Style Study Session: Egon Schiele
How to Study an Artist’s Style
How do you study an art style? How do you learn a specific art style? How do you analyze art styles? How do you find your own unique style?
In this Style Study Session, we’ll use the six qualities of style to better understand Egon Schiele’s work and, more importantly, how you can apply these insights to your own art.
If YOU want to choose an artist for me to study (living or dead), be sure to comment their name below so I can feature them in a future Style Study Session!
Hey there! 👋 I’m Carrie. Here on Artist Strong, I help self-taught artists learn how to draw or paint anything they want. To date, thousands have joined the community.
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Now, let’s jump into today’s Style Study Session.
I mentioned at the beginning that we will use the 6 qualities of style to discuss the work, but how do you define style and what are these 6 qualities? I have a full video on that I’ve linked for you here and below, but let’s have a short primer:
What Defines an Artist’s Style?
Style is the unique way an artist shares their voice through their work. We often recognize an artist’s work at first glance because of their distinct style, but what exactly makes up an artist’s style?
There are six key qualities of style:
- Elements & Principles of Art
- Medium & Materials
- Genre
- Theme
- Influence
- Personal Experience
By analyzing these six qualities, we can uncover what makes an artist’s work unique and use this knowledge to develop our own artistic voice.
Let’s dive into Egon Schiele’s work through this lens.
Elements & Principles of Art
Schiele’s style is immediately recognizable due to his expressive, exaggerated figures, jagged lines, and emotionally raw compositions.
- Expressive Linework: His use of sharp, angular lines is one of his most defining characteristics. He often used quick, jagged strokes to create a sense of tension and movement in his figures.
- Distorted Forms: Schiele rejected traditional proportions, elongating limbs and exaggerating poses to convey psychological intensity.
- Emotive Color Palette: His use of color was bold but restrained; often favoring muted tones punctuated by rich reds, deep blacks, and earthy browns to enhance his figures’ expressive quality.
- Negative Space & Isolation: Many of his figures appear against stark, empty backgrounds, intensifying the sense of isolation and vulnerability.
- Asymmetry & Movement: His compositions often feel unstable, as if the figures are caught mid-motion, adding to their unsettling yet captivating quality.
Medium & Materials
Schiele’s work was defined by his mastery of drawing and painting techniques, often favoring immediacy over precision.
- Drawing & Works on Paper: He primarily worked in graphite, ink, and watercolor, using rapid, confident strokes to capture the human form.
- Oil Paint: When working in oils, he maintained his signature expressive style, applying paint with raw, visible brushstrokes.
- Gouache & Watercolor: These were used in many of his most famous works, often layering transparent washes with bold, defined contours.
- Paper as a Medium: He frequently left sections of the paper exposed, incorporating its tone into the composition as an active element.
Genre
Schiele’s work falls under Expressionism, a movement that prioritized emotional experience over realism. His artwork is deeply personal and psychologically charged.
- Figurative Art: His focus was on the human body: often nude, contorted, or in tense, dramatic poses.
- Portraiture: His portraits, especially self-portraits, are some of the most intimate and unsettling of his era.
- Symbolism & Allegory: Many of his works incorporate elements of death, decay, and existential angst.
Theme
Schiele’s work explores deeply personal and often controversial themes.
- The Human Condition: His figures appear fragile, vulnerable, and introspective, reflecting his fascination with human psychology.
- Eroticism & Desire: His nudes are raw and unfiltered, often exploring themes of sexuality, intimacy, and voyeurism.
- Mortality & Decay: Many of his works include themes of death, illness, and impermanence, heightened by his own short life (he died at just 28).
- Isolation & Identity: Many of his subjects, including himself, appear lost in thought, staring directly at the viewer or gazing into the void.
When studying an artist, remember to analyze not only their technical choices but also the themes and influences that shape their vision. Use the 6 qualities of style as a guide to discover how your own experiences and values can inform your creative practice.
This is the kind of thing I do inside Self-Taught to Self-Confident, where I guide people through filling in any gaps in their skill so they confidently express themselves through unique, original art. We have an entire section dedicated to developing an understanding of our own influences and how to make choices moving forward that reflect our unique vision and voice for our art.
👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 If that sounds exciting to you, you can learn more when you sign up for my workshop “How to Create Art from Your Imagination” for free. You’ll enjoy a taste of my teaching, learn more about the program, and get a special 7-day enrollment offer when you sign up. Use the link here or in the comments below.
Now let’s discuss Shiele’s influences.
Influence
Schiele was shaped by both his contemporaries and the larger artistic movements of his time.
- Gustav Klimt: As Schiele’s mentor, Klimt had a profound influence on his early work, particularly in the use of decorative elements and line quality.
- Expressionism: Schiele embraced the Expressionist movement’s focus on intense emotion and distortion of reality.
- Symbolism & Egon Schiele’s Unique Voice: While inspired by Symbolists, Schiele took the movement’s introspective themes and made them deeply personal and unsettling.
- Photography & Composition: He often composed his figures as if seen through a lens, cropping them dramatically or placing them in unusual angles.
Personal Experience
Schiele’s life was turbulent, and his work reflects his personal struggles.
- Psychological Struggles & Isolation: His self-portraits are some of the most psychologically revealing artworks you can find. He often depicted himself gaunt, haunted, and contorted, emphasizing his inner turmoil.
- Scandal & Censorship: His erotic works were controversial, and he was even arrested in 1912 on charges of public immorality due to his nude drawings.
- War & Mortality: His later works became darker and more reflective, influenced by the looming presence of World War I.
- Early Death & Legacy: Schiele died of the Spanish flu at age 28, just as he was gaining widespread recognition. His obsession with mortality is eerily prophetic in hindsight.
How to Apply This to Your Art
Want to bring some of Schiele’s raw, expressive quality into your own work? Here’s how:
- Experiment with Line and Gesture: Try using quick, expressive marks rather than smooth, controlled lines. Let emotion guide your hand.
- Embrace Imperfection: Instead of aiming for anatomical accuracy, distort and exaggerate figures to heighten their emotional impact.
- Use Negative Space Intentionally: Leave areas of your paper or canvas untouched to create a sense of isolation or tension.
- Explore Personal Themes: Schiele’s work was deeply autobiographical. What personal themes do you want to explore in your own art?
- Draw & Paint Freely: Schiele often created art rapidly, prioritizing expression over refinement. Give yourself permission to work quickly and intuitively.
Summary
Egon Schiele’s art is a powerful example of how personal experience, emotion, and technical skill can merge into a distinct artistic voice. His raw, unfiltered style, defined by expressive linework and intense psychological depth, continues to captivate artists and viewers alike.
Schiele is also a reminder that style evolves, he didn’t stick to one approach his entire life, yet his work always felt uniquely his. As you study different artists and incorporate their techniques into your own, your personal style will naturally emerge and refine itself.
Tell me → What’s one thing you’ve learned from Schiele that you might apply to your own art?
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