Knowing your own taste

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an artist should have a singular “voice” or style. 
People say this is important to be be recognizable, but I think a much better reason is that the only way to become really really good at something is to practice it over and over and over.  If you’re practicing a lot of different things at once, you simple won’t get as much practice at one thing.  And am I guilty of this !!! I should definitely heed my own advice once in a while!

Having a clear style  is partly the result of much practice and experience, but also, I think, of knowing your own taste.  In my workshop “Developing your Own Voice”, one of the things I ask people to do is to bring a dozen or so pictures of works they really love – no matter what the medium.  And pictures of their own work that they really love.  Two groups of pictures.  

The next step is to develop a list of descriptors. 
The list of descriptors could be based on many things; I began with a  list that some friends and I developed after a long evening of discussion of our own and other’s art quilts!  An evening of considerable libation I may add!!

Our list included the following: originality, technique, attention getting and holding, compositional success, communication, tension and the mark of the human hand. 

To those factors, I would add: size, format, colour palette, edge treatment, abstract/impressionistic/realistic, subject matter, passive/active, use of negative space, mood, movement.

The way to develop the items is to look at the pictures one by one and write down the key things that attract you:

for example, one of my favorite quilts is Farne Islands:

The things I like about this quilt are:
the unity of subject matter and colour
the variety of textures
the restlessness
the overall size and shape

so I can begin my Definition of My Style with these items:

a) unified subject matter: taking one subject and portraying it with variety.
b) a controlled palette – not necessarily monochromatic but definitely not “cor blimey!”
c) textural variety
d) a lot of movement – interestingly this definitely fits me as a person – I remember a friend half my age complaining that I was the most restless person she had ever met!
e) a fairly large size, horizontal format.

Then I could take another artist’s work that I love: Red Landscape by Dominie Nash.

 

What do I like here?
a) the controlled palette – everything is related to red
b) the mystery
c) the strong diagonal movement
d) the dynamism
e) the fairly large size and horizontal format

 

If I repeat this exercise with a dozen piece, I will find a clear description of what I really like in my own and others’ work and if I focus on this type of work (well for a while at least, remember the restlessness!), and practice practice…not only will I be clearly delineating a style and a taste, but also should improve.

well, here’s hoping at least!….and, if you have been, thanks for reading!
Elizabeth