What Nobody Tells You About How to Find Your Art Style

There’s this unspoken rule in the creative world that you have to know how to “find your art style” early and stick to it like glue.

As if the moment you decide to be an artist, you should also have a perfectly curated aesthetic, a cohesive portfolio, and a tagline that sums up your soul. 🤔

Respectfully, I believe this is BS. 😋

Your niche, genre, style, vibe is something that finds you, over time. It’s, in fact, you, every time.

For the artist whose been trying to fit themselves into a box that just doesn’t feel right — this one’s for you. I did that for years, and all it did was distract me from the answer:

ME.

You’re closer than you think. In fact, put your hand over your heart and you’re there, friend. Let’s break this down.

You Didn’t “Pick” Your Personality — So Why Pick a Niche?

Nobody sits down as a toddler and decides: “I’m going to be introverted, deeply sensitive to music, and obsessed with magical realism.”

It unfolds.

It’s a slow dance of lived experience and emotional resonance.

So why do we expect our art style to be something we choose from a dropdown menu?

The truth about how to find your art style is this: if it’s a choice, you’re doing it wrong. Relax, friend. You’re looking for something outside that’s going to be found inside.

Uncovering your artistic style is an ever-gradual unraveling. The more you try to force it, the further away she feels.

Think of it like trying to remember a dream by holding your breath — the harder you grip, the fuzzier it becomes.

Instead of “strategizing” your way into an identity, you get to notice the identity that is already quietly growing within you.

Signs Your Art Style is Something That Reveals Herself

How find your art style isn’t really finding it at all, but seeing the signs that she’s unraveling herself. 😌

There Are Threads in Your Life and Work

Even if your mediums shift or your inspirations vary wildly, there are always invisible threads that tie your work to your life.

The way you treat your friends — in a warm, loving way — also has something to do with the warmth you tie into your work.

The love you have for sitcoms also ties into the love you have for bringing joy through art — even if you’re a visual artist who wouldn’t ever want to work in television.

Maybe it’s a recurring color palette that you realized is one of your favorite colors.

Or a certain emotional frequency you always return to — like longing, wonder, or grief because of childhood experiences you want to bring to light or even normalize.

The threads from your life to your work are your fingerprints, and, you guessed it, your art style without even having to define it.

You Repeat Yourself — But Could Say & Do It 1,000 Different Ways

When someone is truly grounded in themselves, their work starts to carry motifs.

Mantras.

Refrains.

It could be the same phrase you keep returning to in your poetry, or a particular gesture that shows up in all your character sketches.

Like a character in a story who always fidgets with their sleeves or wears the same shade of blue, your creative quirks and themes and habits and things you say to your fiends are signposts.

Clarity often arises from repetition, not reinvention.

Redundancy is memorable. It shows that your voice is clear.

The Danger of Forcing a Niche Too Soon

It’s funny, because as I write this, I’m remembering when I first wanted to start a blog, brand — something BIGGER to bring people alongside my world as an artist.

It was back in 2020, when I was waiting for acting school to start back up and all I had was a laptop, my kitty, boyfriend, the great food he was cooking, and some dreams.

As many others did, I started falling into the realm of “make money online!,” learning about passive income from blogging, and actually started a blog. Twice. Neither of those exist anymore, because I was also following A TON of influencers who were “experts in content creation.”

I “needed” to have content pillars.

I “needed” to repurpose ALL my content.

I needed to have a blog and a YouTube channel and a social media presence OR ELSE I was doing it wrong.

You can probably feel why it didn’t work out for me.

All of the dang pressure. All of the should-storms and needs and rules and requirements that made me freeze and COMMAND + A + DELETE.

Clarity Becomes a Cage and Causes Analysis Paralysis

When you force clarity, you cut off your ability to evolve.

It’s having a strict teacher watching your every move, editing every brushstroke, micromanaging your dreams.

It becomes hard to take risks when everything has to fit a predetermined “style.”

You might stop trying new color palettes or exploring new subjects because it doesn’t match what your audience expects.

That kind of pressure stifles growth more than anything ever. I know it because I’ve done that so many times — and it’s the reason why even though I started marketing in 2020, I didn’t even get a website until 2025. I spent 5 years trying to fit myself into a box!

Creativity Stems From Fear of Not Having Money, Not Being Understood or Not Being Unique

Sometimes we rush into a style because we’re afraid.

Afraid we won’t be able to sell.

Afraid we won’t stand out.

Afraid our parents will ask what we’re doing with our lives and why our work or content isn’t like other people’s.

The fear of having to explain ourselves is visceral and it’s HARD.

But fear-based decisions create art that feels hollow. If your “style” was born in a moment of panic, people will feel that. Like when an actor is physically uncomfortable because they’re forgetting their lines, you start getting uncomfortable watching them.

The trust in all of these things coming to your life is something that grows with time.

I also understand that many of us are so privileged to be able to take risks because we know we have a support system to help us if we fall.

This will look different for everyone.

You Feel Like You Have to Take On Work You Don’t Like Because You’re Being a People-Pleaser

When you box yourself in too soon, you end up saying yes to things that don’t light you up.

Maybe you’re a visual artist who started doing pet portraits because they sell, but you secretly want to create dreamy, symbolic landscapes.

Or maybe you’re a content creator who only posts what performs well, but never what you actually care about.

When your work becomes performative, your style becomes diluted. AGAIN, I did this for many years! I though being a yes-man would open me up to more opportunities. And in a sense, it can! But when we do this for too long, far after we’ve paid our dues, it’s really just holding us back.

How to Find Your Art Style: What Actually Works

Making Ugly, Honest Work on Purpose

Permission to make bad art is revolutionary!

There’s MAGIC IN THE MESS, as much as you might not see it. Others will, and that’s who our art is for.

Make 100 pieces you don’t show anyone.

Let them be weird, off-brand, too colorful, too simple.

Your style isn’t going to emerge in your most polished, perfect pieces. It will show up in the in-between, in the things you made when no one was watching FOR FUN. ☺️

Following Joy Over Aesthetic Trends For the First 1–2 Years

If you’re new to the creative path, spend the first year or two following what makes your heart beat faster.

TRY EVERYTHING because that will help unlock what you love.

Love vintage packaging? Try designing it. Feel inspired by shadow puppets? Why the heck not?

It doesn’t have to be “useful” or “branded.” This is a huge, important part of your self-discovery as an artist and will help the process go so much faster, messier, and in-turn, more beautiful!

Trust That the Seasons of Experimentation Is an Abundant One

Exploring is not wasted time. It’s compost. It’s the rich, messy soil from which your truest work grows.

One season you might be collaging with magazine scraps, the next you’re learning about color theory through nail polish. THIS IS ALL SELF-DISCOVERY AND PART OF YOUR PROCESS.

Give yourself full permission to wander, knowing every detour is shaping the artist you are, which nobody else could EVER copy.

The Most Stylish Artistic Choice Is YOU

The most beautiful and powerful thing you can do on your journey of how to find your art style is to let yourself be seen — without polish, without pressure. Just presence.

Because you, in your weird, soft, curious fullness? That’s the real art, friend. And if you’re feeling anxious, follow this link for your next revelation, creative. ✨