Signature Style Stories: 1 of 5

​(Click here to listen to an audio version of this email.)​

Hi Reader,

Welcome to Signature Style Stories — a series of 5 emails where I get to talk about something that I can often get on quite the soapbox about: signature style.

I believe a signature style can be the difference between you making money with your art and hearing nothing but crickets. But more importantly than that, I believe it can be the difference between feeling creatively stifled and absolutely loving the artwork pouring out of you.

Let us begin.

This is Story 1, and it's about my own journey. I'm sharing it because for a long time, finding my signature style felt completely out of reach. If you are someone who wants to develop your voice and are unsure and overwhelmed, this story is for you.

So... the thing is, to find your signature style, you have to make lots of artwork. But what if you are like past Genna, and making a lot of artwork is hard because you’re full of self-doubt and self-criticism? If that’s you, then the first thing you need to do is figure out how to make art even with all of the fear and overwhelm. Once you can do that, you are well on your way to finding your creative voice.

I used to let so much time go by without making art. And one day I had this huge lightbulb moment: the reason I kept stopping wasn't laziness. It was the icky feeling I got when I made something I didn't love. You probably know that feeling — where you finish something and immediately think ugh, this is terrible. And suddenly you don't want to draw again for a week.

That feeling was stopping me in my tracks every single time. So I thought: 'what do I need to do to keep going anyway? I need to be okay with making something I don’t love.' That’s when I wrote myself this permission slip:

“If you make something you don’t love, it was still good practice.”

It sounds simple. But that sentence completely changed my relationship with making art. I started making more art because I didn’t let that icky feeling get me down. If I felt icky, I just told myself it was time well spent (the truth!), and I kept it moving.

And when you make a lot more art, patterns start to emerge. You begin noticing what you like, and then, what you love. That's where your signature style begins to reveal itself.

If this resonates, I think you'll love my free guide Find Your Unique Creative Voice. Inside, I walk you through several of these tools I picked up on my journey to finding my signature style, so that hopefully you don't waste a whole bunch of time like I did. Your signature style already exists. You just need the right tools to bring it out.

​→ Grab the guide here​

In my next email: why your creative voice matters more than ever — especially in a world full of AI.

More soon,
Genna

P.S. If you'd like help uncovering your creative voice alongside other artists, I'd love to have you join Signature Style Week — my free 5-day workshop that starts April 13. Sign up here.​

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