How did you find your artistic voice?
Write Idea
Posts: 324
A simple question, yet difficult to answer. An artist's voice is a common thread that runs throughout their body of work. Whether it be colors, technique, subject matters, themes, etc.
As I'm looking through the galleries on here or DeviantArt or Artstation, I'll often say to myself, "That looks like suchandsuch" or "Reminds me of a picture I saw done by suchandsuch." Low and behold, it's done by the same artist.
That being said, how did you find your artist's voice and what is it?
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I see it as a reflection of who you are psychologically, your personal preferences, skills etc.. So if you just create what you like yourself, I guess you have it. It can be a challenge technically of course to get things exactly as you want them, it usually takes a good deal of learning and experiments, especially with complex tools like DS, even if you are a born talent.
Not really sure, what is meant by "artistic voice", but I asume, you are talking about a pattern, that keeps driving you.
1)I clearly have a nostalgic notion, especially about the 60s and 70s, that might go along with my very detailed biographical memory.
2)My character to go (ROXY) is inspired by a mix of two real life Ladies, I used to know. I try hard to get their apealing personalities into every render, even without making use of a lot of expressions.
A lot of it is eye-language. No matter, if it is about portraits, daily stuff or the more spicey stuff on THAT other page, personality is first.
3)There is a huge sci fi story draft in my head, which is kind of a meta story. So, my plan would have been, that people could add their part of the story to it. I try to make sure, that most of my renders, and the one comic that I've published years ago on THAT other side, can fit into that meta story.
A lot of my process involves playing "Daz Roulette". I grab the scroll bar on the Figures section of Smart Content, close my eyes, move the mouse up and down, then click my mouse somewhere in the window to choose the first figure. Then I repeat the process. Then I think about what those two characters inspire in me. Sukai plus Triceratops gave me On the Hunt, War Goblin and Mikka gave me Hostile Work Environment, and so on. Sometimes I want to use an item I bought recently, but the rules are largely the same there. I do have some recurring characters and themes, like a stretch of Shadowrun-themed renders, or the continuing adventures of Tallos and Kesra (as seen in A Lovely Picnic, for example), but I rarely know what I'm going to render until I start adding things to the scene. I do a lot of mermaid and centaur renders, initially because their inherent ridiculousness makes them fun to work with, and now also because my DeviantArt fanbase mostly consists of mermaid and centaur fetishists.
I think what you describe as "artistic voice," is what I tend to call, "art style." Which is what makes my artwork unique to me.
Regarding DS, I don't think I have one. My renders never really feel like my own art. But then, that's because I'm mostly left at the mercy of my machine as it renders my setup. So far, I've been trying to make my 3D people look like my 2D people and for reasons I can't explain, the males are the most difficult to recreate. Too bad my laptop is to weak to model/sculpt what I need.
For drawing though, I tend to use thick lines, and curvy simple shapes while keeping the detail minimal. For the colors, the ones that stand out tend to be a "textured color" because I learned how to digitally color in a way that others don't seem to use. I have way more control over my output here, so an easier time seeing myself in it.
Just render a bunch and you will start to see that your renders tend to look a certain way.
I find that it can be a real challenge to make something that doesn't look like your own work.
My artistic voice/style is very croaky. And as such it squeaks at times, goes hoarse and sometimes refuses to work. Once in a blue moon it's normal. How did I find it? Not sure I have, really. It's possible the one I found belonged to someone else. Anyway, the one I found has been hanging around my PC for a few years now.
Regards,
Richard
Still searching. Besides, you can have more than one voice, like an author who writes in different genres for different readers.
I don't have an artistic voice... I just make stuff... and everything I make is spurred into existence by some form of deep rooted insanity...
Sometimes I hear artistic voices in my head, but they usually end up telling me to burn something, so I generally tend to ignore them unless it looks like it might be fun.
Besides, my real passion is potatoe based art...
And I don't really see it ever catching on.
This is what is means to me too. I think it can be the little or big things that you add to your art that you do almost sublminially. Like, I'll often take something I created into Photoshop, and no matter how hard I try, I still prefer the same colours or effects or style. It's just something that 'feels' right to me.
I think when I first started out I couldn't understand why some artists seemed to always have the same 'look' (as the OP mentioned), but now I know it's just something that speaks to you and often you don't even realize you're doing it :)
I'm don't know if you find your voice, or it finds you... the sweetest comment I have got to date was that seeing my newest work was always' a great surprise'... yeah, sometimes I feel the same way :-) Does that mean unpredictable? I'm not sure...
Sea witch.
Style is more technical and mechanical, while voice is more emotional and world view. If you look at Pablo Picasso, his primary styles were cubism, modern art, surrealism, etc. While his voice was sadness, melancholy, etc. Jane Austen was parody and romance, but her voice had strong morals and wit behind her words. Style is something that can be learned by mimicking the masters; voice is something uniquely your own. Though, I am more a writer than "digital painter". Style and voice are distinctly different for us.
And thank you everyone for sharing! I always enjoy the story behind the artwork (another sign of me being more a writer, lol).
In that case, the majority of my renders are jokes on at least some level. Even my pornographic renders are primarily jokes in which people happen to be having sex, like the webcomic Oglaf.
I remember one of the first images I'd seen rendered in Daz was an image of a female elf in a forest. It didn't have a long description. It was short and to the point. It was telling a story by using imagery and I just loved it. I wanted to do the same. My art has always been about telling stories and bringing the characters in my head to life. It was the entire reason I started using Daz. Though my initial idea was to use Daz as a motivator to write. That didn't go according to plan haha. I spend more time rendering than writing!
I’ve been using Daz for almost four years, and I think my voice has stayed the same, while my style has evolved. It took me two years to notice the similarities. I'm telling stories without having to explain every detail. I hope the images tell the story. I hope that people notice the little details that explain a lot. I don’t want just a pretty face staring into a camera—I want a pretty face that’s telling me something. I want it to feel organic.
Write Idea,
I was thinking of a reply along the same lines of your "mechanics" and "emotions" although my dichotomy fell along the lines of strategy vs. tactics. It's more or less the same, encompassing the choices we make while we work. While a tactical approach problem-solves issues concerning lighting, camera angle, color hues, posing and perspective, for example, the strategic view addresses symbols, meaning (context and subtext) and, yes, emotions.
I would also highlight the important role that memory plays. Yes, what you call "world view". None of us create in a void. We always draw from historical and cultural backdrop. Some of it we're aware of; most of it we're not, I suspect. But memory brings together our individual experiences along with those of our tribe.
For certain, taken all together, it's what the very stuff of creation is made of -- the alchemy by which we infuse our art with meaning.
Cheers!
I just toss stuff together, my voice tells me to stop, I ignore it
I found my artistic voice behind the sofa. Not sure how it got there.
Honestly, though, I just reflect on the kind of stuff that I like and let my brain and mouse wander. Seems to work okay for me. :)
Geez Ariel... you don't look anything like you did in the movie anymore.
Dare I answer?? No, better not.
I wasn't aware that I had one. I just rendered pictures of video game characters that I liked.
If I did have one, it's disappeared. I haven't had it since I lost my feline muse last September.
having lost a beloved friend (my forum avatar) last month, I feel your pain
My muse hangs out in strip clubs
I don't do mermaids, but I do use an arachne character, and... yeah, there are a lot of people on DeviantArt who are obsessive about creatures of the top-human/bottom-animal variety.
~~~~~
On this general note, the tone of my main setting is about AIs and various fantasy creatures trying to fit into a modern society. One could argue this is allegorical for my being autistic.. and perhaps, yes, there's something of that.
But on the other level, I often just find it interesting/funny to imagine how everyday scenarios would work with many of these familar archetypes, a deconstruction of some of these genre elements. Beyond that, I've also come to just find these slice-of-life vignettes to be interesting even with the human members of my cast; not every scene has to be something unusual, and there can be a certain beauty in the mundane.
I didn't know about that... My condolences on your loss.
And N-RArts too...
Be Well.
I've been there too many times... and yet, somehow the universe seems determined to keep placing cats that need a home in my path.
Mine works in one and she says thanks for the tips.
I'm fairly new to rendered art, but I was always making art one way or another. Either it be videos, photoshop, writing, cosplay, etc.
I got back into things when the pandemic started. I had to do something creative to keep my sanity. A friend suggested I should share the story I started over 4 years ago. I started drawing again but digitally and it was taking really long to finish. I had more ideas than I had time to draw.
I kept seeing all these amazing fan arts that looked like they were taken straight out of the game. I always wondered how to do that and I decided I'm gonna finally pursue it.
Like all the other stuff I do, I tend to like big eyes and a lot of color. I'm noticing it in my renders too. I'm having more fun doing this than any other types of art I've been doing lately. It's so much faster (sometimes) and I can at least keep up with what's going on inside my head for the most part.
So...yay for progress!
Wendy, I'm sorry ... I sobbed for a week after losing my kitty 20 years ago and have not had the heart to get another only to go through that again. I don't know if you have Amazon Prime Video but last night I watched this movie and I imagine it would interest you:
You know, I don't know. I've tried emulating other people's work and I can't. And, yeah, people can spot my work from years ago and know it's mine.
and N-RArts too, I was devastated and still am, my brother lost a kitty too but he went missing and fate unknown