Find your own artistic voice with advice from MoonActive Studio’s Lynn Chen.
(Image credit: Lynn Chen)
Artists often stress about finding their style. I'm here to tell you not to! Seriously, don't stress about finding your style; it will emerge naturally as you build your skills.
With that in mind, what I will suggest are a few pointers that could help you find your path to faith in your own creative abilities. If you need new tools for the process, see our picks of the best digital art software and the best drawing tablets.
Think you don't have the time to practise your art? See our suggestions for 5-minute creative exercises that anyone can do.
Lynn Chen
Lynn is an LA-based visual development artist. She focuses on creating lighting keys and splash images for mobiles games and character design for animation studios. She works at MoonActive Studio as art lead.
Start a project of your own. Personal projects take away all the pressure from school or work and give us some extra space to experiment, and fail and grow as artists through experience.
Focus on the subjects that you’re truly passionate about. Everyone’s experience, tastes and inspirations are different – that’s what makes us unique. Keep working on things you love, and the audience will feel your passion.
Observe the beauty around you every day. A beam of light, a reflection on the table; these small moments can inspire a whole new painting. They could come from anywhere, whether you’re at home or waiting in an airport lobby.
Here are some little 10-minute sketches that I made in the mornings, and a few paintings completed in under an hour during the evening. Getting in a bit of practice every single day gets us in the creative state of mind so we’ll be able to dream up more ideas.
Art style comes as the result of your fundamental knowledge, personal taste and muscle memory. Keep up with the hard work and you’ll find that your voice is there already. Even my own style has changed over the years.
Push the differences in light temperature. For example, a warm key light plus a cool secondary light. Exaggerating the warm and cool contrast will push the vibrancy of colours.
Lighting will bleed and change the colours of surrounding objects. Track each light and paint the bounce light on surfaces to ensure lighting is dynamic and brings life to the image.
Get more tutorials in ImagineFX
This content originally appeared in ImagineFX magazine, the world's leading digital art and fantasy art magazine. ImagineFX is on sale in the UK, Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and more. Limited numbers of ImagineFX print editions are available for delivery from ouronline store (the shipping costs are included in all prices).
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Lynn is an LA-based visual development artist. She focuses on creating lighting keys and splash images for mobiles games and character design for animation studios. She works at MoonActive Studio as art lead.
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