Lessons in style: how to create an original aesthetic

When initially deciding to take a creative path in her career, Jing admits that “I really didn’t know what illustration was when I chose it as a major,” she recalls. But in reality, the methodology behind this particular discipline’s approach appealed to who she was as a person. At school Jing “was the type of nerd that loved assignments, because I always needed parameters or a prompt to get started,” similar to the process between an art director and illustrator. Jing also gravitated towards “the problem-solving aspect of illustration”, as an attribute in-line with her personality. The career choice was also influenced by the idea of freelancing which sounded like a much more suitable way of life than trucking into the office every day. “I basically mashed together all the things I knew I liked: drawing, problem-solving and staying up late, and hoped that I could find a career that included those things. Miraculously, I did!”

Choosing a career that genuinely suits your natural habits appears to be the ideal initial step when figuring out who you are and who you want to be – after all, they're attributes you can’t fake or force! However, settling on a style is a much harder puzzle to solve. In Jing’s case, at first, she made work totally different to how she does now, making only “woodcuts of animals and anthropomorphic objects,” she tells us. “To this day, I have no idea why that was the combination of things.” From there it was printmaking the illustrator largely worked with, a process she now admits was possibly a technique she was hiding behind “because I was afraid the work would fall apart if I tried anything else,” she says.

This is a very rational fear for any creative. Trying something new in this industry is often encouraged and mostly a very good thing in the end, but it doesn’t make it any less daunting, especially as an independent artist worried about possible loss of work if a new direction is the wrong one. However for Jing it was actually the fact that her printmaking work “was not sustainable for commercial projects” that led her to open Photoshop. Ultimately “surrendering myself to the clutches of digital illustration” – which is now her primary approach.

Based off her own experience, Jing’s advice to any creative currently feeling lost in a sea of varying styles and creative identities is, “and I know this has been repeated to death, but you really just have to make a lot of stuff,” she advises. While the easiest route, or the most instantly gratifying might be to lean on the styles of those you admire, or what clients seem to love most, “Taking shortcuts and lifting things from other people’s progress will never be satisfying in the same way,” adds Jing. “The goal is always to make something interesting and in fact, apart from the status quo. The less you focus on what’s trendy or hireable, the more you’ll be on the right track.”

Attempting to find your own creative aesthetic to then run with will also be a bit of a slog. “A lot of it,” as Jing points out, “will be terrible.” But, in making more and more work, with time, “you’re increasing your chances of making something that is not terrible. Then, you take things that are working, and build on that until you end up with something that feels right,” the illustrator continues. “You do that for a while, until you inevitably become bored with the thing that works, and start the cycle all over again.”

After going through this, and speaking from a place of experience too, the fact that now Jing can look at her work and see herself as a person, sort of sounds like the best creative achievement possible. “When I look at my drawings now, I can see the history of past awkward characters that evolved because I got better. I can also see the variables – my environment, certain phases and events in my life – and how that has influenced the work I’ve chosen to make (or not to make),” concludes Jing. In our book, this feels like what all creative endeavours, no matter what discipline, should be aiming towards. To be able to look back on previous work and not see not a number of likes or shares, but just yourself!

To take part in Jing Wei's Skillshare class head here. For further classes on developing a creative aesthetic we recommend Laci Jordan's class on “Discover, Cultivate and Share Your Unique Personal Style” and Rick Berkelmans' class on “Using Creative Constraints to Find Your Style”.