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After you get your basics down, the next thing is to begin experimenting with your art style. This is a mixture of the techniques and processes that you draw with. There are many art styles to choose from, like realism, semi-realism, anime, cartoon, and much more. You can even mix and match the different aspects of each style to create a unique and fresh one!
Many people feel lost when trying to figure out what style they will draw in. They feel pressured to pick one that they will stay with for a long time, or one that looks very realistic, even if they don't like realism.
But here's a piece of advice for you: styles aren't meant to be pressuring! You don't have to stick with the style you choose now for the rest of your life. As you learn more and discover other techniques that you like, your style WILL evolve. This is a sign of progress! So don't be afraid to explore multiple styles, or to change the one you have now.
To begin finding your style, I recommend going on Pinterest, Google Images, or another search engine, and looking up the style(s) you want to draw in. Look at pieces that other artists have done, and make a note of what you like and don't like about their style. For example, you could love the way one artist colors, but dislike the way they draw eyes. This is fine! Make a mental note of it for later. If you're using Pinterest, you can save the pieces you like to an inspiration or style board.
The next thing is to look up some tutorials of how to draw in that style. For example, the way artists draw realism differs very much from the way they draw cartoons. They're going to have different processes and goals. Find an artist who draws in the style that you like and see if they have any guides or tutorials.
The next step is to combine all the techniques you like from other artists into your own style! From the example before, you can use that artist's coloring techniques, and use another artist's way of drawing eyes! Of course, styles in art are an expression of what you like, so don't just create a carbon copy of someone else's style. Take different aspects from others and yourself to create your own style.
My personal style is a mix of anime, cartoon, and painting, with some elements from comic books (like the halftones!):
Some personal favorite artists of mine are:
To go more in-depth about a particular artist's techniques, you do a style study. This will help you break down exactly what the artist does, and why. Most artists post their process or a tutorial, which makes style studies easier!
To start a style study, first decide on the style. This can be from a studio or an independent artist. Save some images to work from.
This is where the process becomes different for every study. For example, if you only want to focus on the way an artist colors, that should be the only thing you study. If you want to do a mroe general study, you will focus on each aspect of their art. The way you approach it is different, too. You can trace over the reference to get a feel for the movements if you are studying the shapes or lines, or you could try to do it on your own first.
When I do style studies, I like to break it down before I even begin drawing. For example, here's part of a study I did on the artist Yeej Chan:
These are purely notes on the coloring and proportions. I haven't even begun drawing. But I personally like to have these notes so I can reference them when I do start drawing. You don't have to go into this much detail, or even make notes beforehand.
Here's how that study turned out:
After you finish the study, you should compare it with the original artist. For example, in my version, I made the lines too bold and thick. Yeej Chan's lines are much thinner and softer. This will help me if I ever want to come back to this study, or if I wanted to use that way of drawing lines in my own style.