Penny Wells writes: How do you stay inspired by other artists without having your artwork look similar to their style?
This is going to vary by artist, I’m sure, but two examples that pop into my head are John Bye Fine Art and Bryan Holland Arts. I love so much about the style of each of these artists.
I actually started using the airbrush for my blurry backgrounds after seeing the stunning results that John Bye gets. Yep, that’s a painting! I was just so captivated by the depth in his work. While I started using my airbrush for blurry backgrounds, I don’t think there would be any mistaking my work for his.
John Bye’s work is so much more realistic and detailed than what I typically create, which brings me to the next artist I’m hugely inspired by, Bryan Holland.
Bryan incorporates different patterns, shapes and even text into his wildlife paintings. They have a much more surreal feel. While I had already been using stencils for the backgrounds of many of my paintings before I found Bryan’s work, his style inspired me to try different things with them and working them into the actual subject.
While my work doesn’t really look like either of these artists, you can see where I’ve been inspired by different elements of their styles and how those elements are reflected in my own work. To me, being inspired by another’s work isn’t about copying the whole thing, but seeing something in that style that you might want to try to create your own style.
View more by these two amazing artists here
John Bye’s official website or his Facebook page
Bryan Holland’s official website or his Facebook page