[exo13]

Hey all.

I know that this may sound like a stupid question that there will be alot of people who will respond saying, "my inspirations are too numerous for me to list." But I was wondering, who are the artists who actually, truley and profoundly inspired you to get to where you are now. I mean, a person who instills a sense of hopelessness about your own skills when you try to compare yourself to him or her, and at the same time, makes you want to try that much harder (I'm not saying that any of you are bad, I'm just saying that if you're in anyway like me, you're never satysfied and become discouraged). You know what I mean.

For me, I'd have to say that H. R. Giger, is my main influence. After seeing any of the alien movies even once, it's hard for his visuals not to impress themselves on you. And even when you look at his work that has no relation to anything cinematic, you have to notice not only a sense of detail but inspiration that comes from the gut (sometimes literally).

Anyway, I look forward to your responses, however odd they may be.

[Jezebel]

I gotta say the person who influenced me and really got me into art was Ben Sherai. He was my older brother's best friend growing up and I always thought he was so cool. He would do really nice sketches and illustrations and I constantly found myself trying to redraw them. I guess it kinda stuck

[Lunatique]

Too many to list.

Even if I narrow it down, I still can't get it down to just ONE guy. I mean, you do art for so many years, you are BOUND to have more than one hero.

Here's the absolute shortest list I can come up with:

John Singer Sargent(master painter, second to none.)

J W Waterhouse(Love the romance in his work.)

Jaime Hernandez(learned how to spot black and simplify the figure from this guy.)

Jon J Muth(best fine-artsy comic book illustrator)

Michael Whelan(best in sci-fi/fantasy illustration. No one is more dedicated and professional than this guy.)

Richard schmid(I've never seen more amazing technique than this guy. He's the Sargent of our age.)

Craig Mullins(Do I have to say it? Before seeing his work, I had NO idea how far you can take photoshop. He truely opened all of our eys.)

[BlackPool]

For Drawing I would half to say Michelangelo Buonarroti and John Buscema

Painting it would half to be Peter Ellingshaw and my friend Paul Chang who has been helphing me out tremedously with my painting.

Concepts would half to be Ralph McQuarrie

[Ahcri]

For me, there are also too many to list. But if I narrow it down, it'll have to be Joan Miro for my abstract art, and H.R. Giger and Ashley Woods for realistic art.

[adigra]

I actually can definitely state one person that has had an undoubted impact on my art and subsequently my entire life. That person is Jean "Moebius" Giraud, a French illustrator, designer, futurist, etc... He is awesome and I suggest looking some of his work up if you aren't familiar with it.

Another artist whose art has been a tremendous inspiration is Alphonse Mucha "the father" of art nouveau.

[exo13]

If I was to be a little more broad in terms of inspiration. I could certailnly list my share. I've been drawing since the age of 2, my parents tell me at least. Mostly dinosaur and Seseme Street related (I'm not ashamed). Since my first real enthusiasm for art came when I was in elementary school, I'd have to start with the comic greats, although I only started appriciating the actual artists some time after that.

Killian Plunket, Cam Kennedy, Ricardo Delgado, Jon Bolton and Den Beauvais would have to be the ones who grabbed my attension then. In fact, it's because of comic books that my drawing skills are as developed as they are now (I hope that's a good thing).

After that, I began noticing concept artists. Nilo Rodis-Jamero, Mark "Crash" McCreery, Doug Chiang, H. R. Giger and so on. I'd say that when I get a career in the art business, it'd most likely be as a concept artist.

Now really, My inspiration come from every corner of the net. There are tons of digital artists whose work serves as great learning and inspirational material. Craig Mullins is deffinitely at the top of that list. Since a lot of the artists I'm talking about are members of this forum, I'm not going to name names in case I forget someone.

[Fafnir]

uhm, i would have to say...*points to the sijun.com forums* and everyone there

[exo13]

quote

Quote:

uhm, i would have to say...*points to the sijun.com forums* and everyone there

Aww

[burn0ut]

alantew craigmullins frazetta Liquid! and others.

[Blitz]

MMM....Insparation.

Lets start
I have what I call my outloud list. These are the artist that when asked this question I name. They are some of my fave but have alot of inspartion in my work.

First.
Yoshitaka Amano: I love this mans stuff. Absolutly great. I look at alot of his stuff and think, I could do that, BUT I cant. His lines, paterns, and the way he paints is so nice to look at. He is TRUELY in a world of his own.

Brian Froud: I have loved Brian Frouds work from the moment I saw it. His love of Fairy lore has inspiered me to look into it and I found a vast world of creaturs and characters. He has a vast amount of charm in his work and I love his small pencil Doodles.

Toni Diterlizzi: This guy is one of Two artest I have RECENTLY stumbled apon that have just STRUCK me and I love his stuff. He has great emotional and comical feel to alot of his drawings. Everyone seems to be kind of happy in his art and you can deffenetly get a since of his personality through his artwork.

Mike May: Mike Is the Second of the two artist I have recently discovered. I cant remember exacly how I stumbled apon his site but it was a good day that day after I did find it. Mikes work is simple insparational. I saw a bit of the direction I wanted to go in, in Mikes work. He has a unique style that never tires out. Ontop of Mike being one of my insparations, I get the chance to talk to him through the internet, which in turn realy makes him more of an insparation. To be able to go into a field of work where one of your favoret artist you can talk to. That is wonderfull I think.

So those are a few of my faves.
others
Alan Lee
Brothers Hildabrant (spell)

[micke]

-Moebius(My all around best favorite artist)
-Brian Bolland(Great details and ink-style)
-Juan Gimenez(His designs is simply amazing. From costumes to scenarios)
-Joe Johnston(I like his lines and design)
-Mucha(fantastic with shapes, colours and designs)
-Schiele(warped but still fantastic shapes)
-Mike McMahon(Dunno why..His style is very clumsy, but i still like it somehow.

I'm sure there are others, but i can't really think of any more right now.

[avaj]

Frank Miller
H R Giger
Kari L�ppinen
Hans Lindahl
Danny Geurtsen
My father
J M W Turner

[gekitsu]

umm...

masamune shirow (greatest manga-artist ever)
kenichi sonoda (i learned, how much motion can be in one line)
salvador dali (always be strange)

and lots of others

[exo13]

This may sound strange but how'bout Tim Burton? His movies are alway kind of sureal and dark. Sleepy Hollow, Batman, Planet of the Apes etc. Imagine if he was chosen to direct an alien movie!

[ July 18, 2001: Message edited by: exo13 ]

[Jabberwocky]

My grandfather has to be mine. I never met him (he died when my mother was 5). All I have of him is a lot of his art work and pictures, and what little stories whats left of my family has. We lost 5 of his siblings this year. But he won 3 gold keys (one of the highest honors in High school art) by the time he wa my age... I've only recieved 2.

But since him there have been tons more. Michael Whalen, Norman Rockwell, A lot of the people on here and sites to people who are posted on here...

[hwei]

Amano (gah! watercolours! conceptual! gah!)

Matt Rhodes' comic-serious character work and backgrounds.

Min Rho's realism-anime.

Linda Bergkvist.

Eric Lofgren's amazing, painstaking, incredibly detailed ink work.

John Brouillet and his atmospheres, all of them.

[AJ]

My earliest influence would have to have been Ron Cobb. Conceptual Artist and Designer for such films as Alien, Star Wars, Conan and many other classic fantasy films.

The minute I saw his work as a small lad, I wanted to be a Concept Artist.

[ July 20, 2001: Message edited by: AJ ]

[Briareos]

Sensei Masamune Shirow.

There can only be one.......

(Craig Mullins and Leonardo da Vinci would come in second).

[ July 20, 2001: Message edited by: Briareos ]

[burn0ut]

oh shiet awesome, micke, that Juan Gimenez guy you mentioned is really great. i can see simularities in your work. nice stuff.

[jr]

ok, i have a few minutes, so i might as well list as many as i can.
my favorites are; max ginsburg, steven assael (my teachers), sargent, schmid, david lavine, odd nerdrum, iain mccaig, craig mullin (ofcourse), boris and dorian vallejo, justin sweet, frank frazetta, travis charest, rembrandt, the japanese comic "blame" i dont' know the dude's name but if anyone can tell me it would be much apreciated, carlos rosado and a girl named yat (she's my favorite artist right now) if you dont' know any of these guys, i'd be glad to tell you who they are.

and pretty much any piece of art that made me stop and squint at.

[jasonN]

I have heaps, but I must say, when I first stumbled upon Dhabih's site, it was life changing. hehe. It opened up a whole new world for me.

[Lunatique]

jr-- Holy COW! Assael was your teacher! I love his fantasy illustrations. I called him up once to discuss the posibility of publishing his artbook. He sent me a bunch of stuff and I was so happy. What was it like studying with him?

Blame is by Nihei Tsutomu.

I couldn't find any work by Yat, david lavine, and max ginsburg. Help?

[ July 21, 2001: Message edited by: Lunatique ]

[jr]

steve is still my teacher. he's an amazing guy, he's very humble, (probably the best painter in the world) a book on his drawings came out last year, you could probably pick up a copy in amazon.com for 30 bucks. you could check out my website to see the influence he and max ginsburg have on me. you could see max's book cover work on amazon.com he did the cover for the book friendship and alot of others. great painters!
this is david levine

yat is a pretty girl that goes to a rival art school. i adore her work.

[ July 21, 2001: Message edited by: jr ]

[Lunatique]

err... no link to your webby.

Pretty girl from a rival school, huh? Do I smell a crush?

[lilsis]

Well, I devote most of my creative focus on clothing design, and style... so I would have to say my inspiring icon was Madonna.. and still is.

[jr]

yeah luna, i'm glad you smelt what i was cooking....
here's my websitemy site

you know what i find funny guys? i hate to break into a tangent but someone just made me laugh out loud. in one of my posts i mentioned the awesome work of joy ang in someone else's thread and forgot to give a "comment" to that person's artwork, and he's all annoyed. ah enough of that it's difficult to slay the green eyed monster.
j.

[burn0ut]

yea i saw that post... o well