Developing a brand new Art style

At the beginning of the year, I decided I should do a lot more pencil drawings. I missed the tactile feeling of traditional drawing, which is something you don’t have with digital. I also wanted to 'evolve' my art style into something more distinct to set me apart from other artists. Right now, I have finished 7 of these studies, from which the last two (shown below) showed the first signs of what I had in mind for my new art style. It will take a lot more studies on different mediums (and with different kinds of subjects) to fully develop it, and in the end I will have a recognizable and distinct style that is unique to me. Combined with my usual historical subjects, I feel like this will make my art truly stand out.

I was heavily inspired by the art style of Joseph Christian Leyendecker (do, look him up!), he was one of the most prominent and financially successful freelance commercial artists in the U.S. He was active between 1895 and 1951 producing drawings and paintings for hundreds of posters, books, advertisements, magazine covers and stories. During the 1920s and 30s, Leyendecker developed a distinct art style, likely influenced by the then popular ‘Art-Deco’ movement. He used a clever combination of curvy , and strong angular linear elements to simplify and stylize his subjects. He also added texture to large open areas by using a technique called ‘hatching’ to add intrigue to every part of the canvas. These design choices made his work truly timeless!

For now, I will continue making these studies, as they are both important to evolve my art style, and very enjoyable to make. I will then try to translate this style into a new illustration, for which, I’m glad to say, planning has already started!

So, that’s it for now, thanks for reading this small update on my work and process, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it, as much as I did writing! Until next time!
Yours,

Simon Bauwelinck