The art of success? Try out lots of styles... then hit the big time

IF at first you don’t succeed... give up and try something else!

A study found artists and filmmakers who hit the big time dabbled in different areas before focusing on their niche and achieving success.

Vincent van Gogh spent four years creating realist paintings using watercolours before hitting his stride using oil paints to create his Impressionist pieces such as Sunflowers.

While movie director Peter Jackson made a puppet film and a comedy horror before turning to fantasy with his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Researchers from Northwestern University, Illinois, found artists were 20 per cent more likely to create their best-received work after experimenting in different areas.

And the study, published in Nature Communications, found directors were around 14 per cent more likely to have a run of hits. The scientists concluded the approach increases the odds of stumbling across a groundbreaking idea.