Do you ever worry that your "style" isn't as you unique as you think it is?

[Tanako]

It was totally a compliment!

oh, ok haha, thank you just checked yours out. that bird is awesome.

[ben]

I used to think a lot about it a few years ago but haven’t really in a while. Style is just the amalgamation of an individual’s interest so what I used to do back when it was something I worried about was just to try and broaden my interests and read and look at things I hadn’t before.

I used to draw very generic anime and then I started consuming more alternative comics, European comics, early newspaper strips, and have accumulated a pretty sizable collection of gekiga from the 60s-90s (which interestingly enough sometimes looks a lot like modern day alternative comics from the US). I think having a big visual library to pull from is really important.

Nowadays, I’m pretty comfortable with where I am. Sometimes people see comics floating around the internet that I drew years and will send it to me saying “this reminds me of your work!!” And a lot of the gigs and opportunities I get are because of my style so I think it’s come a long way!

[JRHoch]

I've tried adjusting my style to be more manga, and sometimes more cartoony, but after a few pages my natural inclinations take over. I think the goal is just to be the best version of you that you can be.

[Kann]

To be honest I never thought about if my style is unique or not.

[GrimRose]

I don't worry about my style being unique. It's definitely more cartoony now

It's changed quite drastically from a more anime style

To me finding a style that best conveys the illustrations or stories i may be working on is better that forcing my style to be more unique.

[NickRowler]

I honestly don't care if my style is 100% unique. I mostly care about it being something I enjoy drawing.

[Shanny8]

And that's the point where I've gotten to; I have to enjoy what I'm doing- especially too much to worry about style...and when I enjoy what I'm doing it shows in my work.

[BradleyStempherComic]

Tbh, your style is your style. roll with it and dont worry ;3

you'll get there.
just keep moving forward.

[Reign]

@NickRowler @Shanny8 @BradleyStempherComic

Those are good points. I think I worry so much about my style being unique that drawing gets on my nerves more than being something I love. I do want people to be able to see my art and say, “Hey, that’s ________’s work.”

[BradleyStempherComic]

Over time the characters you have created, will speak for your work i think.
in the end its them theyll get attached to.

i try to zero the stress as much as i can possible, worrying too much can kill work.

[Reign]

@BradleyStempherComic

Yeah. I’ve definitely felt the kill in trying to create a unique manga style. Sometimes it even come up in my regular comic. I think I got really obsessed with the look of Studio Ghibli and other amazing work, and thought that I needed to be super different to make my art stick. The real focus should be characters, story, and loving what I’m doing.

[BradleyStempherComic]

Precise! if youre not loving why do it right?

love for what you do is the most important!

[indagold]

I'm more worried my style is too unique. I change my art style for each project I work on and end up with such visually different styles people can't recognize my art per piece :l

Just 3 different comics and they all look very different:

[CarolRiverArt]

Well, I think the best thing is to reach your own style. I read a tweet of a famous animator saying that if you draw, you already have your own style. But as a personal thought I think all the influences we have and all the crazy experiments of many artistic styles helps develop your unique style. If you don't feel comfortable with your current drawing you should find inspiration, tutorials and experiment with tools until you see what art comes from it.

[MrTwennysebben]

Not something I really worry about, but I will admit that I've worried about my particular style not really being a good fit for Tapas. I mean, take a second and look at the front page of the site. Go ahead, I'll wait.

It's 95% manga, right? A comic in my style, being more Western and cartoony, doesn't really play to this particular audience. The cartoony ones that are popular here are the scribbly, wacky slice-of-life comics that I already see all over Facebook so personally I don't think those really count since they're probably on Webtoon as well.
So yeah, I'm not worried that my own style isn't very unique, but sometimes I do have concerns that I may have picked the wrong site to start out on... I mean, just look at how I draw eyes! It's like the anti-manga.

Manga eyes = @_@
My eyes = /_/

I'm not changing it though.

[Zhengo]

I don't really worry about my style being unique or not, I just draw whatever I find enjoyable

[KrispyKremeBits]

All the time! Though sometimes it's all in your mind. People have said my style reminds them of 90s cartoons so i don't even know anymore

[baasinsimple]

That's not something you should worry about, It happens, for a while my style resembles Baki, then JoJo, I got a little bit of everything I've read where I enjoy the look. Same thing with my writing-- My favorite authors are Jordan, Martin and Mondesitt so of course that's where my writing influences come from.

[Lyric]

I think my writing style is unique, but when I've pitched my work to agents, writing mentorship programs, etc. they want me to site COMPS! (shorthand for published, comparison works that are similar to yours in style or content) Setting fan-fiction aside, isn't the whole point of creating stories to come up with something original and cool? I don't get it.

[machimaquiaveli]

This page compares your writting with other famous writters (not 100% accurate but still funny) https://iwl.me/

I think in the end is more important to bring something unique to the story and the characters. It's doesn't matter so much if your style is slighly similar to others bc you are bringing something that no one else can, your story.