The 's' word

Today I had a lecture on the controversial issue on whether illustrators need a style and what it means to have one. In common terms if someone discusses style is suggests there is no substance to the work and that it's all about the visual language used. There is a lot of pressure on illustrators today and new graduates to have a certain 'style' that will make them recognisable and commercial but is style more important than substance?

The discussion began with a case study of Steven Steinberg, an American illustrator and cartoonist of Jewish-Romanian heritage, most well known for his work in the New Yorker. His work was an exploration of social and political systems and visual language. He had a background in architecture and so knew a lot about building and decorative types and used his strong visual memory to call upon these ideas in his artwork. His piece 'Techniques at a Party' uses his dry sense of humour to mock artistic use of technique and style with all the different famous artistic styles meeting at a party. At the same time he may be using a mish-mash of styles but his persona;l penmanship is still evident, giving himself a sense of 'style'. He described himself as a 'writer who draws' and was called 'a world-class noticer'; is this the role of an illustrator, to see, notice and reinterpret the world around us or is it just about drawing in a certain way that sets you apart from other people?

'Techniques at a Party' (1953), Saul Steinberg

This got me thinking about what style means to me and whether it is important to have one as an illustrator. I would personally be rather known for my concepts and ideas that make me recognisable as an illustrator rather than just making work that looks nice. Peter touched upon the idea that style will inevitably affect the clients that an illustrator attracts but that may also be because of your conceptual style that gives you a certain look and not necessarily just the techniques that are used. This reminds me of a conversation I recently had with Matthew Richardson on the purpose of illustration agents and our discussion into the difference of being hired for a style or for your concepts:

'It’s a very different agent that’s selling their work on the styles and techniques and the images than the artists themselves... (I am commissioned) for my ideas and who I am as an artist rather than ‘he does flowers in a nice way or he’s really good at transport or architecture’. On that end it’s the subjects and the way it’s done and it doesn't really matter who’s done it and on this end it’s more finding clients that you may carry on working with.'

I agree that I want to be invested in for my ideas and who I am as an artist rather than purely on the aesthetic appeal of my work. However, it would be foolish to say that the techniques and skill in an illustrators work aren't still important, it's more that one doesn't, or shouldn't, have more of a role over the other.

'Contemporary tailoring on Saville Row', Matthew Richardson

I came across an article online by Nate Williams titled 'Does a professional illustrator need a “style”?' which touches on some interesting points surrounding the subject, such as does having a style meaning never progressing and growing? He claims it's about a consistency in your work that makes you appear reliable as  'art directors usually don't want to play "style roulette"'. He explains that clients are usually looking for three main elements when hiring an artist:

• Feeling (subconscious) - visual aesthetic, a tone, a mood
• Thought (conscious)-  a creative way to visualize a concept, idea, subject matter
• Subject Matter - an expert in a specific subject matter (ie: famous people, medical illustration, etc)

This suggests to me that a visual style is important to a certain extent but it should be backed up my evident thought an subject within the work. Nate Williams also conducted some polls on Illustration Mundo and I was surprised by some of the results.

Polls conducted by Nate Williams on Illustration Mundo

It seems that a lot of illustrators feel as though they need a unique style but feel restricted by their illustrative style and that style is fleeting and changes quickly. Therefore I think it is important to focus on building on your ideas and concepts as an artist as if you focus on style it will go out of fashion and you will have to rebuild yourself; focus on ideas and skills and choose the visual language that best matches that.