A Thing about style
One thing that you’re told when you look up ‘how to be a successful artist’ is how an artist needs to have a consistent style. I agree but I am not happy about it! On one hand it’s branding, I follow some artists and I can spot their work without even seeing their name or signature, if I love one of their paintings the chances are I’ll love the rest because they are consistent.
I think I have two styles and I am loathed to choose. On one hand I can paint fast, direct (wet on wet) and end up with an impressionist style landscape such as Twilight City or Escape but sometimes I want to plan and paint with some realism, a long process, indirect painting such as The Last Stop, Magnus or Departed. The final outcomes give me similar satisfaction but the initial stage requires too different mind sets, either I am feeling spontaneous or organised, and there is a reason why there are fewer when it comes to the latter.
I wonder if I should have an alter ego, split my art and have a pseudonym, I do sometimes wonder if I have a split personality but I think it’s just a touch of neurodivergence and actually, when I think about it ‘chaotic structure’ sums it all up. The words contradict but I need both, just like I need to paint both styles.
