Personal Style

Joseph Finchum

       All of my life I have been told time and time again, that my artworks lack a sense of personal style. This is something that has always weighed heavy on my mind. I am not really happy unless I am experimenting in one way or another.  Trying to mix things up and see what kind of results I can get. Everything I know about painting and art in general, I have taught myself. I trained myself to use different mediums through trial and error, a pinch of oils, a dab of acrylic, and a splash of watercolor. So I had to ask myself a question. Can a lack of personal style, be a personal style?

I think it can. This I think is what drew me in to the idea of Graphic Design where you would be changing styles with every new project. This fit with me because the way I approach a piece may be different from the techniques of other artists. I don’t just look at the subject or idea and grab my brushes and start painting. I first have to decide what grabs me about the subject. What aspect of the idea is the focal point, and what style of painting will do it the most justice. 

What tools do I want to use is another factor? Do I want to accent soft and subtle brush strokes or do I want to bring out a sharp jagged line of a palette knife? Is a hard sculpted edge needed or a splattering of color? All these thoughts are presented before me and my choices come from these decisions. But wait there’s more…

Influence is something that astonishes me. We can make a list of all our conscious influences, but that will just cover the tip of the iceberg. Our minds think in pictures and we see pictures everywhere. We are bombarded with advertisements containing pictures everywhere we go and look. That ad on the subway wall, a billboard on the side of highway, and even the graffiti on the underpass all have a way of seeping into to the tiny cracks in our minds and branching out to connections. Links we could not conceive of without this intrusion. All this inspiration says a lot about how a piece of art will ebb and flow into the finished product.


Lastly, there is the mood we are in that lends itself to the situation and the specific genre. Feeling happy and playful, we might make something abstract because it the process of creating it is fun. Feeling angry or frustrated and we might want paint a misty and dark in a landscape. It all depends on what is filtering in.


Now, I am not saying that my “personal style” will not change or emerge and come to a full apex someday down the road. For now though, I am happy with where I am. Maybe one day a specific medium or genre will present itself as a major dominant style, but I don’t know if that will be next week or in the next decade. Until then, I want to keep experimenting and have some fun doing what brings me joy and true happiness. I hope you do too.