if this post gets 10000000 likes i will add cowboy velociraptor as a character in the comic

Some people already know, but the project I've been on for the past year finally wrapped up, so I'm back on the market for full-time and freelance work! I'm particularly interested in visual development, background design/painting, and character design opportunities in TV and feature animation, but if you know a different position that would fit my skill-set, please don't hesitate to give me a shout! You can find my work at allisonperryart.com If not, any signal-boosting would be appreciated... wish me luck in the next phase of my professional journey!

Answer: Thanks. Really, my stylistic decisions ultimately come down to professional pragmatism. If I'm working on a personal project, I select a style based on the intention of the project or the imagined market of that project. If I'm creating work or putting together work for a job application, I make sure the style of that work is as close to that studio's style as possible. Having lots of different styles in my portfolio to choose from makes constructing portfolios for different studios/job postings easier. Ultimately, I think your question is just a more specific form of the age-old question, "is it better to develop specialized skills or generalized skills?" I don't think there's a definitive answer to that because, firstly, there's not definitive definition of "success" and, secondly, "success" is to some degree random. Rather, I think it's good to just make informed decisions about your goals and how your actions relate to those goals. If your goal is to build a strong online following as an illustrator with a recognizable style (like Loish, for example), having a consistent style is a must; however, if your goal is to work as a character designer/concept artist/visual development artist/etc. in animation, showing range demonstrates adaptability. This isn't to say you can't get those kinds of jobs with a consistent, singular style, but it can certainly be more challenging if that singular style isn't a match with a specific show/project/film/etc. Even if it is a match, there's no guarantee that position will go to you because for one show/project/film, there aren’t that many of those types of jobs to begin with and chances are you're not the only person that can draw in the style of the show/project/film/etc. And honestly, even if you do land that job, what do you do after the show/project/film is over? There are very few franchises that span decades, and oftentimes job contracts only last for the duration of a show/season/film development/etc., so after that you’re left with an extremely specific skill set that has lost its relevance and nothing else. Personally, I see style adaptability and range as putting the odds in your favour when looking for work, particularly early on in your career, since there's simply more potential positions open to you when you can work in any style competently (as opposed to expertly working a singular style). You could compare it to the old saying "putting your eggs all in one basket" - sometimes that can work out, but in my opinion, it's a high risk/high reward gamble, and I'm a very risk-averse person. In short, my advice would be to first identify what it is you want to do and then figure out how to go about it - asking “what should my style be?” is kind of putting the carriage before the horse.

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