Have I got a style?

Look at the three pictures above this blog post on the home page and they should be (from L to R) “Sailing off Brownsea”, “Fight of the Kingfishers” and “Blue Wave”. I have painted these in just three short weeks and seeing them next to each other makes me think: “Do I have a style?”

My question is nothing to do with the categories they are in as many artists chop and change their subject matter according to inspiration or the time of year. I think my question is more to do with palette and actual style of painting.

There are a number of artists that I regularly follow on twitter or facebook and what I have noticed is that despite the subject matter their paintings always have a certain something. Either they use a very limited palette or there is a similarity in the amount of detail that they include. Which brings me to my paintings:

Blue Wave I painted using a painting knife, on canvas, in crazy colours (compared to the original inspiration) and let loose so that where the paint landed was really where I shaped the wave. I very deliberately call the original photo “inspiration” because the final article bears almost no relation. There was a freedom and an elation to the way I painted and I liked the use of sponge to give texture to the spray.

Fight of the kingfishers I painted using brushes, mainly fine ones once the background was complete. Some paint was applied thickly but still with flat surface so no texture left. The rest was applied almost as water colour with a slow build up of layers. Look closely and you can see faint pencil marks where the paint is thin to give the impression of movement. I got a lot of satisfaction out of painting this because the resulting beauty was so far greater than the effort I applied.

Sailing of Brownsea I painted on a bright red background using an impasto technique. All applied with painting knives on canvas and done deliberately quickly to capture the essential points. The end result is as I expected but most of my sense of achievement comes from nostalgia rather than because of any sense that I applied a complicated skill.

So what do you think? Can you see any similarities that are hidden from me because I am too close? Please leave a comment.