My recent artwork + thoughts on art style/branding

I spent the last 2 weeks just drawing whatever I wanted and it's been really fun to make everything from traditional paintings to cute round animals. But looking at the artwork I've been making recently, I feel so scattered when it comes to style/branding.

Usually I draw cute animals, but now I'm making plants. I often make more rendered digital pieces, but now I'm also making simple doodles for The Popcorn Parade. And we can also throw traditional painting into the mix.

Looking at this artwork I've just recently made, it looks like it could be from different artists. And I got that comment a lot at the Christmas Market from people thinking my booth was artwork from other artists and I was just re-selling work. That hurt.

I have always loved drawing in different styles and trying new things, the only consistency being my love for drawing animals. But what does that mean for an artist who wants to have a company/brand?

Style vs Branding

A recent conversation on our Discord sparked the ever long discussion of "What is style?"

I have always considered art style the natural way you like to draw - this could be defined by the types of things you like to make or the type of medium you usually use. And today, I still use this to define art style.

Branding I think is what people are confusing for art style. Branding is what we think of when a company or artist comes to mind. On the outside, it will be things like the colors, fonts, subject matter/product and logos they use. Underneath, it includes the voice, personality and values of the company (or artist).

Image from Liquid Creativity

Staying in your "style" as an artist

I think many artists strive to stick to a certain kind of branding to make their visual/aesthetic style more appealing for the socials. And it makes sense - we like to see a cohesive, well curated feed. It looks pretty and will draw in an audience that resonates with it which means more follows/likes/shares/etc.

But as artists, I think that's really hard to do. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing artists who have a very clear style and brand - for example Loish or Heikala. But I think that once artists start becoming more a brand, there's a limitation in what they can share on social media.

Loish is known for her amazing digital paintings of women - long brush strokes and a very painterly style. But, wouldn't you be surprised if she suddenly started posting vector art that looked like Pusheen?

Heikala is known for her ghibli-like traditional paintings, usually featuring girls in serene landscapes. But, wouldn't it be weird if she suddenly made hyper realistic digital paintings of super muscley men?

Now I'm not saying that this is what they are doing in their free time, but we don't know what kinds of artwork these artists aren't sharing on social media. It could be that they make lots of other kinds of artwork, but for the sake of the socials and their brand, they aren't sharing it.

A difficult path

I think there is a time in every art business when the artist wants to grow and will need to make this decision - to stop showing everything they make on socials and only the work that fits their brand.

I have tried for many years to do this by making separate accounts or simply holding back from sharing my other "off brand" artwork, but still haven't been able to achieve this. It's been very difficult for me as an artist with a company to be true to myself when you throw in social media (and making money) into the mix.

But I feel like I'm reaching the point where I will have to make a decision for the direction I want to go with my art business because my work is no longer just art - it's also a business.

Morning thoughts from Birdie, before breakfast and coffee - an unplanned Patreon post <3

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I hope you enjoyed this random and unplanned post! It was just something I was thinking about this morning. Also I know this is a lot to read through, so I may make this into a Youtube video too.

Have you ever felt this way? Do you disagree? Let me know so I can talk about it in the follow up video cause I'm curious to see how other artists feel!