Discover WHY a particular style inspires you. What makes a style a style? The AI we talked about earlier breaks style down into multi-dimensional data spaces. Tricky! We are meat bags, so we’re going to keep it simple and use just 3 elements of style: Design, Colour, Texture.

• What's the one key to analysing a style?

• What are the best questions to ask?

Now that you’ve chosen some styles you love, we need to figure out what makes them tick, so that you can be clear about what it is that you’d like to add to your own style.

What makes a style a style? The AI we talked about earlier breaks style down into multi-dimensional data spaces. Tricky! We are meat bags, so we’re going to keep it simple and use just 3 elements of style: Design, Colour, Texture.

The Right Kind of Questions

You may have trouble coming up with the right kind of questions to ask to be able to analyse a style. Here are some questions to help you get thinking in the right direction. The list is by no means complete, but it’s a good start.

Design
Which art movement does this fit most closely? (Impressionism, Expressionism, Realism, Abstraction, Colourist, Luminism, etc.)
What size substrate? (Canvas, board, paper, etc).
What proportion substrate? (Square, rectangular, long, circular, etc.)
What type of shape usage? (Big and blocky, large vs small, dynamic diagonals, lots of curves, organic, harsh, soft, etc.)
How do the shapes divide the canvas? (Rule of thirds, golden ratio, halves, random, etc.)
What is the dark/light design? (See ‘Notan’ design).
What is the ratio of dark to light? (50/50, 60/40, 70/30, etc.)
Is the drawing accurate?
What is the feeling of the design? (Peaceful, Exciting, Somber, Happy, etc.)

Colour
Which medium is used? Oil, Acrylic, Watercolour, Pastel, Mixed,…?
What colours are on the artist’s palette?
Is the colour realistic or interpretive?
Is there a colour theme or colour scheme? (Cool, warm, triadic, complementary, mono, etc.) My Mastering Color course is helpful for understanding colour.
How’s the chroma? (Vibrancy) (High, medium, low, mixture).
How’s the contrast? (High, medium, low, mixture).
What’s the key? (The range of value) (High, medium, low)
Does it use broken colour? (Small strokes of complementary colour within the main colour of an object - when painted at the same value it creates a visual vibration).
What is the overall feeling of the colouring? (Peaceful, Exciting, Somber, Happy, etc.)

Texture
What tools are used? (Type and size of brush, palette knives, roller, cloth, fingers, scrapers, stamps, sponges, etc.)
What type of paint effects are used? (Splatter, dribbles, wiping, scratching, etc.)
What is the character of the strokes? (Short, long, wide, thin, impasto, glazing, harsh, soft, smooth, rough, fast, slow, energetic, wiggly, splotchy, dabby, languid, etc.)
Is there a contrast in texture? (Smooth vs rough, thin vs thick.)
Do the strokes follow the contour of objects?
What is the overall feeling of the texture? (Peaceful, Exciting, Somber, Happy, etc.)

DAY 2 PLAY

Select 3 paintings you love from your Pinterest collection and analyse their styles. Make sure to write it down!

The time honoured tradition of copying master works is still a fantastic learning tool, and a great way to really understand a painter’s style.

• 4 steps to get the maximum value from Master Copies.

• What about copyright?

The original painting of the lion was created by South African artist Peter Pharoah and he kindly gave me permission to use the image for this lesson. Learn more about Peter on his painting website here: https://peterpharoah.com

“Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.” Salvador Dali

What that means is that to become a great artist you need to take what you like from the styles around you and own them - make them yours by using them in a way that is uniquely you. Today, we're just going to borrow.

• How to setup a still life for borrowing a style.

• Learn to use style elements in a simple still life.

Transfer a Style with AI

Some AI's allow you to transfer the style from one image to another. For instance you can upload a photo that you want to paint and then upload a painting from Pinterest that you love as the style sample. This is a quick way to see how your photo might look like when painted in a style that you love.

Try: https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/fast-style-transfer

Or search for 'AI style transfer' to find the latest AI's for this purpose.

It’s said that “Good artists borrow, while great artists steal.”

Now you’re going to steal a style. You’re going to make it yours by merging it with some of the elements of your own style.

• Find the style elements you love in your own work.

• Learn the power of critiquing your work.

Don’t have any style elements of your own? Or maybe you do but you just want to give this a shot, because it’s really cool to see the FrankenStyle result of stitching two styles together and hitting it with a bolt of creativity. It’s ALIVE! All going well, the results will be magical, not monstrous.

• Find 2 styles you love.

• Stitch them together in a single painting.

You’ll be amazed at how quickly your style will grow into something that you are really excited about.

• 27 questions to stretch your style.

• The power of small changes.

• Double your learning with self critiques.

Your brain will bubble at the current state of AI and how artists can now use it to expand their art.

• Find an AI painting generator online on your device or computer.

• Have fun with it and make a note of any ideas you have to have it help with your art.

Transfer a Style with AI

Some AI's allow you to transfer the style from one image to another. For instance you can upload a photo that you want to paint and then upload a painting from Pinterest that you love as the style sample. This is a quick way to see how your photo might look like when painted in a style that you love.

Try: https://deepdreamgenerator.com/

Try: https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/fast-style-transfer

Or search for 'AI style transfer' to find the latest AI's for this purpose.

Now that you've found your style, where to next?

• Take your new style for a spin!

• The fine balance of satisfaction for artists.

• Sharing your art to inspire others.

Join New Zealand artist Richard Robinson in exploring step by step the painting techniques and processes of one of the greatest painters the world has ever known – John Singer Sargent. Enjoy!

Learn About

• Sargent’s materials and techniques

• Drawing and composition

• Creating subtle light effects

• In-depth colour mixing

• and LOTS more!