The Quest to Find My Artistic Voice

by Debbie Dodge

Long before I began my own artistic journey, I loved looking at art and visiting museums. All these years later, I can still recognize the works of certain artists by their unique artistic voice. Surfing through online colored pencil groups, I realize I can often identify a specific artist by their work as well. I began to wonder: Do I have a unique artistic voice?

In the Zone, 11" x 14," colored pencil. Reference photo my own incorporating reference of colored pencil shavings by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

Before I could answer that, I needed a better understanding of what artistic voice is. So, putting on my analyst hat, I did some research and arrived at what I hope is an accurate description: Artistic voice is the unique and distinctive signature of an artist that sets them apart from others. It is an amalgamation of the artist’s personal life experiences, perspectives, emotions, style, technical skills, and epiphanies, which form consistent, recognizable patterns. It evolves with the artist over time and cuts across all mediums. Unlike style or technique alone, which can be seen and duplicated, artistic voice conveys the inner emotional soul of the artist.

With that in mind, and prompted by a series of questions posed by professional Australian artist, tutor, and mentor Kate Jenvey, I decided an introspective review of my artwork was a good place to start my quest. Although spread across 34 years, I have a small body of work to date in either graphite or colored pencil, with most of the latter from tutorials. What could I possibly learn? As it turns out, quite a bit… about myself and my art.

“Then, hopefully, one day, like so many of the artists I admire,
my voice will be recognizable as well.”

After hours of review and contemplation, I had an epiphany. My father was a huge influence on my life. Among other things, an avid photographer, he took thousands of snapshots to document our travels and life during and after his military career. Family, people, nature, architecture, the ordinary day-to-day things around him. You name it, and he took pictures of it. My artwork mirrors that: snapshots in time, capturing life’s fleeting moments before they are gone.

Eagle Eye, 10” x 14”, colored pencil. Reference Photo by Les Liddle with permission from the FB Group Free Reference Animal Images for Artists

One of my earliest colored pencil drawings from 2023, “In the Zone,” strives to capture the quiet mindfulness of living in the moment, where time stands still when focused on a drawing. What started off as a simple challenge within Bonny Snowdon’s academy to draw a specific reference ended up as a visualization of my artistic journey. Rather than just copying the reference, I wanted to tell a visual story, to evoke that emotion. So, I set up a still life, incorporating the reference photo of colored pencil shavings as a focal point, adding new elements of sunlight shining through the window onto the desk, the colored pencils, and my own hand drawing the shavings in the reference.

History, science, and the natural world are a large part of my life. The ordinary and extraordinary things we share our world with. Past and present. When I see old documents, vintage items, or old buildings, I wonder about the people and events associated with them. I marvel at the diversity and majesty of the natural world. These topics are often the focus of my artwork.

In my portraits, I strive to create a connection and intimacy between the subject and the viewer. To make them care about it and its existence. This is particularly important to me, given the fragile nature of people, many ways of life, habitats, and species today. To date, much of my animal work, like this magnificent Golden Eagle from a photograph by Les Liddle, takes a macro view of the subject, with emphasis on the eye to help create that connection.

Bygone Days, 10” x 12”, mixed media – colored pencil, Micron Ink Pens, graphite

To close out 2025, I decided to challenge myself with my first solo landscape. I’d taken this photograph of an old building along the Mississippi River decades ago with the thought of drawing it one day. My lack of skills and knowledge of perspective had always held me back. I finally felt confident enough to try it. I experimented with using colored pencils, pen and ink, and exposed graphite to achieve the atmospheric look I was after, to emphasize the derelict nature of the building and old dead tree against the vibrant hues of autumn in the trees along the opposite riverbank.

So, the answer to the question is yes, I do have an artistic voice. Still in its embryonic stages, perhaps, but it is there. I just need to nurture it by building up my body of work through prioritization, practice, and continued development of my skills, style, and understanding of the fundamentals of art. Still early in my artistic journey, I’m not sure where I’ll end up. But as I grow as an artist, I want to continue to investigate life’s fleeting moments, past and present. To capture the natural world and life’s constant change, fragility, and interconnectedness. Then, hopefully, one day, like so many of the artists I admire, my voice will be recognizable as well.

Debbie Dodge

Debbie Dodge is a self-taught pencil artist, retired government imagery analyst, and retired military veteran. Her focus on colored pencils began in 2023, after an 18-year hiatus from art. A keen observer of life, her artwork is inspired by the natural world and the stories of ordinary, everyday things and people around us… past and present. Debbie relocated from Washington, DC, to the St. Louis, Missouri, area in 1994, where she resides with her husband, Doug, their Australian Shepherd, and cat.