Why defining your art style is easier than you think.

A couple of years ago I was chatting to a friend of mine who was talking about some songs he’d just finished recording. I asked what style they were and he replied that it’s hard to say.

I asked if it was French Hip Hip and he laughed and said no! It’s definitely not! I asked if it was Mongolian throat singing? He laughed again and said no. He said it’s not Japanese classical music either. And then… he went on to quite simply describe it in a way that was really easy for me to understand the type of music he was making.

If you can say what it isn’t, then it’s not ‘undefined’. 

It just means you're struggling to find the words or, in the case of my friend, trying to be too specific for an audience who knows nothing about your art yet. What could be easily described as ‘indy folk’ for me, was difficult for him because he could see so vividly all the ways his music was different to other indie folk artists.

But in defining your art style… you’re not describing your nuances. That's for the people who love your art to do. You just need to put it in a box so the people that will love it can find it.

Yep… PUT. IT. IN. A. BOX.

This will be counter intuitive for SO many artists. The beauty is in the details, the subtle differences. This is absolutely true. But they need to find it first.

Your art may have some simple characteristics of art deco but your Art History degree illuminates all the ways it isn’t like art deco to you. But if someone loves digital collages of cats… they may see your art as art deco, art nouveau, European, old etc.

I define my arts as modern, abstract, bright, bold and playful. You could find 1000s and 1000s of artists who could also describe their art that way and it would be completely different to mine. But for someone who only loves or is looking for 15th century Italian portraiture or someone who loves or is looking for modern Brazilian landscapes, they will probably see all the bright, bold art as kind of similar. Someone who loves super delicate, painterly, muted floral illustrations will probably see all the bright, bold, colourful flowers as similar.

The moral of the story is… if you're struggling to define your style, think of a few things it’s definitely not. You don’t need to spend ages eliminating a million obscure styles, just get into your mind that it’s not undefined. Then choose the 3-6 most obvious adjectives you think apply to your style and use them to describe it. You can modify this later, but don’t halt your progress in search of the ultimate definition.

The adjectives are not a life sentence, just a way to get you from where you are to where you want to be next.

I hope this was helpful and please tell me what you think about his approach :-)

I look forward to being able to find your art!