For this assignment, we had to analyze different artists and their art styles. It was important that the styles were different from yours. Then we had to create a work that was in that artist's style.
First, we had to make collages of different artists and then pick one that looked the most different.
I made collages of the works of:
Cherry Che: https://www.artstation.com/cherryche
Maria Dimova: https://www.instagram.com/mary_dimary/
Nesskain: https://twitter.com/nesskain
Rinotuna: https://linktr.ee/rinotuna
and Emilyena: https://emilyena.carrd.co/
I then looked at my own art and noted down what I think my art style contains. It was a bit difficult, because my art styles can change a lot depending on my mood. I do think the way I draw people and my subjects/themes are usually the same.
Eventually, I picked Maria Dimova's work. I felt that, even though our styles may have similarities here and there, her work is a lot more polished. She has a has a high amount of patience when it comes to the tiniest details. I struggle with that a lot in my own style and work in general.
I watched her tutorials to see how her process is and wrote down what I thought were the main features of her work. I noticed a lot of similarities between her art style and the art nouveau movement.
I think flowers and feminine features are also an important aspect, so that's what I had in mind when I had to pick from my own characters.
I then started working on a sketch. I wanted my character to be in a frame and surrounded by forget-me-nots. Her earrings and necklace are also important objects. I eventually picked the sketch on the right.
Then I started working on the outlines. I already noticed that I was losing my patience when working on the smaller details, so I should really work on that.
Final outline
Shading
Maria used gradient maps in one of her tutorials and that made me want to try it out too. That's why my piece starts off in black and white. The rim lights and the soft shading in her work are important to her art style, so I tried to do that as well.
Colouring
After the shading, I added the gradient maps. I haven't used them too much, so it is a bit of getting used to, but eventually I got the hang of it.
I then added more details and colour variation to my work. I felt like her skin looked very "dead", so I gave her rosier cheeks and lips. I also added the yellows of the forget-me-nots and added some loose strands to the hair.
Then, I added a background and a frame to finish off the piece. I wanted the frame to look more organic to add onto the "traditional art" feel that Maria's art has. In the final piece, I also added some paper textures to convey that feeling even more.
Finished Product
Conclusion
I think this was a nice way to get out of my comfort zone when it comes to art styles. For the most part, I think I imitated Maria's style well, especially with the "traditional art" effects. Though, she has a lot more patience and a better eye for detail than I do. I also think my characters facial features could have been more styled like Maria would.
