Find Your Art Style : The Detox Method

What is it?

The detox method for finding your art style is a way to get beyond your expectations of what ‘good art is’. How it works is that you set a period of time, say two weeks or a month where you dont look at any art by anyone else and you just draw tons. Dont use any reference, dont scroll through Instagram or Pinterest for inspiration, only draw. This might sound like a crazy idea if you are used to browsing art every day but that might be why you are struggling. 

You are a Bad Critic

One of the struggles of finding your art style is that you dont know what value you bring to the table. The things that comes easily to you are probably the things that reflect your personality, which makes it even harder to see its value. “Well this can't be valuable cause it was too easy” says the inner voice, when the reality is that it would be difficult for anyone else to do. 

Social Media can be Toxic

Constantly looking at other artists that are on a different path from you can become a huge hindrance because the early struggle of artists is hidden from sight. Most artists take a long time to find their footing and even once they have gotten momentum, they still need to keep digging to create great work. 

Using inspiration can be a great way to push your craft upwards, but that is only useful after you have a sense of where your voice is. I chased realistic painting for a long time, failing every single time, because the art that I liked looking at were mostly paintings. This didn't align with my inner voice, there was a difference between what I liked creating and what I enjoyed consuming.

The difference between what I liked making and consuming become especially apparent once I did a 2 week art detox. The length of the detox really depends on how many drawings you do, the more hours you have to put in each day the fewer days you will likely have to do. 

Focus on the Process

When you just create tons of drawings without looking or comparing yourself to others it becomes easier to pay attention to how you actually like working. It was really obvious to me that I enjoy the feeling of a ballpoint pen against paper once I had gone 2 weeks without even thinking about picking up a brush.

Accept Whatever Happens

The greatest challenge with doing this is accepting what you find. You may end up realizing that your inner story about what type of artist you “want” to be isn't one that is aligned with reality. The scary part of this is that if you continue down that path you will end up losing your passion for creation. It is only through accepting who you are that you will find a style that resonates with people and one that will keep you passionate about the work. 

You have Intrinsic Value

It maybe difficult for you to accept what you find because you may have invented a story about how you will become a great artist with a specific style in hopes that it will make you feel valuable. This was my biggest problem, I thought that if I became a great painter I would feel differently about myself, but that’s a losing path. You will have to accept that you have intrinsic value first and then your style will develop through the trust that your true voice has value. 

I know it is difficult to suddenly change how you feel about yourself, your inner story or your style but it is worth pursuing. You might discover more about who you truly are through creating art. I highly recommend this method of searching for your style because it is one that helped me immensely.

Hope this was useful to you :D