When someone looks at an illustration and says: “I want to copy this style,” what can they be referring to? The first thing that comes my mind would be the visual vocabulary present in the illustration. Vocabulary such as symbols, line, shape, color, & principles of proportion. That someone may also mean to imitate the tools and techniques used to create the illustration. Still others go further to match moods.

There are a vast variety of illustration styles out there. A formal & well-rounded education in illustration would introduce an artist to many of them. Me, I don’t have such an education. So for me, and others like me, we rely on further education - our own study. Take in what we see and even physically record what styles have inspired us.

This page (and its subpages) will be a resource of what I find about illustration style and my attempts to grasp what “style” really is - perhaps even categorize some things regarding it.