Is my style "generic"?

[MadamBubble]

I want people to be able to discern my style from several others, hopefully I fit into that category, rather than my style coming off as a generic anime style. Which is what I'm trying to avoid.

What do you guys think?

[amortelito]

Well...yes It looks like generic manga to me. There is nothing wrong with manga, my own comic has generic manga style because that's the point. But you are trying to work on a distinctive style, so try to play more with the silhouettes, type of eyes, body type, clothes, and color. A good start would be to use the features you like the most and exaggerate the proportions. I see you use rounded chin instead of pointy, which is a good start! Maybe make the neck thinner and the face larger so that we can see the round chin better. The hair too is the typical spiked anime hair, you can experiment with different textures. Finding your style is a journey, takes practice and finding what you like the most and find your identity as an artist.

Possibilities are endless.

[inkythoughts]

Maybe give a few more examples, that way it's easier to distinguish what is your style or maybe just how you use the medium etc.

Also to be honest, you probably will never escape having a "generic" art style because by now, we've somehow already seen everything once or twice already. Even expressionism by now is generic. I consider my style generic, too, (though it's not really "anime style") and yet people tell me that they can recognise my art between a bunch of others - so focus more on finding a style that suits you and the needs of your art instead, it's much healthier than to just avoid specific "style tropes." You won't get happy with it.
Finding your style is just figuring out what works best for you. Becoming a unique artist just goes along with it as you adapt this and that and then end up with your personal, discernable art style. It's learning and copying from artists you admire (or hate) and then include parts that work for you into your style. It's the whole patchwork that makes it a signature, not a specific aspect.

[shazzbaa]

It's hard to like........ discern "style" from a single image, I think!!

Younger artists often tend to think of style as things like "drawing eyes a certain way," but actually style is a lot more than that; it's the shortcuts to drawing you've picked up that play to your strengths, the sorts of compositions that appeal to you, the way you put colours together, the unique combination of things that are comfortable and solidified for you.

What constitutes "style" in an image? Is it the way you draw eyes, or the way you draw clothing folds? No, that can't be true -- if I drew eyes differently in a few drawings, those drawings would still be in "my style." If I draw characters with different proportions, they're still "my style."

It's also hard to tell because I think of "generic" drawings as being when like.... there's nothing interesting or different about the different elements. Like someone who just learned to draw faces from studying a single anime face and don't know how to reach outside of that. When you draw a tree, is it gonna be a Generic Cartoon Tree from memory, or are you gonna look up pictures of trees and how other artists handle trees and put it together and figure out the best way to draw trees for you? Are you able to draw characters with different faces and different bodies and different noses, or do they all look the same because that's the only Generic Face you've learned to draw? That sort of thing.

---

That said, I think the best way to work on your style is to.... not focus on style specifically, and focus instead on how to make your art better and better!! Look at real things, look at how other artists draw things, and don't be afraid to copy and experiment and try different things. If you're scared to incorporate new ways of drawing things into your work because you want to keep A Distinctive Style, then ironically that's when your style stagnates and becomes Generic because it can't grow.

[MadamBubble]

Here's my Sketchbook series so you have more examples.

Sketchbook | Tapas

And my Deviantart for good measure!!

JSenpaiDaNinja on DeviantArt

[MadamBubble]

Yes I can draw characters with different faces and eyes, I even do the occasional fat character. As for drawing trees, I draw various ones, using the trees I have at home for reference.

[fleohr]

I think this one here:

Even more bubbles!

Doesn't look too anime generic, but the hair and the way you colored the eyes are anime-ish to me

[MadamBubble]

I strongly agree with your opinion.

[mintycanoodles]

yes, but don't worry about it right now. just draw what you want. finding your personal style only happens with time and drawing a lot.

[R.E.G]

I like your art! It's whimsical and reminds me a bit of Scott Pilgrim

[hjfsdh2222]

It’s not generic.

But there isn’t any bad about a style being generic. Actually it’s often preferred by most people. If you make your style more generic you would probably be even more successful.

Personally I wish my style was more generic manga-y.

[inkythoughts]

From what I've seen so far, it might help to take on life-drawing classes at your current stage to get away from the anime stereotype. You draw very big eyes which easily are associated with shoujo manga, and parts of how you do colours also works into that direction.
The thing about life-drawing is that it helps you get the realistic proportions down and also improve your postures. As it is realistic, it gives you a base from which you can stylise in any direction, whether it be manga, cartoon, or whatever else style you want to choose. Currently it seems like most of your reference material is either animanga or very stylised cartoons (which, in general, isn't bad, but at the moment you try to get away from "generic" styles and very stylised styles don't leave much wiggle room for yourself to experiment.)

I know it doesn't really sound like fun but really, getting facial and other proportions right helps you improve A BUNCH and can throw your art style quite a few steps forward quite quickly.

And, again, getting a unique style is basically the patchwork of all your influences and own opinions, improvements etc. It takes time and can't be forced. It's constantly evolving so yeah. Just try improving your art in general will get you there eventually.