Hi Guys!
Val here. I’m
back to talk about the campaign #inspirationvsimitation. I know that in the
previous blog posts I have mainly shared about the issue of copying or
imitating. This time I want to focus a bit more on the ‘inspiration’ side of
the campaign to help inspire people to create their own style (rather than
copying people’s artwork). I have asked a few of my lettering friends to share
a bit of their journey in discovering their own style with the hope that it
will give some of you newbies an idea of how to do it. Now there isn’t just one
way of doing it. Also, there isn’t really a step-by-step process you go through
in finding your own style. Everyone has a different and unique journey when it
comes to this.
So,
first up, I’ve asked my dear friend, Muli Ong, to share about her creative
journey. If you are not familiar with her style of lettering, please take a
moment to check out her IG profile (here). I first discovered her back in 2015
and was just blown away at how neat and precise her work is, and not to mention
all the pretty colors she used. But what I love the most about Muli’s work is
that it is so unique! And so here she is sharing a bit on how she discovered
her unique style.
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| Artwork "Be inspired to create not imitate" by Ngah Muli Ong (@muliong) |
Defining My Artistic Style
By: Muli Ong
I think aside from what tools I use this has to be the most
asked question I have ever gotten. Honestly, I didn’t realize that I had a
certain artistic style until others said so. I’ve heard friends describe my art
as colorful, playful with layout, and girly.
I started lettering out of curiosity and boredom of computer
(digital stuff), and felt like I needed to go back to analog. So, when I first
started lettering, I literally had a folder with hundreds, if not thousands, of
inspirational images from the net. This was before there was Pinterest, so you
can just imagine what that would have looked like. Think of Jessica Hische,
Risa Rodil, Lisa Congdon, and so on.
From time to time, I’d try to create my own lettering piece by
copying their style. But after a while of doing so, I got pretty restless and
unsatisfied. I didn’t want to be the next (insert famous artist). I wanted to
be known as Muli. I felt like I had a story to share and I wanted people to
hear my voice, not someone else’s. So, yeah I got better at technicality, but
still couldn’t quite explain why whatever I had created didn’t feel like me. So
I asked myself why certain images spoke to me more, or why did it intrigue my
curiosity more than others?
I’ve always loved playing with (geometric) shapes and colors. So
when I noticed that most of the images had at least these two things in common:
experiments with shapes and unique color combinations, that’s when it finally
clicked! Since then, my artwork has grown more focused on colors and often, playful
shapes. But this is not the end; my artwork will continue to change and grow,
as I will.
Bottom line is I believe your artistic style will come
naturally; it is a result of the continuous growth you go through. You will come
across new inspirations, acquire new skills, meet new people, have new stories
to tell, and maybe even move to a different location. Everything that happens
in your daily life will shape you, your thoughts, and eventually your artistic
style. So stop focusing on what others are doing, instead revert everything
back to you; your own artistic style will eventually show itself.
Simply put, I believe one’s artistic style is as unique as
oneself. So don’t try to be the next Jessica Hische or Gemma O’Brien or Louise
Fili. Just be YOU. Go find your own artistic style and make art, and more art, and
many more art.
Cheers,
nmo
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