AuthorTopic: Style...why?  (Read 6410 times)

Offline xhunterko

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 365
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Style...why?

on: May 03, 2010, 06:08:05 am
It's all about style this post. I know helm has one style for making (sprites) pixel art, and gil has another, and the guy who did oh shoot forgot his name has another.

My question is, what made you stick with the style you prefer? Was it easy? Hard? Challenging? Would it be easy to animate? Or do you like a particular genre/game and want to pay a tribute to it?

I would like to know! What makes you draw sprites/pixel art the way you do?

(more, or less perhaps, because I do not/can't find my own, looking for a bit guidance in this point)

Offline Shrub

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 36
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Newbie pixel artist.
    • View Profile

Re: Style...why?

Reply #1 on: May 03, 2010, 08:46:16 am
I'm having a major crisis at the moment, because... I can't find ANY style. I am just copying other pieces. I need to figure out how to do a 2D platformer tile. Without copying anyone.
So yeah, I'm pretty much trying to find my own style too. Nothing I try works.

Offline Larwick

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 738
  • Karma: +1/-0
    • Larwick
    • http://www.pixeljoint.com/p/3794.htm
    • View Profile
    • Artstation

Re: Style...why?

Reply #2 on: May 03, 2010, 09:41:05 am
I'm having a major crisis at the moment, because... I can't find ANY style. I am just copying other pieces. I need to figure out how to do a 2D platformer tile. Without copying anyone.
So yeah, I'm pretty much trying to find my own style too. Nothing I try works.

I would personally think if you're going to make a 2d platformer tile, for example a grass tile, you're going to probably follow one of a few main 'style' choices first. Realism, abstract, cartoony, hybrid... etc. Finding your own style through tile creation is going to be tough - if you're looking to find your own style i'd suggest going for something more showing, such as character design or landscapes.

Back to the point, I think style is just the flairs that make your art and creations noticeably yours. These things can be broad - such as always outlining in black, or they can be more subtle such as the way you AA. I feel that personal style is always in flow and it will always be ready to change, you're not really ever stuck with one style. Style comes through in the pieces of work you make - so it's only challenging to create in the same way that it's challenging to create artworks and to practice in the field. Creating a really original style is more difficult, and it could come from actual distinct aim but will require lots of hard work.

xhunterko, I think the point is not that you can't find your own style yet, but more that you're not currently creating things that are styled in a way you like or can appreciate. In my opinion you definitely have a way of pixelling that is noticeably yours - your own personal style. However this style is not confined to the way it is now, and will quite considerably change as you grow as an artist. Don't worry, you just have to work at it and you'll get to a point where you're happy.
« Last Edit: May 03, 2010, 09:55:27 am by Larwick »

Offline JJ Naas

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 409
  • Karma: +1/-0
    • View Profile
    • My Deviantart page

Re: Style...why?

Reply #3 on: May 03, 2010, 11:28:16 am
I think styles are rarely born overnight in a vacuum, they are a collection of bits and pieces of elements incorporated from testing different techniques, studying from life and imitating different styles... and over the years, some elements that you like tend to stick, and together with other such incorporated elements they mesh into a distinct personal style.

Offline Lizzrd

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 273
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Style...why?

Reply #4 on: May 03, 2010, 11:36:02 am
There are some things that, when you make them, they burn into your mind and stay there. That's style to you.
Photocopier: the fact that arne can also code so well
Photocopier: is horrificly unfair

Offline Helm

  • Moderator
  • 0110
  • *
  • Posts: 5159
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
    • Asides-Bsides

Re: Style...why?

Reply #5 on: May 03, 2010, 11:55:28 am
I think artists are oblivious to their own style most of the time and if they're not something bad is probably happening. This is an often discussed thing in art forums : how do I find my own style. I think it might be better to worry about how to communicate emotions and information with one's art capability and not worry about style.

Offline Ryumaru

  • Moderator
  • 0100
  • *
  • Posts: 1683
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • to be animated soonly
    • ChrisPariano
    • View Profile

Re: Style...why?

Reply #6 on: May 03, 2010, 06:01:01 pm
when you first talk about a particular artists style, its good to first identify what they are trying to accomplish, what medium they are using, and whether it is representational or non-representational; an artist will most likely share some of these things with another. Most of us here have the intent of making art for games, in the pixel medium, and usually in a representational, perhaps slightly symbolic, manner. This can actually become quite a narrow range of art when we start dividing " game art" into rpg's, platformer's, top down etc. It's hard to make a completely unique rpg grass tile in 16x16 pixels because of the vast number of 16x16 rpg tiles already made.

I for one jump around so much that I don't see a single " style" in my work, but it almost seems to change with my subject and media and I may have a couple sets of mannerisms and common color choices for each medium/style I work with.

Also, I think worrying about style is a little unnecessary; all artists will happen upon a style eventually through their quest for technical mastery and contemplation of the messages they want to give with their art.

Offline Dr D

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 415
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Not a real doctor.
    • View Profile
    • PJ Gallery

Re: Style...why?

Reply #7 on: May 03, 2010, 06:57:20 pm
I just want to chime in and say that, for instance, when I'm browsing the PJ gallery looking at previews for art pieces, I may instantly know when a Big Brother or Tomic piece comes up, just by the preview. (And no, not because of the fancy 'PREVIEW' banner they attach.)

But because they adhere to drawing most things the same way, using the same methods and techniques. And, I think if they were to stop doing that and try new things, they'd start losing that style that makes them instantly recognizable. If either one of them did a very retro piece, I doubt I'd recognize it. But then again, I don't think I recognize any retro artist's styles.

What I'm wondering, based on this, is if it's worth losing your recognizable 'style' to go and do many different kinds of art, or to stay on with your most preferred and comfortable way of drawing, using those same methods and techniques and refining them, mastering them over time? I suppose the question can only be answered by one's self-motive to grow and experiment, and their need to be recognized.

I always feel that artists with an instantly recognizable style are more prominent to me, anyway.

Offline JJ Naas

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 409
  • Karma: +1/-0
    • View Profile
    • My Deviantart page

Re: Style...why?

Reply #8 on: May 03, 2010, 07:32:35 pm
I always feel that artists with an instantly recognizable style are more prominent to me, anyway.

A portfolio that shows that the artist can both maintain a consistent style (and quality) and also wary according to needs is what I believe the employers are after, speaking in strictly commercial sense.

Offline xhunterko

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 365
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Style...why?

Reply #9 on: May 03, 2010, 09:11:18 pm
Well, one of the things that I want to do whenever I do a character or a piece, is that I want to convey a story. I have yet to find a way to do that in my pixel pieces. (except for my current avatar, but it's a bit static, and difficult to animate)

So, mainly, if I can try and find some way to tell a story with my art (i'm a wannabe writer at heart) then I'd feel like I accomplished what I was trying to say with that piece. My current stuff? Not so much.

How would everybody else do something that gives the character they draw a story/history/background/feeling/emotion/etc?

Offline Ryumaru

  • Moderator
  • 0100
  • *
  • Posts: 1683
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • to be animated soonly
    • ChrisPariano
    • View Profile

Re: Style...why?

Reply #10 on: May 04, 2010, 02:38:04 am


What I'm wondering, based on this, is if it's worth losing your recognizable 'style' to go and do many different kinds of art, or to stay on with your most preferred and comfortable way of drawing, using those same methods and techniques and refining them, mastering them over time? I suppose the question can only be answered by one's self-motive to grow and experiment, and their need to be recognized.

I always feel that artists with an instantly recognizable style are more prominent to me, anyway.

A master of one thing is a master of nothing.
you summed it up pretty well though, its a matter of if the artist wants self improvement or recognization.

xhunterko:
to attempt to answer your question- probably the first thing is color. Color works with our eyes and our minds very strongly and, its what makes up all images we see in the first place! Finding the mood you want to convey and then using colors that are similar to the color most commonly associated with that mood( red=anger, blue=depression or calm, yellow= bouncy, happy, vivid etc) would be a good thing to start with. From there you would want to exaggerate the features of that character that show the emotion you're after. For story/history and such you could do that with costume, having little tidbits that link to the character's story and the story of the world that it lives in.

Offline Jakten

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 250
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • The Bionic Vapor Boy
    • View Profile
    • Levitating Rocksquatch

Re: Style...why?

Reply #11 on: May 04, 2010, 06:40:58 am
I class my style as my curse really... I've had people tell me I have a very diverse style but I can see similarities between all of my works that kind of frustrates me that I cannot break them easily. (Over 15 years and the influence of anime still scars what I do...) For me at least I think my style has evolved just from how knowledgeable I am and how I understand what I'm working on. For me it's hard to break my style because in a way it's the extent of what I know and what I'm comfortable with.

Offline TrevoriuS

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 550
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Pixels... everywhere!!
    • View Profile

Re: Style...why?

Reply #12 on: May 04, 2010, 07:18:36 am
In my experience style tends to be a mark of workflow in personal art. If you are looking at a specific style of a game on the other hand, it is often a conscious choice that adds recognizability and identity to the game. It'll be more memorable and people will immediately know from a single picture which game it belongs to. This style too is createad most easily by having a defined workflow on it, but style can also be added with conscious comparison to the style while making something with your own workflow.

What makes a style look the way it does? Arachne's dithering, Helm's construction on a technical basis? It leaves recognizable marks, but when drawing something yourself, you can maintain that style by copying the resulting elements of the workflow that create or define the style.

To reach an own style is something I too saw oftenly discussed and never understood. Doing art alot makes you work in a specific direction because it's most easy for you. If you wish to communicate a message, why try out new stuff if you can do it the way you do and it looks good? Even within that style, or workflow, you can improve your art quality, so why worry about trying different methods? If you are still developing, you're often having a scattershot at methods and aren't consistenti n them because you are looking for a way to have your art look better. Although this partially is workflow, most of it will come through experience and practice of art. Therefore, if you try and maintain alot of workflows, or copy alot, you can in fact have multiple styles that you can apply to your knowledge of art.

Just my subjective 2 cents