8 Questions to Find Your Own Artistic Style

When I first started out weaving, just learning the basics was my top priority. I didn’t have any idea what my own style was and I really wasn’t sure where to even start to find it.  Since there are others out there wondering the same thing, I started to think about what helped me find my own artistic style.  This is where I came up with the 8 questions I’ll be sharing with you today.  And to be honest there are more then 8 questions, but I’ve grouped the similar questions together.  I’ve added the extra questions within a prompt to help you get more detailed with your thoughts.  As you may assume, I’ll be talking about this in terms of weaving, but really you can apply similar questioning to any medium of art.

Finding your own artistic style is a journey, it may or may not happen over night and it will always be evolving. So let’s begin your journey, starting with the below questions.

1|| What artists do you like? It can be artists that weave or artists outside of weaving. Make a list of 5 or less. You could also list out specific pieces of art that you really like.

2|| Now for each artist/piece of art, list out what you like about the art. What draws you to their art? Be very specific, do you like the subject? Do you like the colors they use? Do you like the feelings it brings up for you? You can even list if there is anything you don’t like about their work, and try to think about why you don’t like it.

3|| Think about your style in your life. How do you like to dress? Do you like to dress fancy or more causal? Do you like bold prints or more subtle clothes? Do you wear statement pieces? Also think about how you like to decorate your home. Do you like clean lines in your furniture or a more eclectic look? What do you have up on your walls? Even if you don’t have your clothes and home styled exactly how you want, you still know what you like. These are design items in your everyday life that you have put some thought into, it is a part of your personal style. At the same time, it doesn’t have to dictate your artistic style. Perhaps you live in a more subtle style, but want to explore the bolder side with your art. That’s perfectly fine, make note of it.

4|| What are your interests outside of weaving? List them out, it doesn’t matter what it is. It can be reading, it can be baseball, movies, whatever! When I get a creative block, I like to turn to my other interests that aren’t related to what I’m working on. They really help take your brain in a new direction.  For example, I love to read.  Now I’m not going to take my love of reading literally and weave a picture of a book, I’m looking to push myself to incorporate my other interest more creatively. Maybe there is a book I read that created a feeling that I could abstractly express in a weave? Incorporating your other interests is a great way to find your personal style.

5|| What woven textures are you drawn to? Do you like weaves that are well designed but flat over all? Do you like weaves with a lot of texture, such as shag, soumak, loops, etc? Do you like a heavy fringe on weaves or no fringe at all? If you don’t really know what you like, then I recommend creating a lot of small weaves with the different textures to get a better idea of what you like.

6|| What yarn textures are you drawn to? Do you like hand-spun yarns? Roving? Smooth or fuzzy yarn? Do you like art yarn? Yarns can play a big role in how your weave turns out overall and it’s amazing how many different textured yarns there are available. This is another area where you might want to play around and try new things.

7|| What colors are you drawn to? Do you like neons or pastels? Do like you neutral colors? Do bold or mermaid colors catch your eye more often? Or maybe earthy tones are what you prefer? This is an area where looking around at items you’ve already collected in your life might help.

8|| Do you like the look of designs with geometric shapes, or do you prefer more organic forms? Even if you like to plan out your designs or make them up as you go will have an affect on your style.

These questions will definitely help you get started on the road to finding your own personal style. Take the answers you come up with and start experimenting, even if you just make a bunch of mini weaves you’ll learn a lot about your style and preferences.  And of course you can start saving visuals you like on Pinterest Boards, you will start to see a pattern to your tastes.  I also like to save to my boards so that I can later look them over for inspiration.

Are you just starting on the journey to finding your personal style when weaving? Or have gotten to a point where you have found it? I’ve love to hear from you.

Happy Weaving!

Kate

 

 

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