Going bananas for art styles!
If you are looking to expand your range as an artist, experimenting with visual styles is one of the best ways to do this. When artist Danna Feintuch discovered our 30 Art Styles challenge, she decided she’d commit to creating all thirty using bananas as her subject!
As a fellow banana-lover, I was beyond impressed with Danna’s artwork. She has done a phenomenal job interpreting the different art styles with her own artistic flair. I reached out to Danna to see if she would share her art with us and a little insight into her process.
The 30 Art Styles article and tutorials were a part of our larger Making Art Everyday challenge: a series of drawing prompts, tutorials, and motivation to help you establish a daily art-making practice. In March of 2020, to help participants push themselves creatively, we implored them to explore different Art Styles as they worked their way through the month’s prompts.
Danna Feintuch is a sound mixer by trade, but her real passion is creating art. She tries to draw every day, whether it is a portrait, an urban sketch, or a caricature. Danna says, “I’ve always loved to draw and even went to college for art, but I didn’t take it seriously until about 6 years ago. I started to try to draw every chance I could get.”
Q: What inspired you to do this series?
A: With having the extra time of quarantine, I really wanted a project. I was intrigued by the challenge created by Bardot Brush. I love trying new styles, and this list got me exploring ideas I would have never thought to try.
Q: Why bananas?
A: I chose bananas because I thought they were simple enough to build upon for each style. Also who could resist a project called Danna’s Bananas. (My first instinct was to try a self portrait for each style but I knew I’d be too critical of myself. I might try that idea next.)
Q: Which styles were the most fun? The most challenging? Which are your favorites?
A: I really enjoyed the Realism banana, which was the one I was dreading the most. I kept trying to draw a realistic banana, and I felt I kept failing, so I decided to try a new direction, and it’s now one of my favorites. I’m glad I didn’t give up. I also liked creating the Comic strip. I’ve never attempted anything like that, and it was so cool to think in different shapes, angles, contrasts with a cohesive color palette.
Q: Did you use any Bardot Brush sets to great these pieces? If so, which ones?
A: I used the Bardot Brush Pixel Art brush set for the Pixel banana. It made it so much easier to create the pixel art than having to measure out a grid and worry about being so precise. I also used my favorite brush set, the Gouache brush set, for a lot of the Cubism banana. I use this brush set for a lot of my other art. It has so many great textures!! I highly recommend it!
Q: Do you have any helpful Procreate tips you can share?
A: Always erase with the same tool you’re drawing with for a consistent look. I also like the Previous Color shortcut of holding your finger down on the color swatch in the corner.
Looking for more Procreate tips? Check this out: 30 Procreate Gestures & Shortcuts
Q: What inspires you?
A: Other artists inspire me so much!! Seeing their work, progress and different styles motivates me to try to improve myself. I find I create more when I have people to draw with and also to share it with.
Q: What have you learned from completing this series?
A: I learned that there are so many different and amazing ways to create art. It was interesting to see which ones I put a lot of energy into and which ones I just sped through. And it wasn’t the ones that I thought they would be.
Danna says, “There were several pieces that surprised me with how well they came out. I just let the ideas flow and gathered a lot of inspiration from the Pinterest boards set up by Lisa.”
She goes on to add, “I’m so grateful to have art in my life. I regret not starting sooner. I always thought whenever I drew it had to end up being a masterpiece but the real lesson is just to start. Don’t treat your paper like gold. Not overthinking and just letting it flow is something I’ve learned and hope you can do the same.”
Thank you for sharing, Danna!
Thank you for making great tutorials for free!
Thank you for showcasing Danna’s work!