How to Combine Clean with Messy: Figure out Your Art Style

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

Do you like certain works of art that are very clean, such as that of M.C. Escher? Maybe you like the works of Jenny Saville instead that are a bit looser. In this quick read, I will be going over my process and how I combine these two styles; maybe this will jumpstart some ideas for you.

If you go to the landing page on my website, you will notice that the painting below pops up. This is a piece that I am very proud of and took me a few days to complete; I also think that this piece is a perfect combination of messy and clean mark making.

Let's get into it!

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1. I Start With Messy Brushstrokes

This was the beginning to the painting I presented in the intro, and painting messy is something that is very freeing. Simply move your paint across paper or canvas; there does not have to be a rhyme or reason to it.

The only thing I would be concerned about is your pace: I recommend is to move your brush quickly. The slower that you move your brush, the more time you have to think about what you're doing, and the goal is not to think.

Something that is done carelessly gives you that messy effect. This is also a perfect underpainting to start layering cleaner images overtop.

2. I Make Only Certain Parts Detailed

You may notice that in certain areas of this painting/drawing, I have very detailed parts that are drawn slowly; this includes the face and a stomach. You will also notice that next to these two areas are repetitions of the same forms just with much less detail.

I use simple lines to show the general shape of an object or form and then leave it. This helps do three things: push my concept, create an interesting visual, and let the messiness of the underpainting show through.

If I let everything be detailed, there wouldn't be as much of a visual balance, and I would be cancelling out too much of the messiness.

2. I Jumble Images Together

Part of what brings back the messiness is putting images right next to each other that would not be there in reality. For example, the angles of the stomach would not be next to the head like that, and a human back would not be laying on 2x4's like that.

Every one of my lines and aspects of my mark making with pencil is clean; however, I bring the messiness back into it by overlapping images. This looks like chaos with relaxation at the same time, and that is the goal.

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And that wraps up my process! I hope the images helped in order to actually see a visual, and I hope that perhaps this gave you some inspiration to figure out your art style.

Let me know what you think in the comments; is this art style interesting? Are there other art styles that you think are interesting when combined?

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