Trying on a Style

Each artist has their unique style for whatever they do. And for some, they do not enjoy the style that they currently have. They try to scrap it all away and ask someone else if they can try their style on for size instead of trying to slowly improve or enhance the style they had. I have seen so many comments of people asking if they can try out another artist's style. Many say sure and many say no, but for almost all, they say to practice and find your own.

I tried to change my style, I really did. I threw mine away and tried to imitate other artists, tried new programs, tried everything. I was focusing on clean, perfect line-art and made everything so complicated. Doge this, burn that, texture here, read PaintTool Sai tutorials, one after another. I was trying to become amazing and trying to create works that rivaled the artists I look up to. In the end, everything looked so strange and each completed work was thrown away. Nothing was correct, it felt wrong. Very few of these attempts made it up onto my DeviantArt page. Few people faved and commented. There were no bad comments, but my art felt fake, it wasn't me. Today I drew a drawing in my old style, and I was ecstatic with the first thing I created. Then I figured out that the style I had was what I was comfortable in. I ran back in to its messy, sketchy, line-art arms and felt comfort surrounded by its simple layered colored clothes. I realized that to me, creating perfectly pristine line-arts felt troublesome.

I guess the reason I'm writing this is to try and get a message out. The message is simple, be proud of how you draw. Yes, there are better artists out there; there will always be someone better than you. Looking back, I feel horrible at the jealousy that rose up in me and caused me to try and out do the artists that I admired here on DeviantArt. I want to be proud of my works and I am proud of my style. Yes, I will still strive to be better tomorrow than I am today, and I will strive to learn how to draw a simple hand correctly or improve my clothing coloring, but I will not throw away my style again.