Can Accidents and Mistakes Unlock Your Artistic Style?

by Lisa Agaran

This is the fourth article in a series on “Finding Your Style” on the Willa Wanders Blog. All artwork and images by Lisa Agaran.

When I decided to close my psychotherapy practice to pursue an art career, I began teaching myself how to work in mixed media. Although I originally had a formal education in art and design, I was a complete newbie when it came to blending different mediums and materials together.

However, I had a strong sense of what I was drawn to in terms of the look and feel of what I wanted to create. While I was exploring how to create specific effects through different techniques, I applied an art therapy approach, which was allowing myself to create without expectations or having it be something specific. The important thing was to approach this new artistic landscape with a beginners mind. In other words, give myself permission to not know what I’m doing, be messy, imperfect and just play.

This mindset also allowed me to stay open to the creative magic that surfaces when the unexpected happens. I truly believe when you allow accidents and mistakes to unfold during the creative process, you uncover the beginnings of your own style.

Although play and experimenting is important, there is a value in obtaining proficiency, even mastery, in your selected medium and art form. When you master your craft through repetition and through the process of trial and error, you really become an expert in what works and what doesn’t. This leads to discovering your unique style.

Establishing your own artistic style is really about staying true to what excites and inspires you, what you are naturally drawn to in terms of mediums, colors, materials, effects, themes, subject matter, etc. One’s artistic style needs to come from a place of curiosity and meaning. In other words, it’s creating a style and art that is most meaningful to you and peeks your curiosity over and over again. This is part of tapping into your own creative intuition and using this to dictate the direction of your art making.

My Wabi Sabi Art Journals, for example, came from my personal draw to textures and surfaces that were weathered and old. They were also inspired by my curiosity around the Japanese philosophy Wabi Sabi – Finding beauty in what is imperfect, aged and withered. This became one of the repeated themes in my artistic style.

Exploring your style in an Art Journal gives you the freedom to dabble and experiment without the pressure of having it be seen. Like I tell my students, “You can always tear out the pages you don’t like or close it up and put it on the shelf. No one has to ever see it.” Art journals are the perfect safe place to discover and fall in love with your art.

I believe this is a very important key in establishing your own artistic style. You must be the first to fall in love with what you create versus seeking the stamp of approval from the outside world.

Don’t allow the world or others to dictate your artistic style or direction.

However, this is a tricky thing to balance when it comes to selling our art. Sometimes what we love doesn’t always mean it will sell. From my experience with selling art, when you enter this other level of being an artist, the art world does have a different set of standards.

Art Galleries or other art venues focus on bringing in revenue in order to keep their doors open.

Therefore, there is an emphasis on what sells and what doesn’t. Is there an audience (market) for a particular style of art? When an art gallery “decides” to represent a specific artist, they then expect that artist to “reproduce” more artwork in that style in order to sell.

There is a danger in this. I spoke to many artists who found themselves pigeon-holed in a specific style and trapped in the continuous need for producing more of the same. Over time the art loses its meaning and the artist eventually loses inspiration.

There is nothing wrong with deciding to sell your art, but it’s important to balance out what sells with staying true to what brings continued meaning to your art making.

I always bring it back to creating art that you love and brings you joy first and foremost. Create work that excites you, energizes you and fills your soul. This infuses your creations with a vibe that people will be drawn to. I believe there will always be an audience for work that was birthed from a place of love, heart and soul.

If you want to develop your own individual style, I recommend less time looking at other people’s work and more time spent in the creative flow, as this is where the magic happens. The more you enter this state the more you’ll want to be in this state of mind. It’s a delicious feeling that envelopes you so much that, time passes by without you even noticing. Ideas flow and creative discoveries delight and surprise you. This is where you learn to trust yourself as a creator and let your own light shine.

Lisa can be found on Instagram @truecreativitywithin and on her websites ArtbyLisaAgaran.com and TrueCreativityWithin.com

Do you have thoughts on what Lisa wrote? Please share in the comments below!