Last October, I participated in #peachtober 2021. I decided not to limit the illustrations to a “same” style because I wanted it to feel low-pressure. This gave me freedom to be inspired only by each day’s prompt and to go wherever that inspiration took me. However, I did create a color palette for the challenge that all the drawings featured, thinking/hoping that that would help all the artwork still look cohesive.

I really like a lot of the artwork I produced during the 23 days I did the challenge (a few of these are shared among these first three paragraphs), but towards the end, the lack of cohesion, or balance, on my Instagram feed really started to bother me.

That along with Instagram’s persistent low-engagement led me to a decision that even if it meant posting less often or less consistently on Instagram, I only wanted to share art that was really “my style.” And that was the type of work I’d like to be making as far as commissioned and freelance work.

I used to appreciate really tidy, but still “organic” looking line art, but over the past year (or two? what has time been these past few years) or so, I’ve been loving leaving the messy-ish “final sketch,” so to speak. And recently, I’ve been playing with how I layer textures like pencil-like shading, bloom-y watercolor, and other little details like freckles buried in the layers of skin color and shading on a face, or specks of color on a twill sweater. (A note: all my current work is digital, primarily done with Procreate and their standard brushes, and a few faves from VV Berger and The Gladdist Thing. Both unaffiliated.)

The artworks above are a real leaning into this more considered, cohesive stylization.

And this one, a portrait based on a picture of/by the stylish @etcbysarah, feels like I’ve really stumbled into a style of my own that’s special and unique. It’s a mix of all the elements I’ve been playing around with – the left “messy” line art, the layers of shading, the textures thrown in between layers of shading and highlights. The golden light and warm shadow here are also beautiful, and inspired completely by the original photo and Sarah’s typical feed color palette. (Note that all three of these are uncommissioned, all are personal drawing projects by me, but reflect the type of illustration work I would like to make.)

I’ve always been hesitant to really lean into custom portraiture, with worries about not understanding the patron’s vision, creating work they’re not pleased with, or winding up working with a customer who’s just plain rude (I know several horror stories from other artists). But after I finished and shared this illustration, I had the thought, “I think, in this style that I’ve found, that I enjoy, that feels so mine, so refined, I could really enjoy doing custom portraits…” I filed the thought quietly away, planning to let it simmer, as I often do with work shifts or big decision thoughts. But before I could make a plan to announce my openness for custom portrait work, a request came in! And it was such a lovely project to work on, and with the best, sweetest customer. A sign? Maybe…