Embracing Authenticity: How to Uncover Your Creative Voice
Finding your unique voice as an artist is one thing, but how do you do that when you love so many different things? For many multi-passionate artists, it seems almost impossible! You are not alone in this struggle. When you love many mediums, styles, and ways of working, it can be hard to focus on you and your view of art. Finding your unique creative voice is all part of the creative journey and rarely happens over night for most artists.
Why You Need a Personal Style
First you need to know your why? What is your purpose for creating art? Is it purely as a hobby, or do you want to sell your work? Maybe you want to teach or license your art for products. Each of these will determine how much your art needs to reflect you and your personal style.
If you’re making art for fun, a style may not be as important as trying new things. When teaching and licensing, some flexibility and diversity can keep things fresh. If gallery representation is your goal, a strong, recognizable style is a must.
The longer you’re an artist the more compelling it is to have your art reflect you and your personal style, especially if you want to start a business eventually. Who doesn’t want someone to see your art and immediately know YOU created it?
What do YOU love?
As every artist knows there’s a huge difference between things you love visually and things you actually love making.
We all see things, in galleries or on social media that we’re dying to try out because they look so beautiful or amazing but when you finally create them you realize you don’t enjoy the process, the materials or techniques don’t vibe with you, or this type of art just doesn’t fit into your lifestyle. Maybe you had a blast whipping it up once, but the thought of a repeating it over and over sends shivers down your spine.
As you explore and experiment pay close attention to the things that don’t feel right and the things that light you up. You’ll know you’ve found your thing when you consistently show up to create it no matter how difficult parts of it may be.
That's the key to having a unique voice—you've got to stick with it. Being motivated by your passion and love for your craft are far more important than money, trends, or popularity. Love and passion will keep you coming back.
Feeling the Pressure
Finding your creative voice shouldn’t be stressful. It should be fun and full of adventure! Your creative voice should shine through naturally and never be forced. It’s all about discovering your inner passions, quirks and interest and accepting and loving all of them.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
What are you interested in? Brainstorm and write a list of everything you can think of.
Have you created anything recently that you LOVED making? What was it?
What was so enjoyable about that creative project?
What could you create for at least 100 days without losing interest?
How can you make your work more personal? Is there a place, subject matter, technique, or material that has a sentimental meaning to you, or you love more than most?
How do you want your art to feel?
How do you want to feel while creating your art?
Make a Commitment
Once you have a better understanding of the things you love and are passionate about, you can make a commitment to practice them every day and develop your creative voice. If you put in the work and passion, your creative voice will shine through.
Here are a couple things that may help you.
Set your studio or craft space up with intention by donating all of the supplies you no longer need or use for the art style you've committed to creating. This will help remove temptation and distractions to branch back out into other styles.
Joining an art challenge with a specific theme or style is a great way to spark your creativity and find your unique voice. They give you a set time frame to practice and learn the art style or theme. This gives you the time to focus on one style at a time without having to commit to forever.
Taking a break from social media is a great thing when developing your voice. Social media can lead to distraction, and loss of focus on your inner creative voice. Social media is a great place for inspiration but don’t let it influence your style.
Now You’ve Got it!
Once you know without a doubt how you love to use colors, marks, composition, shapes, etc. you can begin creating your work in other areas and it will still be recognizable as yours. Developing your creative voice takes dedication and many hours of practice so be patient with yourself. You’ll find your way eventually and enjoy all those things you love for a lifetime.
Back to the Original Question
How do you find your unique voice and style as an artist when you love so many different things? First and most important, is to never stop loving all those things.
Life is about loving it and all the many amazing things in it right? You can still appreciate all the things you love and keep your own creative voice strong. Always remember to play and explore. Dig deep with certain styles and passions and use what you learn to be true to you and your unique creative voice.
Life and creativity are a journey. You and your art will always change and grow. That’s the way the world works and it’s perfect that way.