Creating a Signature Style
What is a Signature Style?
A Signature Style is one that is instantly recognizable as your own. When somebody sees one of your artworks, they automatically know who created it, even though they may not have seen that particular artwork yet, or even stepped close enough to see the signature on the painting.
You can think of your signature style as specializing.
A signature style can be a particular technique that you use in all your artworks. It could be a distinctive set of colors. It could be a specific style. It could also be a specific topic, like dogs or shoes that you create.
Good examples of strong signatures styles are the Cubist artworks of Picasso, the Pop Art style of Andy Warhol, and the Impressionist style of Vincent van Gogh.
How Do You Choose a Signature Style?
1) Look at what you enjoy creating. Maybe you like drawing dog portraits. Then you could choose that as your signature style as you will never get bored.
2) Look at what you are good at. If you are a whizz at painting with a knife, then this would make a great signature style as you feel comfortable with the techniques already.
3) Look at what is selling. People must be willing to buy what you create, so always ensure there is demand for your signature style.
4) Ensure there is enough variety. For example, if you decide on tulip paintings as your signature style, ensure that you can easily paint thousands of different variations of your tulip paintings. Below you can see an example of a good and a bad signature style.
Bad Signature Style
This is not a good signature style because there are only so many colors you can use for the flower. The shape of the flower also doesn’t allow for many variations.
Good Signature Style
This style, on the other hand, is perfect. Although it is also just a single flower, the amount of variations we can add to the colors and petals is almost endless so you would never run out of different roses to paint.
How Does It Help You Sell More Art?
A Signature Style Allows You To Create Quicker
When you paint or draw in a new style or theme, you basically need to figure out how to create the artwork. You need to figure out which materials to use, which techniques to use, which are the correct colors to mix, and so on.
All this figuring out takes a lot of time. To see this effect, try painting the same scene twice. The second time around you will complete the artwork in half the time because you now know what to do.
When you create along a signature style you cut out all this “figuring out” time, so can create a lot more artworks for sale in less time.
A Signature Style Makes Your Art More Memorable
Your signature style creates a common “thread” that is visible through all the artworks you create, so every time somebody sees one of your artworks, they recognize it as yours.
The more people see your artworks, the more likely they are to remember and recognize them.
Being remembered is how you build up your reputation as an artist. This is turn increases not only the amount of artworks you sell but the value of those artworks.
A Signature Style Increases Your Profit
When you paint or draw in one style you are using the same techniques and materials to create your artworks. This allows you to purchase in bulk so even though this doesn’t directly help you sell more, it saves you money. This means you are earning more money per sale, so in the long run, is just as good as selling more artworks.