matuska

oh gosh, im honored that you thought to ask me this. i often worry that my own style is an uncouth recreation of my influences, all mashed together.

the biggest thing that comes to mind is to give yourself lots of grace! its really difficult to 'see' your own style, shape language, and things that make your own markmaking special, in an unbiased way. so don't focus TOO hard on 'figuring out' your style or making it feel 'right'. it will always be evolving, as long as you're creating.

at the same time, its real to be concerned that you're aping an influence a little too closely- if this feels like an issue, my answer would be to look at real life references and do 'studies' (play!!). maybe some of your favorite subjects, animals, etc. fill pages with loose sketches, stretch and pull and play with the shapes of your subject in different ways. see what feels good!

i sometimes use photo/video refs when i'm worried that a character ref im working with is influencing a commission im working on Too Much. with this process, realism isnt the goal at all for me personally, but rather creating a little space between preexisting stylistic choices and my own. note that it can take time to unlearn even the frustrating parts of the shape language you're used to drawing, and thats okay!