Find your style in oil - 1 - Magical Spots

As there is so much to talk about finding a personal style, we better start using numbers and separate them.

Let's imagine that we are in front of a landscape, there are thousand of ways to paint it but each one will determine different reactions in those who see our painting. There is a particular style that is based on (larger or smaller) spots which determine the element's shapes, as well as lights and shadows. When the painting is seen at a distance it seems to have much details, however it is not like that since it is a visual effect. It is what happens with Impressionism, for example.

Is it easy to make this kind of artwork? Of course not. Unlike hyper-realistic work, the artist must have a special ability to know what the final result will be. How can we make that what seems to be a group of simply spots at close range could look like a perfect flower in the distance? We need to have a clear idea of what we are painting, and a great knowledge of form, light and contrast of the elements. We also need to get carried away, realizing that what we see with our eyes should not necessarily be reflected on the canvas as it is, since art painting is partly capture our own assessment of what surrounds us. Moreover, the human eye tends to complete itself the missing parts, and by doing this each observer will have a subjective view.

This is a very artistic style and plays with lights and contrasts that highlights the shapes more than others. It's neither easy nor simple, it's very complex, but if you like this kind of style it will be very pleasant to develop once you get the technique and ease. Anyway, remember that it is not only about what we like but what we feel when developing a style.

As an example of this, I want to show you Katerina Iourashevich Ricci's artworks. She developed a wonderful and lovely style that, at least to me, inspires some kind of tenderness as if what she paints had gone through her personal filter of beauty and vision of the world before capturing it on the canvas. Click on the images to enlarge them and visit her gallery, which will not dissapoint you.