More on Having an Identifiable Style

Following on my thoughts earlier this week about painting style, here's another artist who's got a very distinctive style, to help you get to grips with the concept. Once you’ve seen a handful of paintings by South African artist Richard Scott, whose work is characterized by the thick black lines, flat color, and white subjects, you’re unlikely to walk past another of his paintings without recognizing it as being by him. But it wasn’t a style reached by chance, but through deliberate consideration.

Scott says in his book: “In 2002, I played for a while to find the right medium, style, and use of color that would get my feelings across… I wanted to be unique. … I wanted to reproduce my thoughts through objects in the simplest, purest, and most colorful way. … I was passionate about being universal and not taking on a label. I steer clear of issues and focus on simplicity and color. I want people to enjoy my art on their walls, not spend hours trying to figure out the issue, meaning or hidden message.”

An interview published in Business Day says Scott paints in "a style that will make some people go, 'But my three year old could have painted that!'. To which the only possible answer is that they didn’t, and the world would be a better place if they did."

Another thing to note that characterizes Richard Scott’s paintings is the way he ‘signs’ his paintings. His ‘signature’ is stamped into acrylic impasto paste on the canvas before the painting is done. In his book he explains: “The thing I liked most about the signature was that is was not visible under the masses of flat color… The painting itself is the signature.”