Being consistent with your art style

[joannekwan]

It usually takes a couple months before you get comfortable drawing a character. You'll find yourself falling into a rhythm and flow once you've drawn them enough.

Even then your comic's style will change gradually over time as you grow as an artist overall, and the change can be drastic depending on your skill level when you start.

[Lummy]

You think if I draw my characters enough times I will get the hang of the style?
It is just that from what I see now, my style changes with every page on my sketchbook and then when I draw my character with a style I like I can't recreate the feeling of that style . (And I am kinda forcing myself to not lose hope, but I am there)

Apologies for my little ramble

[sartinjacqueline05]

I know how this feels. My comic is over 20 pages (started working on it months ago) and my main character started looking slightly different at around 10 pages. More so by 15 pages. Sometimes the change is a good thing, other times maybe no so much. Usually its easier to decide what your definate style is depending on which way is easier or less stressful to draw. This is just in my opinion.

[Rhonder]

I think as long as you're making a conscious effort to be consistent, it will come in time as you go along and gain more practice. Don't sweat things fluctuating a little bit here or there, especially as you're just getting started

[joannekwan]

Yeah, a consistent style doesn't just happen overnight! The point being consistency. Ya gotta keep at it and produce something enough times for it to set the standard.

Same thing with finding that aha! moment. Analyze why you like that style you just laid on the page. Is it the proportions of the face? The line work? Try and pinpoint the parts that make you go 'this is it!' and then shoot for those in your next drawing.

[Lummy]

Thanks for sharing

[Lummy]

I hope it will

[Lummy]

I am definitely trying to find that aha moment XD,
I just made a reference shit to myself with the shape of the head from my favourite draft of my character (since I noticed that I tend to mess with that part when redrawing a character ><)
And, thanks

[Kelheor]

It's totally fine! I swear, I do my best and I think I became better in this, but drawing the characters for 3 years now and they still look kinda different everywhere Try to focus on main details like hairstyle, face and nose shape, etc.
The style becomes more refined with time and you will see it
I mean these are like 4 pages apart, sometimes it is infuriating, though I believe may be hard to see for the usual reader xD at least the ears are the same, which is nice

[Lummy]

Just wanted to tell, that both of the drawing you showed are fabulous.
~ and maybe I am blind, but if you haven't told me about it, I probably wouldn't notice the differences

[darthmongoose]

It's kind of an inevitable part of drawing a comic, and as the creator, you'll always notice it more than everyone else does. Like it drives me up the wall how different everyone looks in the first couple of pages of Errant compared to the rest. I feel frustrated by it because I was like "Oh yeah, I've been a pro illustrator years, I'll be consistent!" and it turned out... oh. I haven't worked in this style in a long time or had any projects where I needed to consistently draw the same characters over and over for a protracted period...

I think it's really visible with Urien and it's probably because he's the character who isn't from my older comics. I knew he was going to be kind of bishy and look like his sister (who is a major character later and was a major character in my old comic) but I just sort of winged it and he kind of transforms from young Leonardo DiCaprio into Miles Edgeworth :
Page 1:

Page 9:

I feel like I'd be tempted to to a bit of redrawing on the first few pages for a print edition for consistency because it'll be so much more obvious in print, where you can flip back and compare.

[sartinjacqueline05]

Here's my example. I actually made a thread like this a while ago with a similar topic.
The first few pages of my comic were in black and white and then color later but it was part of the storytelling. The second pic is from my latest page. It was mostly his hair and head shape that changed.

[Lummy]

Looks like I am not the only one who struggles with that problem °^°
Though, may I say until you pinpoint the difference I personally didn't notice.

I think it is quite interesting, how you and @Kelheor posted your example to 'unconsistent art', and yet unless you analyze it really carefully it is hard to see
(I hope my inconsistent art would also be like that )
~ I think we need to be less hard on ourselves

[Lummy]

Just wanted to say that it looks like a good change
The new hair makes him look (in my eyes) a lot more livelier ^^
Thanks for sharing

[IndigoShirtProd]

You're probably just going through growing pains. This happens a lot, especially in artists going from a beginner to intermediate skill level. I went through a period like this myself for a very long time where it felt with every new sketch, something was different i.e. inconsistent. I realized It would take some time before I decided on the hallmarks of an art style I liked. I started my comic with one style that developed into another. Don't worry too too much about consistency, keep it in the back of your mind, but you could be at a stage where it's not the "art style" that's changing but your skill level which is being reflected in the work you do.

[Lummy]

Thank you

[Kelheor]

Thank you!
Well, that's because we're doing it for pretty long time I guess I believe this difference was much noticeable in the beginning and when comparing pages far from one another. So maybe you changed the brush by one pixel, and maybe you drew the eyes just a bit bigger, and there is kinda too much hair and now you feel the character looks more childish ^^
Chapter 1, chapter 2 and chapter 6. Overall he's pretty much the same, but there are still slight differences in style and proportions (which probably only the artist sees xD). Maybe you have the same issue, yeah ^^ If you want, you can show us yours and find out if we see what you see

[Lummy]

Well, I think mine are too obvious
Here are two of my sketches from when I was drawing my character, with one day difference

So aside from the hair, their art style looks totally different (even my friends said so )
And basically, with each drawing my character changes for better and for worst

[Kelheor]

So cute!
Nah, it's fine It just feels like you drew the first one quicker and out a bit more thought and time in the second, but I'd say it's pretty consistent too, since she (is this she?) has the same features, hair and the eyes are just a bit more slant. But yeah, don't beat yourself over this ^^

[Lummy]

Thanks,
And yes, it is a she ^^
It is just that people tell me that they look different and that they get different vibes from them (the first one is cute and mischievous, and the second one is mature and nice and they are the same character XD). And while I can see the differences, I can't really pinpoint them well enough to fix them.