Style is the characteristics in artwork that reflect the artist’s personality and ways of working. Many beginners form the mistaken view that style can somehow be borrowed from another artist. Entire generations try to paint or draw like Brett Whiteley or Egon Schiele or some other artist who is currently fashionable. Sure it is possible to imitate the style of someone else, but that is all it is, an imitation.
An artist gains a personal style at the time he or she ceases to try to have one. Their own personality then takes over and the person’s style is immediately unique and their own. With time and experience these marks of character become more pronounced. This can be a very beautiful and revealing process.
