink drawings?  Create photo-realistic stuff, try some doodling.  Manga artists, how about some landscape paintings?  However outside of your comfort zone you're willing to go, we say "Go there!"  

Just as the public doesn't get to see a lot of artists' experimental work, the public doesn't necessarily need to see YOUR experimental work.  Under no obligation must you post it on a blog, or put a photo on Facebook, or do you need to show another living person if you don't want to.  Go crazy, and if you hate it, dump it, burn it, whatever.  The main thing is that by pushing yourself to go someplace that you haven't gone before, it'll change the way you look at what you "normally" do.  You might gain some new insight, or you might even find something you really enjoy (maybe even more than what you usually do).   This experimentation, while it may be your "new style" in the end, is really for you and your artistic soul more than for anything else, so try something new when you get the chance.

Keeping Things Fresh

In-progress painting, ~5 hours

Before we get on with our usual blog fare, we just wanted to remind you about some of the many events coming up in the next week or so.

This Friday, Feb. 11th, both Monkey + Seal will be in Wonderland SF's group show "Just Because.." along with 16 other talented artists. The opening night reception is from 6-10pm at Wonderland SF in the Mission, 2929 24th Street to be exact.

This weekend at Big Umbrella Studios, we'll be having a super duper trunk show! There will be vegan fare and baked goods, along with other awesome vendors on Sunday, from 12-5pm at 906.5 Divisadero St (x McAllister). You should also stop on by on Saturday to see an entirely different slate of vendors and show your support. Same time, same place, different food options.

Monkey here.

I recently started taking classes at City College of San Francisco (CCSF, for those in the know). As you probably know, I already have a (expensive) degree from Academy of Art University. Why would I go back to school?

Three reasons. The first, which is NOT what this post is about, is so that my student loans might be deferred just a little bit longer.

The second, more interesting reason (but still not what this post is about) is that I wanted to get back into printmaking (other than silkscreen), and by taking printmaking classes I'd have access to some presses.

The third, most important reason is that I wanted to keep things fresh. While at the Academy, because I was pressured to paint in the style of classical realism (ie realistic paintings, rendering form, strong light sources, etc.), I ended up feeling confined and frustrated and that's how I ended up going into my current style of looser, outlined, messy-background paintings that I do now, even going so far as to sometimes including text.

However, after painting in this loose manner for the past year, I started to get a bit bored with my current style. Fortunately I had been changing up subject matter over the past year or so, but I still saw things getting a bit stale. Because I had been fortunate to have a fairly filled schedule of shows, most paintings were paintings done under a deadline, and I didn't have a lot of time to experiment.

By taking painting classes at CCSF, I've given myself the permission (and time) to paint in other styles. Instead of drawing sketches on canvas with pencil (or completely making something out of random brush strokes) like I usually do for my current body of work, I've gone back to my Academy training of painting from reference, doing quick underpaintings with paint, and (albeit stylistically) rending form instead of using line to create the image.

Painting in this way helps me to keep my speed up and is just a great way of practicing my skill set. Regardless of the finished product, I'm practicing more, which is one of the keys to success. After all, practice makes perfect with art, and it's really all about mileage. While it might not be obvious how painting in different styles helps, there are a lot of things that I can practice regardless of the style. How to get my paint to the consistency I want. Brush control. Color mixing. No matter the task, creating with paint on a daily basis is super helpful if you want to improve your craft.

All in all, I think that it is really important to keep things fresh here and there, in order to make sure that you're not getting tired of the same thing. Experimentation and trying new (or older) styles or themes can be really helpful as even if you don't learn something new that directly applies to your current style, you'll be rehearsing the basics, which will just make you stronger.

Whether taking classes at a community college or going to art school (if you haven't yet), by changing stuff up and making time for a change of pace, you'll be able to keep things fresh and, most importantly, keep art fun. After all, when art stops being fun, then it's just a job.

Painting What Sells or Painting What You Love

What you choose to paint is usually regarded as a dichotomy. You either paint what sells, or you paint what you love.

It's easy to paint what sells. You can copy the style of a famous artist and do what they do. You can also just look into illustration/fine art annuals and figure out what people like. You can spend hours and hours practicing and drawing, and once you get your traditional classical realism down paint some dragons and monsters and barbarians with topless women and you're set.

It's not easy to paint what you love. You have to figure out what parts of your style are you, and what are habits that have been drilled into your brain by society, peers, schooling, or anything else that has led to your development as an artist. You also have to leave all that other stuff behind and do what you want. Sometimes you'll find commercial success right away, especially if what you love to paint also happens to be what sells. Other times, you'll have to find a niche audience that may be scattered across the globe. You'll probably have to spend years experimenting to even figure out what you love, then spend more years honing your craft before you ever get mainstream commercial success.

If you paint what sells, you'll probably end up hating your art and you'll be financially successful but most likely painting won't even be fun anymore. You'll be doing someone else's style, doing someone else's subject matter. When what's "in" changes, you'll find that your (borrowed) style is no longer as in-demand as it once was, and you'll have to start all over.

If you paint what you love, although jobs might be harder to find, and gallery shows might not come as readily, painting will be a total release from all the other crap you might have to put up with. When you paint what you love, you'll love painting enough to deal with loans, late fees, overdrafts, and budgeting between food and art supplies.

But life isn't a dichotomy. While it's true that there are subjects and styles that sell better than others, you can still paint what you love and be successful. Often times the love that you have for your paintings will translate onto your canvas. It becomes about finding your audience and giving your craft your all. Even if you are technically able to do a certain style, or a certain subject, if your heart isn't in it, you'll be unhappy.

When you're well-known and in-demand, people will ask to see more of what they've already seen before. Sure, styles and subjects might vary a bit, but people will want to see some continuity from your previous work. If all you have for previous work is stuff you don't like to paint, you'll be stuck painting more of the same. Even if it takes longer (which won't necessarily happen) to become more successful by painting what you love, when you finally reach that success you'll find that it's a lot more fulfilling and lucrative than just following the trends and doing what sells.

You can also figure out what your audience wants and still stay true to your own voice. Ask them! Put up a survey, ask your friends - what part of your art do they like the most? What would they want to see? Find out something that people will like, and then do your own twist on it - but only if you want to. If people say they want to see landscapes, and you hate landscapes, by all means pass. But if people say they want to see pirates and you actually like pirates, then you can paint them in whatever style suits you best.

Find the love in your work, whether its paintings, writing, acting, dancing, teaching, engineering, managing, selling, whatever. Find what you love do to and pursue it endlessly. And if you can figure out a way to make a living off doing just that, you'll be even better off. You'll find that no matter how long the journey, it will be an enjoyable and profitable one.

Happy Halloween/ Style

Keep your poisoned apples to yourself!

Happy Halloween everyone! Monkey's favorite holiday of the year is here, and the Monkey + Seal duo will be hitting the street as Narwhals tonight. To celebrate, here are some studies Monkey did in acrylic, as well as a Halloween serigraph (above) he pulled for kicks.

The caption (which got cut off by the scanner) says "If I'm Not Dead I Should Be."
Truly, the Devil incarnate.

Since this is a Saturday Process Post, Monkey has decided to talk a bit about style. Not style, as in fashion, but style as in how you choose to express yourself visually. I guess that could be through fashion, and now that I think about it this post (although written from an illustrator/fine artist's standpoint) could apply to fashion designers as well, but I admit that I'm quite ignorant of all that. I'm writing this from the standpoint of an artist who is actively trying to make a living solely off his art (as opposed as someone who doesn't care if they ever sell a single painting/drawing/etc.).

So. Many young, budding artists think a lot about style. I know that I certainly do. Do you want to go stylized? Realistic? Abstract? Stylized realism? Graphic? Art Brute? Impressionistic? The list goes on and if you're anything like me, you've probably tried out quite a few different styles, trying to figure out what works best for you.

My art instructors always said that style is something that you just eventually fall into. Either you find something that works for you or you find something that appeals to the masses and you keep riding the praise, even if you aren't necessarily really into your style. I have found this to be pretty true. If you haven't figured out the way you want to work professionally, it just takes time. Seal talks about mileage in her last post on working. You really do have to put in the mileage to find yourself. I know it may be frustrating, but believe me, it'll happen.

Also, realize that style evolves. If you constantly draw or paint in the exact same way, while it may make you money, I feel like you are stagnating as an artist. Being completely consistent means you are not taking risks, which generally means you probably aren't learning anything new. While this is fine, I personally prefer to learn as much as I can, as often as I can, as that's the only way I'm going to be the best artist I can be. Now I'm not saying that you should put up five different styles in the same gallery show, but if you look at the work over the years of anyone from Picasso to Jeff Soto, you'll see changes and growth. Sometimes it doesn't work out, and the artist will return to the way they did things earlier, othertimes they'll try something new.

But what if you've been making art for a while, and you're STILL not sure what style you want to go with. Well, there are lots of things that could be preventing you from finding a style you really like.

The biggest hurdle, I've found, is that there is a hierarchy in style, and this is what constantly messes me up in the head. Realism is always on top, with different fads (art brute has been pretty big in the lowbrow scene for a while now) taking their place underneath it. Now, I personally do not believe that painting things realistically is the best way to make art, but if you ever show a painting that's painted photo realistically to anyone, they'll say "wow, you're a great painter." If you show the best abstract in the world to a random stranger, you'll get reactions from "you're amazing" to "what does this even mean," to "you're not a painter, you just put random splashes of paint on canvas." Humans naturally are drawn to things that remind them of themselves and what they know, so realism always tends to feel like it's the most important way to make art (this is not true, however).

At Academy of Art in SF, the illustration and fine art programs both emphasis learning strong draftsmanship, line control, rendering form, color theory, etc., etc. It is a very technical school that places a lot of emphasis early in the program on classical realism. However, as a painter who is more inspired by Camille Rose Garcia and Luke Chueh than Rembrandt or John Singer Sargent, this mucked up my painting for a long time. While I could paint realistically, I didn't really like to, but people really liked the work that I was doing. This made it hard for me to really embrace the style that I wanted to do, and I would end up doing a little bit of both styles, which made my pieces mediocre, as they weren't painted very technically, but they weren't really stylized either. This is something that I'm still fighting now.

The other major roadblock to finding a style is that for people like me, I like lots of different styles. While I plan to succeed as an artist with multiple styles, this is very, very, very rare. Like I said before, styles evolve, but you don't see many painters known for both their photorealism and their abstract paintings. I have found that once again, this is a question of mileage.

In a week, if you're trying out three different styles, and it takes you on average 24 hours to do a painting, assuming ALL you do is paint (no sleep, eating, potty, etc.), you can get 2.3 paintings done in each style. If you are just working in one style, in a month you'll get 7 paintings in the same style. No wonder if you're constantly experimenting, things will take longer for you to find a style you really like. No one really falls in love on the first date, you have to keep on going out and figuring out if you really like the person. The same goes with style. If you're looking, it will take you longer in the experimental phase the more styles you are interested in. But the only way to figure out what works for you is to put in the time and effort and see if it's right for you.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading this lengthy post, and I hope you got an insight into my personal struggle with style and were able to take away something useful.