I thought I would put this topic out there. Please feel free to contribute if you have any ideas.
I read where someone on the forum was having trouble finding their own unique style as everything they tried seemed to had been done before but better.
I would like to suggest you forget about what has been done before, and what you think other people think and just create. Sit down at a table and with pencil and paper. Clear your head of any other styles you've ever seen and draw a character off the top of your head without any reference. What you end up with will be very much your own style.
I think in a lot of cases we hold ourselves back because we think our work is inferior to other peoples. For instance, Look at Southpark, King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead? I've seen far superior character designs on this forum hands down.
Cheers
D.K
Finding your style
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Finding your style
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b15fliptop
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I would add to this to look for inspiration outside of animation. Look for artists whose style resonates with you and take the bits you like from a number of different sources, and the next thing you know you're doing your own thing.
A number of famous artists have commented that borrowing from those who came before them had a large role in defining their own styles.
A number of famous artists have commented that borrowing from those who came before them had a large role in defining their own styles.
I never thought of myself as having an own style, yet friends said they could easily recognize my films.
The thing with style is: it develops over time, it needs lots of experience, and it needs 100.000 drawings at least (Chuck Jones said that you only can be an animator after you've thrown away your first 10.000 drawings).
You need to be versatile, you need to be able to work in a lot of different styles, in different media, with different software and other tools. If you do animation for a living, nobody asks for your style - but they ask how good you blend in with the team, with the other artists.
I've met quite a lot of aspiring artists and promising interns over the years, and I saw that those who had a distinct "style" in the beginning had the biggest difficulties in learning animation or learning any other style. I'd say it's OK to have your own style, but don't expect to just hit the world market with that. This only happens in Hollywood movies.
Artists with a formal training have to use different tools every day. The wider the range of techniques you know, the more individual your style will be one day.
I didn't study art or anymation or anything, but I was constantly experimenting with whatever left a trace of colour on paper. Yet my drawing and animation skills were pretty amateurish when I joined a professional studio in 1990. The first days were pure hell! I was forced to draw in a way I never did before, and I was constantly sweating. Everything was new, and I had to learn very fast.
Two things saved me: I knew a lot about animation in theory, from books and films, and had tried different techniques at least once, with my Super8 camera. And I had been drawn for nearly every day of my life before, just in my own style of course, but this had given my hand the necessary training (neurologically exact: the part of the brain responsible for fine movements has had years of training).
After two decades in the business I notice that I still draw the same kind of face every time I start a new illustration! But the difference is that now my line is a bit more steady, and that I know where to tweak the character to give it some personality.
Recently I happended to work with some of my stuff from the 80's - doing an improved digital version of an old film. It was quite interesting to draw my old characters again, but now with the knowledge of 20 years.
I still don't feel I know all the necessary skills. Every new job is a challenge, and I struggle with some aspect every time. Like colours. I suck in colours. I have to rely on books, or I simply steal colour combinations from other artists. But the way I tweak them, the textures I use, make it part of my own style.
So what do you need for developing a style?
- Years of drawing experience, the more the better. And with pencil on paper.
- Knowledge. Books, images, films, not only about animation but about every topic.
- Training. It doesn't have to be formal, but it needs to include pens, pencils, brushes, ink, paint, chalk, paper, cloth, wall, small format, big format, drawing, etching, painting, sewing, collage, foto, film, theatre, and so on. Ideally you should have done each technique at least once.
- Imitating. Yes, that's necessary. But it's not enough to just copy your favourite Anime character a thousand times. Variety is the key. Copy every cartoon character (and I mean newspaper cartoon now, editorial or comic strip), copy classical poses, copy from fotos. And then - recombine. Do the Mona Lisa in your favourite Anime style. Do the same person in as many different styles as possible. This is a key ability for a successful animator or illustrator: to be able to part the style from the character.
The thing with style is: it develops over time, it needs lots of experience, and it needs 100.000 drawings at least (Chuck Jones said that you only can be an animator after you've thrown away your first 10.000 drawings).
You need to be versatile, you need to be able to work in a lot of different styles, in different media, with different software and other tools. If you do animation for a living, nobody asks for your style - but they ask how good you blend in with the team, with the other artists.
I've met quite a lot of aspiring artists and promising interns over the years, and I saw that those who had a distinct "style" in the beginning had the biggest difficulties in learning animation or learning any other style. I'd say it's OK to have your own style, but don't expect to just hit the world market with that. This only happens in Hollywood movies.
Artists with a formal training have to use different tools every day. The wider the range of techniques you know, the more individual your style will be one day.
I didn't study art or anymation or anything, but I was constantly experimenting with whatever left a trace of colour on paper. Yet my drawing and animation skills were pretty amateurish when I joined a professional studio in 1990. The first days were pure hell! I was forced to draw in a way I never did before, and I was constantly sweating. Everything was new, and I had to learn very fast.
Two things saved me: I knew a lot about animation in theory, from books and films, and had tried different techniques at least once, with my Super8 camera. And I had been drawn for nearly every day of my life before, just in my own style of course, but this had given my hand the necessary training (neurologically exact: the part of the brain responsible for fine movements has had years of training).
After two decades in the business I notice that I still draw the same kind of face every time I start a new illustration! But the difference is that now my line is a bit more steady, and that I know where to tweak the character to give it some personality.
Recently I happended to work with some of my stuff from the 80's - doing an improved digital version of an old film. It was quite interesting to draw my old characters again, but now with the knowledge of 20 years.
I still don't feel I know all the necessary skills. Every new job is a challenge, and I struggle with some aspect every time. Like colours. I suck in colours. I have to rely on books, or I simply steal colour combinations from other artists. But the way I tweak them, the textures I use, make it part of my own style.
So what do you need for developing a style?
- Years of drawing experience, the more the better. And with pencil on paper.
- Knowledge. Books, images, films, not only about animation but about every topic.
- Training. It doesn't have to be formal, but it needs to include pens, pencils, brushes, ink, paint, chalk, paper, cloth, wall, small format, big format, drawing, etching, painting, sewing, collage, foto, film, theatre, and so on. Ideally you should have done each technique at least once.
- Imitating. Yes, that's necessary. But it's not enough to just copy your favourite Anime character a thousand times. Variety is the key. Copy every cartoon character (and I mean newspaper cartoon now, editorial or comic strip), copy classical poses, copy from fotos. And then - recombine. Do the Mona Lisa in your favourite Anime style. Do the same person in as many different styles as possible. This is a key ability for a successful animator or illustrator: to be able to part the style from the character.