Introduction
It’s said that “earth” without “art” is just “eh,” and likewise art without a voice is just “meh.” Without anything to back it up, voiceless art just doesn’t seem to have the power and weight of its voiceful kin. As such, we often hear of the artistic “voice” when it comes to discussing art. It’s as ubiquitous as paints and clay in the art life. Yet many artists aren’t quite sure about the nature of their own voice or how to use it or why — they just create. And that’s perfectly fine! It will get you far. Indeedy, you don’t have to ruminate on your voice to create great work, you don’t even have to know what a voice even is to create stellar pieces. Just create your art! That’s the important bit.
However, if you’re wanting to dissect what you’re doing a bit more to perhaps grasp your arting a bit better, if you’re having problems with inspiration and motivation and direction, if you feel inadequate and subpar as an artist compared to others, if you’re confused where you are developmentally or feel lost in your efforts, or if you’re simply curious about the deeper nature of your work, it’s time to take a look at your voice and truly come to know it better.
Because knowing your voice can be a really handy thing. Why? Well, for one, it’s from your voice where your best work gets made, pure and simple. It also lends power and authority to your creative decisions, helping you to stake out a bigger claim in the sea of artworks out there. More still, it makes your art recognizable and distinctive, giving it your unmistakable individualistic stamp that lends so much novelty and flavor. Plus, its very nature reminds you of what’s really important with your arting, helping to keep your priorities properly aligned. Your voice also speaks clearly about your creative sensibilities, and most of all, it reaffirms who you are as an artist and that seeps into your body of work in the best ways. In short, your voice is what makes your work distinctive and unique, original, interesting and meaningful. Smoosh all that together, and your voice really is the essential ingredient to your art, the one consistent thing that lends it all so much substance and potency. Quite literally, finding your voice is like discovering your superpower!
So come to understand your voice better and you gain a strong upper hand in steering your own course with a lot more clarity, and creating powerful art that really connects with the viewer. So let’s talk about your voice and what it all means…
What Is Your Voice?
What exactly is a “voice”? Is it how we talk about our art? Well, sorta. Is it what we say when we try to sell our work? Hmmm…not exactly. Is it certain lingo we use when discussing art? No, not really. Is it what our art “says”? Bingo!
But let’s backtrack for a moment…first of all, your voice is unique to you, and only you throughout all space and time in the entire Universe. Think about that for a minute. Think about how profoundly special that is. This is why discovering and nurturing your voice can be so important! Embrace and cherish it! And above all, protect it. Really, if anything about your art is worth protecting, it’s absolutely your voice. Fight for it, always.
So okay, yeah…but still…what is it? Well, your voice is your artistic point of view, it's an expression of your creative agency. It includes your creative style but also your values, convictions, life experiences, your unique perspective of life, and your singular interpretation of the subject. It's a reflection of what matters to you, and it’s what makes your art yours and set apart from other artwork out there, even from similar work. Literally, what do you want to "say" to achieve to communicate to discover through your art? That’s your voice.
So in this light, you can think of your voice as your creative calling card, your unique artistic fingerprint, your soul’s maker’s mark, your heart’s signature. It’s your guide, your inner mentor (not critic!), the light you follow in all your work, regardless of its media or nature. Sure, it amalgamates your style, life experience, technical prowess, and revelations you’ve learned along the way, but it’s also so much more than that — it’s you, distilled, into a form of communication and connection. Our job as an artist then isn’t to judge our voice, but to discover it, cultivate it, and protect it, and above all, to use it enthusiastically, to share it with the world. That’s the great quest we’re tasked with by the universe.
Now it should be mentioned that in art, in particular, “voice” and “style” are often used interchangeably, and to some extent that’s true. However, not entirely — there’s a point where style ends and your voice still continues through such things as themes and narratives and convictions consistent in your work, and also in how your work evolves as you explore. So they really aren’t completely synonymous. Your voice is just so much more than simply your style.
How Do We Find Our Voice?
Here’s the thing, life tends to pummel us down to a point where we in inhibit, even bury our feelings and narratives to fit in, to make life easier, and to grease the social gears. We all have to get along, right? And likewise, art school can actually become a confining box all its own, filling our heads with baggage on what art “should” be, how our art “should” be, and all from someone else’s point of view. However, this is exactly the opposite of how we should be operating when it comes to our art. That's to say, to make great art, we first have to become vulnerable. “There is nothing more vulnerable than creativity,” said Brené Brown. And she goes onto share, ”Vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity. To create is to make something that has never existed before. There's nothing more vulnerable than that.”
But you have to feel safer to make yourself vulnerable, don’t you? To do that then, think about excavating your voice in private, on a personal journey rather than so publicly. You see, finding your voice is a highly personal endeavor, full of introspection, digging, gut instincts, intuition, and evaluation buried under a lot of doubt, baggage, insecurity, uncertainty, and sometimes quite a bit of pain. So give yourself the psychological space to safely explore your voice without judgment, pressure, or intrusion so that you can come to trust your own gut instincts with more conviction.
Because here’s the thing: Every artist has their own voice. It’s been there from the very beginning. In other words, we don’t create our own voices — we already have them, complete, perfect, powerful, and waiting to be put to work. So what you do is you discover, you find your voice and amplify it to increase its potency and empowerment. So no matter how hard you try, you cannot create a voice, or at least a true one, one that’s natural and authentic and bone fide. And why would you want to adopt a fake voice? With that comes a host of problems from disingenuous expression to dumbing yourself down to being a wannabe, and on and on with that sort of negative fallout. Why would you do that to yourself when speaking with your own voice feels so much better? When it creates your very best works? When it claims your identity so beautifully and clearly in the creative chaos out there? Absolutely, creating with their true voice is what a true artist does. Real artists seek to speak only with their own pure voices rather than dumb them down, rather than speaking in the voices of others, and rather than creating voiceless art altogether. They fully understand how empowered they become when they use their own voice and how that’s so very good for their art.
That said, when we’re a beginner, we typically don’t even hear our own voice as the voices of our hero artists are so much louder and awe-inspiring. We also have art rules speaking loudly along with trends and fads that fill our noggin full of noise. And not being aware of our own voice yet, we fall in love with all this noise, thinking that it’s what matters. Don’t we try to copy our creative heroes? Don’t we try to create work like theirs? Indeed, we wish we could be “as good as they are,” don’t we? With perhaps pangs of disillusionment and frustration when our work just doesn’t measure up? But oh, how we try! Over time, however, we can tire of copycatting while our own voice remains dormant and muffled. Maybe we even become frustrated with our own progress and chafe at the confines we feel around us. But that’s just it, isn’t it? That maddening feeling is your voice telling you, “Let me out!” It’s your guts telling you you’re on the wrong path! Because you already have the answer inside you, don’t you? It’s in your own voice chomping on the bit, simply waiting for you to get a darned clue.
So speaking to that, our art should come first from a place of love and, second, from a place of exploration, discovery, and third, a desire for connection and communication. And all of these are synced directly to your voice. So in order to wallow in all that good stuff more deliberately, you really need to find your voice and let it speak louder than all that noise out there. Because it wants to be heard and be expressed through you, it wants to be found just as much as you want to find it. So go looking!
But how do you do that? Well, you can try some tactics that will pull it forwards into your consciousness for you to ponder and foster. So first, accept that you already have a voice, one that is inherently perfect and complete. In other words, you don’t need to create a voice because that’s artificial and contrived, typically made up of the voices of others instead of ringing true to you. You simply have to find and tap into the voice your were born with, that’s already there, brilliant and potent.
Second, take note of those things you love and those things that you, well…not so much. What draws you? What repels you? Likewise, what do you love about the artworks of others? What do you dislike? What about horses inspires you so much? What upsets you about them? What do you find fascinating about the larger horseworld? What do you find problematic? And also think about what you’re neutral about — why are you neutral about those things? That’s a reflection of your voice, too. The point is to ask yourself very pointed, introspective questions about your motivations, subject matter, intuition, gut instincts, inspirations, avoidances, hurts and joys, and all that messy stuff. The deeper you go, the better, too, being absolutely honest with yourself. Avoid and displace nothing — get right to the heart of the matter. Your voice resides in the pure you, the you without all the baggage and fears and doubts, the you that shines brightest. Find that you inside of yourself and you’ll find your voice.
Then third, don’t try to be like other artists, especially your hero artists. They’re them and you’re you — keep that distinction clear and pure. Why? Because your voice is what sets your work apart and ultimately, it’s what makes your work distinctive, interesting, and desirable — and your voice is intrinsically quite different from that of other artists! Remember, it’s singular in all existence! But if you’re always listening to their noise, you’re going to miss the full potency of your own voice or pollute it outright. So quit with the grasping and longing to be like your heroes and instead, come to trust yourself and your own voice completely, coming to embrace and appreciate it for what it is rather than what you want it to be. Indeed, a true artist marches to the drum of their own voice, all the time. Keep the work of your heroes where it needs to be — as a motivational inspiration, not a fountainhead of style, voice, or substance.
Fourth, come to understand the fundamentals of your art to the point where it’s second nature, an artistic instinct. Learn the ropes, and learn them really well. Why? Because when you’re so focused on and futzing around with mastering the basics of making your art, your voice will have to struggle to get infused into it. It’s only through technical mastery of our media and tools that our voice can fully come forth, uninhibited and fully potent, with richer and more compelling traits. Your emotions and philosophies will flow into your work more easily from your voice, too, the more you grasp the nature of your materials. So as such, work to master the craft of arting to lay down a smooth pathway for your voice to flow out and into your artwork.
Fifth, embrace mistakes and missteps because they’re your pathway for learning and for learning about your voice. Indeed, experiment, push and stretch, take risks and test your boundaries. Truly, if you aren’t creating to a point where you feel like you’re about to fall off a cliff, you may not be stretching enough. And if you aren’t makings mistakes, in fact, you aren’t doing it right. Great art isn’t just great just because of its skills — those skills were earned through an amalgamation of experiments and errors that lead to deep learning. And it’s through all of this that your voice will learn to speak more clearly and you’ll learn to listen more closely. So work through those feelings of frustration or disappointment when you miss your mark and keep going. What you finally end up creating will probably be a more pure expression of your voice as well as a bump up in your skillset.
Sixth, play around with a lot of different media and tools, styles and methods, philosophies and subject matter, narratives and themes. Mix it all up, try things you’ve never tried before. Explore. Then when you encounter something you love or hate, make note of that, asking yourself why because that’s your voice speaking, that’s your voice with a creative reaction — listen. There’s this, too, your voice will remain constant no matter what you’re creating; it’s consistent. So when you try all these different things and there are consistencies between them, study those: That’s your voice peeking out around the edges. And you don’t need just one style of creating to produce a body of work. Many artists work in many different types of art. But the point is that your voice will be clear among it all, so look for those consistencies as they’re some pretty clear clues.
Seventh, think about creating an inspiration board of your own work. No no no — not others’ work, your own work. Pick those works you absolutely love, those you, well…wish were different, those you found to be surprising, and those you found to be a real challenge, those that came easily and those where you had to work harder…that sort of thing. Also study what appears most frequently in your work, what are some patterns and commonalities? What narratives are consistent? Be introspective and curious about what brought you joy and which didn’t, and why. Your voice is strengthened through experimentation and intention following your inspirations, your visions, and your intuition in a long game of creative development, and an inspiration board helps to organize all that into something more decipherable.
Eighth, make a lot of art. No, seriously — a lot of it. The more original art you make, the more opportunities your voice has to come through and for you to hear it. You also start to see and experience the consistencies more, and you’re able to pinpoint the common themes and narratives and styles clearer. Hopefully then you come to better appreciate the authentic nature of your voice in all this, too. See, it can be hard to hear your voice because you’re already immersed in it — you may not even realize it’s already speaking through your art. Like a fish can’t see the water it swims through and we can’t see the air we breathe, many artists can’t perceive their own voice when it’s right in front of them. But making a lot of original art will help you learn to tune into it a lot better since you’ll detect its vibration en masse when you amplify it with volume.
Ninth, consider when your creativity was hurt by commentary, criticism, or critique. When were you offended and why? Why would we revisit these painful moments? Because those are moments where your own voice was offended and injured, and those moments are therefore important to recognize as well if we want to pull forth our voice more completely. Indeed, what hurts you is as important as what gives you joy when it comes to identifying your voice.
Tenth, take classes and workshops. Exposing your voice to new learning environments not only improves your skillsets, but it actually helps your voice become more robust and clear. How so? Well, because you’re immersed in a situation full of different ideas, methods, and challenges and your voice will have to beef up, clarify, and bolster itself to navigate all that.
Eleventh, quit with the maniacal perfectionism. Now it’s fine to strive for perfection, but understand that you can never achieve it. Only Nature can create a perfect horse and we’re fallible human beings who’ll always fall short. But that’s okay! It’s in the striving where all the magic happens! And when we chase perfection, we can indeed find excellence and that’s more than enough. Just always remember that curiosity is the antidote to fear, and fear of imperfection is where perfectionism is usually born. So follow your curiosities, listen to your gut, and create with the acceptance of imperfection — do that and your voice will come to the fore much more readily.
Twelfth, create what comes naturally to you — don’t force things. Why? Because your voice will gravitate towards what comes naturally so follow those clues to your voice. On that note, give yourself permission to follow where your voice leads, no matter where that might be. Your job isn’t to judge it, but to embrace it regardless of its nature. Accept it for what it is, not how you think it should be. So in the spirit of curiosity and gratitude, celebrate your voice in all it’s esoteric novelty — it’s wholly yours, and yours alone for all time!
Thirteenth, contemplate your narratives and subject matter. Now we work in equine realism so our subject matter is already pretty focused. However, what do you find meaningful within this niche subject and in art, and in the horseworld itself? Repulsive? Important? Frivolous? Inspiring? Problematic? Amazing? It’s critical to know. Why? Because what you’re drawn to or driven from is a direct expression of your voice. And because our subject matter is influenced by our values, convictions, ethics and morality, what we think of as right or wrong as well as what we regard as beautiful, fascinating, and important or, conversely, horrible and deplorable, our voice participates in that to such a point, we can think of those things as direct manifestations of our voice. Indeed, all these reactions actually derive from our voice, so trace them right back to it to tease it forwards.
Fourteenth, consider your chosen media. What are the materials you use to create your work and how do you “speak” through them? How does your style and narratives emerge through your media — is that unique and distinctive, or derivative or too similar to others? Your voice will compel you to use your media in ways unique to you and the stronger the voice, the more recognizable your work will be as yours, even across media. That’s a good thing! The last thing you want to be doing is speaking with the voice of another, so discover how your voice manifests in your materials and amplify it.
Fifteenth, regard your own creative story, your own art-life experiences. Your voice is your superpower and when you’ve more fully developed it, your work is more influential and you are more creatively flexible to express your own point of view. And here’s the thing: Your art needs to connect with your audience. It has to have weight, meaning and depth that people can relate to in their hearts, souls, heads, and guts. And it’s your voice that can speak clearly to that, to open a direct channel of connection with the audience in a way that’s authentically and uniquely you.
Sixteenth, practice intuitive sketching. What’s this? Well, it’s doing sketches based entirely on your first impulses, your first gut instincts without corrections or second-guessing yourself. Your first thought is your best thought, and there’s no right or wrong result. But this helps you contact your buried voice, your deepest intuitions, and gives you permission to follow them. To do this, just grab a sketchbook then look into yourself and jot down whatever comes to mind immediately, in fact the first thing that comes to mind. And it doesn’t matter if what you do is good or bad, just get it down on paper and don’t judge it. Tune into your intuition, and do another and another. What are some common themes? What are the captured ideas — how do they speak to your sensibilities? How do these sketches make you feel and why? What would you like to see changed about them? What do you like about them? What did you feel as an idea came to mind? In other words, what you’re doing is finding the “shape” of your creative intuition, your artistic gut instincts because they are manifestations of your voice. Come to understand those a bit better and you come to grasp your voice all the more.
Seventeenth, think about these questions as you tease out your voice. At first, answer them as a first gut response — don’t overthink them. First impulse, that’s it. Then you can go back and ruminate on why you answered that way, and go deeper. But these questions will help formulate how you see the world, how you relate to your art, and how your voice is structured, so be honest in your answers, even painfully so…
- When and where were you happiest arting?
- Which artist do you admire most?
- What’s your favorite art style?
- What’s your all-time favorite piece of art?
- What do you love seeing in other equine art?
- What do you dislike seeing in other equine art?
- What in the horseworld do you find compelling?
- What in the horseworld do you find repulsive?
- What kind of equine art do you think is beyond your sensibilities?
- What kind of equine art do you think fits within your philosophies?
- What kind of equine art inspires you most?
- What inspires you to art in the first place?
- What is your favorite piece you’ve ever done?
- Which is your least favorite piece you’ve ever done?
- What would you consider a success in your art?
- What would you consider a failure in your art?
- What are some patterns of narrative or themes or philosophies you see in your work?
- What recurring techniques and media do you see in your work?
- What do you wish to see in equine art that you believe is missing?
- What do you think is a glut in the equine art market?
- What is your first memory of arting and how did you feel?
- How were you hurt by a criticism or comment?
- Did that change how you view your art and arting?
- What about horses drives you to portray them in art?
- Are there other subjects that inspire you similarly?
- What’s the most painful memory you have while arting? How did that affect your artwork?
- What’s the best memory you have while arting? How did that affect your artwork?
- What are some consistencies you’d like to produce in your art?
- What would you like to dump from your art or your skillset?
With those answers you can begin to pull at the strings of your voice and perhaps find the edges a bit better. But those are the kind of pointed, introspective questions you should be asking yourself if you hope to unbury it. In many ways then, in coming to understand your own voice, you come to understand yourself better as well. And make it a habit to ask yourselves introspective questions about your art and your creative experience from time to time. You may mind your answers evolve and change even, and that’s okay. As your voice evolves so do your creative sensibilities, and that’s a normal part of the artistic journey.
How Do We Cultivate Our Voice?
So now that we have a better grasp of our voice, how do we foster it, amplify it, and nurture it into full bloom? Well, the first thing is believe in the power, validity, and beauty of your voice. Also trust in the pathway of exploration and discovery you’re on to fully hear and better express your voice. Then you have to be pro-active, you have to participate in the process of expressing your voice. Your voice has only one conduit to vent through — you! So use it!
Also find your style and cultivate that to amplify your voice. Elements of your style can include your use of line and shape, your layering and blocking of color, your methods and aesthetics, your use of color, highlight, and shadow, the nature of your compositions and designs, your textures and finishes, your repeating imagery and narrative, and such. So find where you stand with such things and to find out if they’re naturally consistent in your work, and work to solidify them. And even if you do a lot of work across media or types of work, work to amplify your voice evenly among them so that it’s strong no matter what type of work you’re creating.
On that note, don’t be afraid to doodle, sketch, futz around with arting, and just generally play around with your art. Less pressured art play feeds your voice, too! Honestly, artistic playtime is tremendous fodder for your voice to grow so indulge it often. In fact, sometimes only certain aspects of your voice can be developed through art play so explore all the possibilities as often as you can.
How Do We Use Our Voice And Why Is That Important?
Ok, you’ve found your voice and have a pretty good handle on its nature. So how do you speak your truth? Well, if you’ve been honest with yourself excavating your voice, you voice will automatically be honest with you. Once that happens then, you simply have to create your artwork while always listening to your voice at the same time. It will speak to you very clearly if you remain open and responsive to it. The moment you try and make it into something its not, however, is the moment it will fight you. Your voice is absolutely an empowered energy, and it will proactively lash out if you don’t create honestly to it, if you don't honor it. How does that manifest? Well, it can often seem like a negative gut instinct, a nagging doubt, a persistent dread that will interfere with your arting to the point of maybe forcing you to switch gears or even put the piece down. It often looks like rethinking what you’re doing with the piece or arting altogether, sometimes in very deep, profound ways. A voice that’s warning you will also make arting more difficult, more full of doubts and confusions that plague your every decision. Listen. Always listen. Then fully follow the thoughts your voice is offering you in response to all this — it’s speaking to you with cautions and reservations about what your’re doing that are intended to save you from yourself.
On that note then, know that your voice has many settings: It can command you but it can also whisper, suggest, nudge, poke, and slap, too. So to use your voice you first must listen. Stop “talking” and listen. Be receptive to what your voice — those nagging little gut instincts — is telling you. What are they encouraging? What are they warning against? What are they questioning? Where is your voice driving your intentions and sprouting inspirations? What is it driving you away from? Why are you so fascinated by xyz? Pay attention.
There’s also this: Your voice can evolve and change, picking new directions or narratives or styles either completely or on the side. That’s normal on an artistic journey so let it happen. See, it’s your voice that changes then your artistic sensibilities, not the other way around. So if you find your work evolving or you’re choosing new directions in your work, it’s because your voice is evolving and changing — follow suit. Explore it all and find out the why’s of it because those hold some important clues about where your voice is now tracking.
So wrap it all up and how we use our voice is simply this: Honor it at all times by listening to it. Indeed, each of your pieces should be an expression of your voice and no other’s. It should be apparent throughout your body of work so that your work is distinctly and identifiably yours and aligned with what you have to say. And using your voice consistently is important, too, very important. Indeed, it makes your work distinctive from all the other artworks out there in the vast sea of art. That’s critical not only for your sense of meaning and satisfaction in your work, but also for its collectibility and novelty that helps it perform well in the market. In this, your voice helps people connect with your work in a deeply meaningful way and that improves the chances of them becoming a collector of your work. As such, using your voice literally helps to sustain your artistic career by amplifying the novelty, collectibility, and depth of your portfolio. Indeed, the stronger the voice, the more robust and sustained sales tend to be as demand increases for such novel, meaningful, enticing art. Really, if someone wanted homogeneity, they’d buy a paint-by-numbers piece, wouldn’t they? But nope! They want novelty and recognizable artistry to add flavor to their own art experience and collection. So let your voice give it to them!
But it’s not just about career success. More importantly, using your voice is in part what creating art is all about! Making that connection with others through your art is a form of communication, of expression, and an act of great vulnerability and hope. And it’s your voice that carries your message, speaking to each viewer in a direct, novel way. If you want to connect with people — if you want your art to connect with people — using your voice confidently and effectively is key.
And when the going gets tough, your voice gets going! That’s to say we all have days where we struggle with our art. Everything we touch is garbage and we end up frustrated and maybe confused and disillusioned. But every journey has chaotic, messy trails from time to time. Sometimes that’s just the way it is, and that’s okay. The trick is to not stop, but to trust in your voice and keep going. Your voice will sustain you! And working through these messy, troublesome periods will cause your voice to strengthen and become even more empowered because you have to lean into it more to drive yourself forwards. Indeed, sometimes it’s our voice alone that keeps us going through these ugly stages in our development!
Similarly, if you heartily embrace and use your voice in your art, you’ll find much deeper satisfaction, finding more meaning and depth to your efforts and expressions. Your art also gains direction, purpose, and authority along with a lot more truth and authenticity, and that means one thing: Creating art will take on a whole new meaning for you, much more crammed with all the good stuff arting has to offer you. If that isn’t the best reason to use your voice, I don’t know what is!
Tips When Considering Your Voice
So what are some leg-ups when it comes to identifying and using our voice? How can we best protect it and put it to good use? Well, first of all, ignore fads and trends. Who cares! Follow your own drumbeat as that lends your portfolio a lot more authority and power. Speak your own truth all the time. Plus, when you chase after trends and fads, you tend to compromise, even sacrifice your voice, don’t you? You’re speaking in another language that’s not your own which almost always results in inferior work. Indeed, all your best work will derive from your pure voice and not from getting trapped by a fad or trend. Also consider this: If you chase after people’s validation, making only work you think your followers or trends will best like, you’re dumbing down your voice and so you’re dumbing down your work, aren’t you? Instead, creating with 100% authenticity to your voice will result in timeless, better work, it’ll keep you more engaged in your work, and it’ll also increase the likelihood that your art will stand out as novel and distinctive, especially in the long game. And in a sea of dumbed-down sameness of art out there, isn't it the works that are most different the ones that seem more truthful, more powerful, more authentic with more traction and specialness? It’s because they actually are.
Follow where your voice leads, not the other way around. As artists, we’ll always be striving for more in our work whether it’s improvement, new creative expressions, new challenges, expressing new ideas or what have you. Your voice will always draw you forwards and compel you to keep striding ahead boldly and freely, so follow it like a dog chasing a ball. This ongoing, lovely dynamic not only keeps your work fresh and fascinating, but it keeps your voice energized and full of heart and depth.
Your voice is best served by coming to your work more interested in the magic that happens with you immerse your motivations in curiosity and openness with a yen to challenge yourself and problem solve. So meet the challenges and solve the problems in front of you with your piece, experimenting playfully and exploring without fear, hopefully creating something you can be satisfied with. In other words, don’t worry so much about “using your voice” — that’ll just happen if you’re creating honestly. Just work the problem in your best, most authentic effort, and your voice will come through naturally and more strongly. And this works with just one piece or across a portfolio — in fact, it works better when you create a volume of work. Really, the more work you create like this, the more you reap the benefits for your voice. So if you don’t think your voice is strong enough, try this approach to strengthen it. Don’t think about it so much — let it just carry you through the process. Stop overthinking it and just create ever more art.
Never copycat the work of others! Instead, simply be loosely inspired by them, let them motivate you into action, not into duplication. Let them compel you to generate your own original ideas derived from your own unique voice. And it comes down to this: You really do need to ignore what other artists are doing and listen only to your own voice. This not only guards against copycatting, but it also avoids conformity and homogenization. Because the truth is that if someone cannot discern your work as yours from that of another, what actually makes your work so special and collectible?
Now we do work within a rather clinical, technically-based art form — equine realism — that puts conditions on our creative endeavors that our voice must follow. But that’s okay! There’s still plenty of room for our voice to grow and stretch, and there’s still a ton of room for all kinds of voices even in our highly technical, corralling art form. But if you notice, our art form is expanding, isn’t it? It’s pushing the boundaries of realism in wonderful new ways as artists test the breadth of their voices. Isn’t that wonderful? The point is: Even in our confining art form, there’s still lots of room for your voice, so never be afraid to use it liberally and enthusiastically! So darn the torpedoes and full steam ahead!
Along those lines, think about joining a challenge in our art form. For instance, NaMoPaiMo in February is a tremendous opportunity for this. Why? Because joining a challenge and exploring your work in a sea of others is a great way to develop your own voice. You’re simply going to take the challenge and make it your own, aren’t you? You’ll see how you interpret things differently from everyone else by bringing in your own style and materials you use, your own distinctive techniques, the narratives you employ, and your subject matter and edits, and that will help you grab the tail of your voice all the easier. Truly, a challenge like this can help you find aspects of your voice you didn’t even know about before!
But above all, know this: Your magic is your own and so you don’t need the magic of another artist. Sure, we all have our hero artists, those artists whose work we so admire. We may even compare our work to theirs, wishing we were as skilled and talented as they were, longing for their special touch in our own work. But the thing is, your magic — your voice — is just as special, just as valid, just as important, and just as meaningful as theirs. You just don’t see that yet. So instead of fixating on the magic you just don’t seem to have, instead celebrate the magic you do have — your own! It’s yours, and yours alone, in all existence throughout space and time. And it’s expressed through your voice, so every time you use it, you're practicing a very real kind of artistic self-care. In this, you’re valuing yourself and your art as the top priority which is exactly the attitude you need to create your best work. So refocus your admiration back onto your own magic — embrace it, use it, cherish it — and your voice will inevitably come through loud and strong.
Conclusion
Your voice is precious and worthy of care and nurturing. In this, the creative excitement you feel when you create each new piece can help you connect with your voice again and again, giving it the opportunity to expand and deepen. There from the beginning, its vibration will permeate your work the more you sync with it. So listen to it, give yourself permission to go where it leads, proactively engage it, and follow your artistic intuition to more fully express it. Your voice is who you are as an artist — it’s an expression of what you’re all about. And while it can be hard to know where a narrative will take your work, by freely following your voice, you can tap into more of your vulnerability to excavate more authenticity from your creative drives, leading to stronger, more compelling art.
Your voice is also your most potent, permeated form of artistic branding in a sense. Absolutely, if someone can identify you as the creator of a piece simply by looking at it, your voice is pretty much on point. In this way, it’s your best form of advertising, too, as it gets out there and speaks for you in ways only it can. What’s more, your voice is your legacy that will speak for you well into the future. So let that message be clear, powerful, unique, and splendid! Put it to good work and let it be your time capsule you send into the future.
More still, when you’re celebrating your voice rather than dampening it, you’re doing justice not only to yourself and your art, but also to your collector. Indeed, there’s nothing a savvy collector loves more than a distinctive piece they fall in love with, and it’s only through using your voice that you achieve this happy outcome. Real collectors appreciate the artistic voice immensely, they see the value and the power of it. In fact, many gravitate most towards the work that most appeals to them on this level. So if you want to develop a fan base, speak first and last with your clear voice and those who are charmed will flock to your studio in droves.
Most of all, however, your voice is key for a more fulfilling creative experience. When you come to better understand the nature of your arting, when you’ve fully embraced the specialness of your voice, creating your art takes on a whole new meaning and depth that comes no other way. You come to appreciate your own magic so much more and stop with all the comparisons and lamenting you may have indulged previously. You hold your creative head up just that much higher, prouder and more confident in your arting and being so, your work is empowered and more potent, speaking so well of your efforts and intentions. So use your voice! Whatever it is, use it! It’s your single most powerful advantage in the market, in your career, and in your own personal experience. Truly, when you celebrate your wonderful voice, you’re staking your claim and confidently planting your flag, “This is me, this is who I am, this is what my art is about and this is what I have to say.” You’ll find a new center point, a new kind of composure that comes no other way, and through it, you’ll create your very best work. So get to it — let’s hear your voice, loud and clear! Louder for those in back! You have the stage, now let’s hear it! Here's your bullhorn...now let ‘er rip!
“Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.”
– Stella Adler
Your Voice: What Makes Your Art Special
