Edited by Zubaida Nazzal
A very much debated subject for all artists from all levels and professions. The question of stylizing or not?! And if it’s a fixed path or different paths? Is there one way or many ways?! We’ll be answering all these questions, so stay tuned!
It still interests me personally, and my opinion along the way have changed with my experience. In my beginnings, I didn’t realize how fascinated I was with styles, first Disney then anime and so on. When I was 24 years of age, I decided to go back to the fundamentals. I went through some phases of focus, but I tend to generalize since I work on multiple projects at the same time. However, when I’m learning, I take my time to be focused and put all my effort and energy into the style I’m working on.
by Hani' Pen on Art station (ArtStation - 8 Art Style 🍃)
A professional or an amateur?
You need to ask yourself first, whether you want to make a living out of art, or a thing you do on the side for fun and might occasionally get paid for it? And it’s up to you to determine that.
If you’re an amateur and art is a hobby, then properly this article might not be of much use to you, since there is no right or wrong for you, and it is a mere method of expressing yourself and your ideas. Thus, you can literally do whatever and however you want with your art.
On the other hand, when it comes to professionals, the easiest and fastest way to reach international levels is by focusing on one thing, and then with time and experience you can try and expand, but it is still possible to achieve such thing by being the master of all trades, but it’s surely not an easy path. You either start focused and then you expand, or you start by expanding and then you specialize, or you can start either expanded or specialized and stay that way. you need to be flexible in your career, sometimes you might need to expand and then specialize again, and then maybe expand again. It’s not a straightforward journey, this is up to you.
If you’re a professional employee in a studio, and you feel satisfied with the studio style you’re working on, then you can keep working on the studio’s style and all is good. You can also try other styles on the side, which is not wrong.
I will apply to work at my favorite studio
In case you want to work with a certain studio, then there is definitely a right path to take. It’s about what the studio wants, not what you want or prefer, you will have to adapt to the studio’s style. You need to understand what the studio wants. For example, when you apply to a job at a studio, you need to present your studio fitted portfolio and not a general portfolio.
The acceptance process goes something like this, if around 40 or 50 people applied for one job, only 10 will be picked according to their portfolio. These 10 will have to go through the interview and the test, but only one will stay, they will only take the best and the strongest. They all might be at a decent level, especially the second and third ones, but they will only take the first place one. Studios like Blizzard, Supercell and Riot games, need you to specialize in a style for them to accept you, not all studios like divergence, so study the studio you want to apply to before you apply.
You need to be knowledgeable and conscious about the industry and the places you’re applying to. In case you’re determined on a certain job, then specialize, if you’re polishing and improving your skills and trying to find or change your way then diverge.
I hope you liked this article, tell us what you think down below, you can watch the video related to this article on my YouTube channel in the link #GEMS EP7 | Focus on one style or many? | اتخصص او أرسم كل شى؟ - YouTube and stay tuned for another article, and another topic