I’ve been practicing drawing women’s faces for a couple of weeks now. I think I’m getting better but I keep asking myself, “How do I find my style?” I know I want to draw in a Manga-American hybrid style but I really don’t know what that would look like. Moreover, I know that the central theme of my comic is forgiveness. What kind of style does that one have??!!?? I mean really? How does a person find a style? How do you know how to draw?
The truth is that you will develop your style the more you draw. It will come to you naturally. For example, I’ve always drawn characters with big heads and little bodies so chibi was a natural style to gravitate towards. Even before I knew there was a name for it, I was drawing in that type of style.
But what about my comic book style? I need to make my characters look believable and semi-realistic. I’m also shooting for a more minimalist approach. I want to add the shading and the values to the faces using color gradients and shapes more than lines to define the nose, cheeks, and chin. As I’m drawing (and practicing) I’m watching my use of lines around the eye and nose areas.
Natural Progression
As you continue to draw more regularly, a style will indeed evolve. It does so my osmosis! So even though you may feel like you DON’T want to practice, do it anyway. Break the time up into chunks and work on different aspects of your drawing to keep things fresh. For example, practicing gesture drawing, and then spheres and cones building of the form, and then shading would break up a comic book character drawing session.
As for me and my practicing, I’m drawing the eyes more comfortably and using a more almond-shape to them. In all the books that I’ve been researching, they suggest this look for that sexy, sultry, femme-fatale look I’m going for in my anti-heroine.
This is an inked practice pic I did just below. Have I found my style yet? No, but I’m getting more comfortable. In fact, the next evolution of my practicing is to: A) find my style by increasing frequency in drawing and B) draw a style sheet for my character once I feel comfortable with how I draw women.
As you practice keep setting new goals for yourself to keep things fresh. 
I’ve been researching different artists’ styles that I really like. I’m not going to copy their style or anything like that because they’ve already done it and I can’t do it any better than they already did! Does that make sense?
Instead, I’m going to find things that I like about the way they draw and incorporate it into my drawing to make it my own. The two examples in this post were made using magazines as reference material. I’m going to try combination drawing: both from my head and reference, so I get less dependent on reference material and can draw “my style” of women on my own.
What I Need to Do Next
- Keep practicing, increasing frequency
- Research other artists’ styles
- Try to develop my own style
- Draw a character sheet
Remember, your style will come to you naturally, don’t force it. Keep practicing and trying new things and gradually, you WILL develop your style.
Vanquish Studio 
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