FINDING YOUR OWN STYLE

How important is finding your own style? I thought it was good to have your own set way about illustrating because people can then recognise your work- but a tutor of mine last year said it wasn't.

That's a great question... Finding your own style is something that takes time and practice. It is something that develops over years. It is important to experiment with different techniques and methods. However, you will naturally illustrate in a certain way, it is hard to change how you draw, but it is easy to imitate styles you have seen before.

I wouldn't worry too much about style at this time. Just make work, and keep illustrating. You may find you enjoy doing type, pattern or portraits, landscapes, line drawing, digital, work with what you enjoy. I personally am not a literal illustrator, I love working with type, abstract shapes. I often get jobs that push my boundaries, and I may need to draw people or spaces or objects, which I work into my style and adapt to fit what I enjoy doing. Style is dangerous too, it can go in and out of fashion, date quickly etc... the most important thing is that your images have a quirk beyond aesthetic, maybe its humor, naivety, wit, maybe they have layered meaning, or stories hidden in the detail, or maybe they are super simple but execute the concept perfectly. It is these things that make an illustration more than just a picture.

Ask Kate Moross a question....