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[Enrichment] Finding inspiration

IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
edited February 2015 in Art Assignments and Resources
Finding inspiration
>>Enrichment Directory<<

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Where do you get inspiration? What artists do you admire? Who do you follow on tumblr? What comics do you read?

That's right, its time to show of how thoughtful and interesting you are. More than that, its an exercise in reflecting on what makes you pursue this difficult and occasionally emotionally draining thing that we love to do. When was the last time you sat down and thought about your favorite artists? When was the last time you shared a piece with someone and actually tried to put in words why you liked it? By sharing inspiration, we not only spread the the enjoyment of different types of art, but we solidify and validate our own tastes.

Some Assignments you can do for this enrichment

-Post about artists you love. Link to their blogs, talk about why you like them.
You can help a friend out by linking to their blog, you can post about great masters, you can post about galleries in you area, whatever. I shouldn't have to tell you guys, but credit whatever you post to the appropriate artist and preferably provide a link to their work.

-Ask Questions
Dont be afraid to @ someone on the forum and ask them about their influences! Ask for names of artists in genres you'd like to know more about but haven't explored.



-ANSWER THIS QUESTIONNAIRE

1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?

2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there?

3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books?

4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time?

5) What type of art is totally perplexing to you, just inexplicably unappealing?


AS A REMINDER: While this thread is waiving some of the site whoring I tend to look out for, I need you to remember these things
DON'T
1: Link to your own shit in here
2: Post kickstarter links.
3: While I assume all tumblrs are somewhat NSFW, Dont link to any artists who's blogs are primarily porn. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

Do any of that, and I will nuke you into orbit. Otherwise, this is a sanctioned thread where "Only post your own work" is ignored.

Iruka on

Posts

  • JuggernutJuggernut Registered User regular
    edited June 2014
    Two big ones for me are Barry Windsor Smith (Only site I could really find with any of his stuff on one page) and Richey Beckett

    I think I took to the hatch/ink style because of my deep seeded fear of trying to use color. Both of theses guys pull off incredibly detailed stuff. Beckett tends to be more symmetrical in his designs which I dig for some reason. I'm by no means organized but I like order and symmetry in whatever it is I'm looking at. Kind of a weird dichotomy.

    The only downside is the sheer amount of time it takes to do anything in that style.

    Oh, I almost forgot Sara Pichelli!

    Juggernut on
  • sampangolinsampangolin Registered User regular
    This guy has a cool tumblr of artists who inspire him. The downside is he's been doing it a while so there are almost too many, and they get a bit lost.

    myartistinspiration.tumblr.com/

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited June 2014
    Alright, I guess I'll do my own thing, in hopes that it inspires folks to post.

    First, I'll post some friends/acquaintances:

    tumblr_mp0qzrruCO1rhhb5wo1_1280.jpg
    http://shantisart.tumblr.com/

    Shanti has more whimsy and and charm than should be allowed in one artist. Her work is warm and wonderful, and her talent and skill in combination with her giving personality is humbling.


    tumblr_n69kotZgaK1qhlmioo1_1280.jpg
    http://matthewdandy.tumblr.com/

    Matt is probably one of the most fastidious artists I've ever met, and because of that he has some of the highest quality photos. Seeing his prints in person calls to attention the level at which he cares about his craft, as I've never seen something hes framed with a ragged edged mat, or a dusty pane. He works at an auction house, which his tumblr shows a bunch of, but my favorite work of his is the texture focused and abstract landscapes.

    tumblr_msa518KPWO1rdfyt1o4_1280.png
    http://isaacland.tumblr.com/
    Isaac has that perfect combination of anime influence and unique, personal aesthetics that drive his art. There's something classic about his work, and once he puts a polish on something, the shapes feel solid and comfortable. If this guy ever got his hands on a team and made a game, I'm fairly sure it would be absolutely insane, and I hold out hope that I'll see that one day.

    tumblr_m5ox29obRk1r9uqkno1_1280.jpg
    http://zachillustration.tumblr.com/

    Zach has work that I adore (I'm biased, admittedly). Atmosphere and light are something that he can pull together out of nowhere. When He puts the time into a narrative piece, I'm always impressed by the composition and shape language. Even knowing the back story of some of his work, I enjoy the mysteries in his symbolism and environments. Hopefully, He'll have more time to do personal work.



    I'll also tackle my own questions:
    -ANSWER THIS QUESTIONNAIRE

    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?

    I'm actually not sure this applies to me, because I still have a lot of the same influences. I don't love Megatokyo anymore, for sure. Theres probably a fair amount of dead or should-be-dead webcomics that weighed a lot heavier on my mind back then. There was also about three years of WoW trolls.

    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there?

    Anyone who has a really great handle on caricature I admire. I'd love to imitate it, but I don't feel like I know how.

    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books?

    So the book shelf in the OP Belongs to Zach and I, thats about 40% of it, as the books are scattered on other shelves. I'm thinking of making my old laptop into a server for us to dump our reference folders. As much as I like tumblr, I'm still partial to saving images to a hard drive, and organizing them by subject matter.
    jsqn8vgjmt4y.png
    I'm working on pulling my favorites off of tumblr and into these folders, but its time consuming.

    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time?

    The easy answer is music, and for me its probably not as true these days. I listen to way more podcasts than music, and I dont think they have much influence on my art. I would like to read more, though.


    Maybe if I have time at some point this month, I will catalog the books we have

    Iruka on
  • KallistiKallisti Registered User regular
    Some personal faves or how I learned to stop worrying and love shape:

    Leslie Hung
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    Takehiko Inoue's Vagabond series
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    Elle Michalka
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    Matthew Cruickshank
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    Annette Marnat
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    Maurice Noble
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    Posted in some kind of nebulous order. I think it boils down to a love of manga, people who are total gouache wizards in their sketchbook, and a burning passion for the line + shape + texture trifecta.

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    Man @Kallisti‌ thats some good shit. I Never knew the name of the dude who did the roadrunner backgrounds, but I can totally add This book to the list of crap that I want.

    24209714_m.jpg
    http://kawayoo.net/

    This guy does a ton of anime buts of girls of a questionable age, but I love the insanity and color of his work.



  • KallistiKallisti Registered User regular
    Awesome! Yeah I love his stuff too, you might want to also look up Philip de Guard as he also did a lot of the backgrounds for Looney Tunes and later went onto to do backgrounds for Pink Panther. I absolutely love the Pink Panther: the style, the humor, the storytelling format. I would just spend hours studying the backgrounds.

    The Noble Approach is pretty good, I don't have a kindle but I bought it to view it through the desktop version of kindle and it's fantastic and cheaper than hardcover. I've got enough books and they're less wieldy when doing studies and I'm not sure this is a book worth having as hardcover.

  • SightTDWSightTDW Registered User regular
    I can't speak with any authority, but here's one that got me to start playing around with ink and other materials in general.

    http://rachelemorris.tumblr.com/

    Sometimes a little less than worksafe, but nothin' too offensive.

    Its a tough thing to think about. My reference/inspiration pile is pretty massive, but I've only recently started really looking at things with any thoughts beyond "that's a neato picture."

    Live - SightTDW | PSN - SightTDW | Nintendo Network - Wildschwein | 3DS - 1934-0834-9797
    Steam - Wildschwein | The Backlog
    Grappling Hook Showdown - Tumblr
  • AgentflitAgentflit Registered User regular
    edited June 2014
    Point a gun at me and ask for my favorite artist, I'd probably say David Stone Martin:

    The+Jazz+Scene++-+David+Stone+Martin+005.jpg

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    He illustrated a lot of album covers, especially 50s jazz. Not incidentally, jazz music is the swiftest path to my mojo. With his art I finally realized that pen and ink is the way to go, which eventually led to me discovering...

    Mattias Adolfsson:

    hedonism.jpg

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    Go take a look at his site, I promise you will come out of it feeling worse about your work ethic.

    Agentflit on
  • tapeslingertapeslinger Space Unicorn Slush Ranger Social Justice Rebel ScumRegistered User regular
    twist my arm a little...

    so, I follow a stupid number of illustrator/artwork blogs and I've been into art for basically my whole life, so there's basically too much stuff I want to post here but whatevs

    Noelle Stevenson:
    http://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/tagged/art
    tumblr_n0lgzjjinO1qeqx7ko1_500.png
    tumblr_inline_mzd8qhr1no1qdeo6a.jpg
    Lumberjanes, Nimona, and so much more awesome stuff
    she has this sketchy quality that feels effortless while also feeling really meticulous, and I envy this

    Becky Dreistadt:
    http://tumblr.beckyandfrank.com/tagged/illustration
    tumblr_n3ez6gyVNp1qehhkqo1_500.jpg
    tumblr_n0wb5noBoZ1qehhkqo1_500.png
    Tiny Kitten Teeth, Capture Creatures, Bee & Puppycat, and on and on...
    I honestly kind of can't even deal with how cute her stuff is, it's ridiculous.

    Sandy Skoglund:
    http://www.sandyskoglund.com/
    skoglund1.jpg
    radioactive-cats-sandy-skoglund.jpg
    I first read about Sandy in... first or second grade? in our Weekly Reader magazines. Her stuff really inspired me to see the "weird" in the everyday.
    (and nowadays I know her in person because I met her through my job. wild.)

    And then there is Wendy Pini, who is one of the reasons why I do art stuff at all
    http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics3.html
    tumblr_n6o06hQqO01qm43pbo1_500.png
    tumblr_n106eaNstP1qm43pbo1_250.png
    tumblr_n6emgnwaxW1qm43pbo2_400.png
    tumblr_n6rbrz3Nmd1rz63nbo1_500.jpg
    I basically lived and breathed Elfquest for ... most of my middle school years
    the few good things I learned about drawing awesome stuff were totally things I picked up from relentlessly fan-arting about this thing
    the comics are now mostly available online, which I think is super rad of them


    I'll see if I can dig some other arts up too
    but whatever, here are some arts

  • kevindeekevindee Registered User regular
    Hmmm, let's see:

    There's Jeff Simpson, who works as a concept artist for Eidos, but should really get into just doing fine art altogether because his figures are amazing:

    life_drawing_2010_by_jeffsimpsonkh-d34b81d.jpg

    jinn_by_jeffsimpsonkh-d308jw2.jpg

    the_little_mermaid_by_jeffsimpsonkh-d2zrefa.jpg

    He works a lot in acrylics/oils + photoshop, and I like the way he meshes traditional and digital.

    Ivor Hele, australian war artist and strangely uknown entity:

    Ivor+Hele+016.jpg

    Ugh, there's too many. It's going to take all day listing these. Beyond traditional media titans like Zorn (his etchings are a constant source of inspiration) and Sargent I really dig giacomo balla and boldini. Contemporaries I like would be Schmidt, Ruo Li, For digital my all-time favourite artist is probably LinRan. I also really like mullins, jaime jones, sergey kolesov and yi lung.

    Just....follow http://illustrationart.blogspot.se/ and browse the past 8 years of archives, you'll find so much mindblowing stuff it's unreal.

  • ScosglenScosglen Registered User regular
    I still like a lot of the people I did last time we had this thread.

    West Burt and João Ruas as graphite assassins
    Veronique Meignaud for color
    Bumskee and Zhanglu for brushwork/edges/value management
    I am increasingly drawn to Chinese and Russian academic styles as inspiration for how to lay down marks and general visual style, and more turned off by airtight and squeaky clean digital painting

    I'll post some work from Karla Ortiz though, I like her everything. Great painter and also deadly with a pencil. She does a lot of work for Magic and I think has a concept art day job.

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    tumblr_mzrwp5RilV1rv5690o1_1280.jpg

  • FlayFlay Registered User regular
    edited June 2014
    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?
    Pokemon. I used to trace them from the pokedex-book I got from the school book club. I still have it purely for the nostalgia, but I'll never look back.


    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there?
    Difficult question, I can't think of an answer yet but I'll come back and edit this post when I do.


    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books?
    I just recently started a folder for storing all the my inspiration images, and for reference images. It's currently fairly small, but I try to add at least a few images per week. Before that, I stored my influences in my head.


    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time?
    Science! I listen to a lot of podcasts about science and technology, and regularly check a bunch of websites about science, technology and the future. I get really excited about robots and space-travel and whatnot, and it's something that drives me to keep improving my art. I'm not confident enough yet to tackle mechanical illustration, but I'm working so that one day I might be.


    5) What type of art is totally perplexing to you, just inexplicably unappealing?
    Another difficult question, because even in genres that are usually pretty sloppy, you can find gold. I'll come back to this if I think of a good answer, but for now I'll just say anime schoolgirls.




    J.C. Leyendecker

    One of the greatest illustrators of all time. He has an uncanny way of using thick brushtrokes to create forms that are defined and gestural at the same time. Utterly incredible, and great for master studies.

    tumblr_m6mfjoAZ901qhr1ji.jpg

    tumblr_lr4bj9zTXh1qgpy5lo1_1280.jpg



    Luke Pearson

    Really great illustrator and comic artist. He also did the art for a flash game called The End, which is a philosophical platformer with a fun tile-based puzzle-combat mechanic, which profiles your personality as you play and is as rad as it sounds.

    Luke-Pearson-760x1037.jpg

    Everything-We-Miss-by-Luke-Pearson3.jpg



    Yvan Duque

    Incredible, stylish plants and landscapes.

    44d9ac4f4459ddffe8f60dd324805eab.jpg

    tumblr_my9p5m6nHC1s2zbsfo1_500.jpg



    I'll post more when I get some time!

    Flay on
  • m3nacem3nace Registered User regular
    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?
    Akira Toriyama and all that jazz. I was a massive manga buff until I read Watchmen at 14 and since then it's only been Akira and Ghost in the Shell that have stuck with me. I still love Dragon Ball though, but I don't draw that much inspiration from it any longer.

    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there?
    Alex Toth. I'd like to spend more time making compositions for each panel but I never quite seem to have the time to do it. And not because I want you people to blush or anything but I've got a boner for a few of you guys' art as well. Tam's inks are the bomb, Iruka's colors are amazing, and MikeOB's style is fantastic.

    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books?
    I've got comics from most of them and so I just have those on my shelf. I also have this folder on my computer called "badass reference" filled with different photographs I've found. Only photographs. I feel like that could help me move in directions that aren't directly influenced by my favorite artists and they also provide great story material.

    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time?
    The welsh author Joe Dunthorne and a danish author named Knud Romer. I like the slightly humorous and odd tone of their writing styles and subject matter. There's something about them and their characters being a bit too smart for their own good that's really appealing to me, perhaps because I find it hard to connect with people on any real level and so their characters looking at people as if they're part of an ant colony or a zoo exhibition resonates with me a great deal.

    This guy Adam Tan is pretty cool. I like the mixture of pure graphic design and illustration
    tumblr_mx0y3itVRR1qdfj54o1_500.jpg

    Alexandre Diboine, because of how he handles light and composition. I know a few other peeps in here also use his brushes.
    tumblr_n0cmszofUr1sqh0kno1_1280.jpg

    Then there's Kyle Baker, oh man, Kyle Baker. His stuff is just so jazz.
    bakertracy2.jpg

  • m3nacem3nace Registered User regular
    Also, I'm surprised not to see Eyvind Earle mentioned in here. I bet some of you guys would dig his stuff.
    Eyvind Earle:
    ++Eyvind+EARLE+%25281916-2000%2529+by+Catherine+La+Rose+%25287%2529.jpg
    moonlit-eucalyptus.jpg
    coastal-fog.jpg

  • KallistiKallisti Registered User regular
    Yeah Eyvind is awesome, I really like that the Banner Saga took major influence from him.

  • JudasJudas Registered User regular
    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?
    Disney. I would spend my summer vacation with my grandparents in Portugal buying ( and tracing ) stacks of Disney graphic novels with Donald, Mickey, Goofy, etc.


    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there?
    Egon Schiele.
    kathe kollwitz.
    Darwyn Cooke


    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books?
    A year ago I got a 1 TB external drive to house all my reference/art/comic collected images. It's a little over half full now. I've collected more books on art/comics then I have shelves to put them on.


    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time?
    I read a lot, mostly ranging from sci-fi, to horror, to actual scientific research. There are some fantastic ideas there to kick the imagination into overdrive.


    5) What type of art is totally perplexing to you, just inexplicably unappealing?
    Manga and Anime. I loved Ghost in the Shell, Akira, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke...after that, everything else I've come across hasn't moved me at all. JRPGs do nothing for me either, artistically.

    Hard pressed on my right. My center is yielding. Impossible to maneuver.
    Situation excellent. I am attacking.

    - General Ferdinand Foch
  • mullymully Registered User regular
    edited July 2014
    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?

    i didn't know "art" when I was 13. I didn't start drawing until I was 17 or 18. though, if i had to choose, i'd say brian froud. any others, i didn't know the name of.

    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there?

    if i've been looking at the artist / art that day, it will show up in my art. but, i'd say that i really love painterly fantasy (but still realistic) portraits, but i never seem to reach that. also, 50s comics. you don't see much of that in my work.

    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books?

    i don't have a reference folder; we do own a lot of miyazaki and video game art books. that's it.

    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time?

    my mood comes out in my art. my tolerance of my own art also comes out in my art. you can tell a lot about how i'm feeling that day just by looking at my brush strokes.

    5) What type of art is totally perplexing to you, just inexplicably unappealing?

    modern. abstract. blech.

    ---

    here is some art i'm digging right now, though it changes daily for me.

    mingjue helen chen

    chiara bautista
    thom tenery
    amyrc

    fei giap
    patrick brown

    mully on
  • ProspicienceProspicience The Raven King DenvemoloradoRegistered User regular
    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?

    Gary Larson, Bill Watterson and lots of sunday comics used to be what I really loved growing up. I'd spend hours with the Sunday Comics page throughout the week. Besides Sunday comics, Chris Van Allsburg and Graeme Base both used to be a huge influence. Both with their very different styles, Allsburg with his simple, smooth style and incredible compositions. Base with the amount of detail and hidden easter eggs everywhere.

    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there? Hyper realistic stuff always impresses me, or just tons of detail crammed into a small area. I think I'd like to see more of it in my work, I'm finally settling into my new place and am having free time again.

    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books? I buy books whenever I can. I make notes in evernote and tag them with "artist" I used to bookmark a ton, but realized I never went back and checked them out.

    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time? Music and atmosphere (although it can be visual)

    5) What type of art is totally perplexing to you, just inexplicably unappealing? Those people that swallow paint and throw it up on a canvas, gross man, just gross.


    m3nace got me stuck on Enki Bilal a while back and I can't get enough of his stuff
    bilal_Sommeil-du-Monstre_p56_07_desbois.jpg

    Aj Fosik wood carving painting sculpture artist guy extraordinaire.
    aj-fosik-3.jpg

  • jetpacksandrollerskatesjetpacksandrollerskates Registered User regular
    Just found this thread... it always makes me soo happy. I love that he does daily sketches on his website too: http://skottieyoung.com/

    Here is one of my favourite sketches from the past:

    c0pomarj1q56.jpg

    Jetpacks and Rollerskates
    jetpacksandrollerskates.com | instagram | twitter | facebook
  • DungeonFireDungeonFire Artist USARegistered User regular
    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore?
    I am not sure that I really loved any artist at 13. I would draw a lot, and as a gamer I was around a lot of art, but I never really gave it much thought.... and I can't say that any of my past influences really aren't there anymore. They are always a part of my experience, even if their roll is diminished.

    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? Is it on purpose, or would you like to see more of it in there?
    Alla-Prima artists of all types, new and old. Eakins, Sergeant... even newer painters like Lipking, Greene, Sanden, Steele... I am actually not terrible at producing loose work, but I can't seem to make the style mesh with the content that I want to produce. That is not a limitation on the style, but my own inability to use it sensitively enough.

    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? Do you have a big reference folder? Do you buy books?
    Books are always handy for procedural inspiration... as are instructional videos. I really like watching a great artist paint, and I think you can learn more that way than through many other means. I also keep a reference folder on the old PC here full of images I love... and bookmarks to wonderful pages full of art, anatomy, etc.

    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time?
    I would start by saying music... specifically heavy metal... but in reality that is just what I listen to when working and there is really no thematic link at all between it and my work. Truly the biggest non-visual influences on me have been writers... namely Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Rousseau, Kant, Zola, Camus.... most of my original work is spent exploring philosophical queries and rationalized outcomes to those queries. I tend toward the surreal, and these writers do the best job of helping me to pluck my head out of present reality and into a more expansive mind-space.

    5) What type of art is totally perplexing to you, just inexplicably unappealing?
    Abstract Expressionism, Constructivism, Dadaism (although at least that is on purpose) Minimalism, Ready-made art (for the love of...), Color Field Painting.... I could go on. I don't need clean perfect representational art, I don't need realism, and I don't need tight academic art.... I DO, however, need art that at least attempts to be comprehensible and doesn't rest its laurels on the deeply flawed Freudian hogwash that says anything an artist makes must necessarily be a pure expression of the artist's self via the magical working of the subconscious. ANY art that requires me to read a four page pamphlet before I can get anywhere near understanding the intent of the artist is bad art. I could not say it with more vitriol: Rothko, Pollock, Hirst and the rest are nothing more than propped-up commodities falsely elevated by a commercially driven art-world that feeds on pseudo-intellectual trickery and the cult of the new.

    Marcel Duchamp exhibited "The Fountain" as a joke and a finger in the eye to the art-world. The immensely depressing punchline is that it then became widely accepted as a stroke of genius.

  • beckerskullsbeckerskulls Registered User regular
    Great thread! I've been putting this off because I knew it would take forever. Here goes...

    rabbits1.jpg

    I pretty much adore anything by Shaun Tan, both art and writing. His stuff is like food for the art soul. It feels so genuine and full of life and it always makes me want to draw. I just happened on 'Tales from Outer Suburbia' one day in a bookstore and it BLEW MY MIND.

    bear.jpg?w=480

    Doug TenNapel. Guy can draw. His stories always surprise me. One minute it's like he's just having crazy goofy fun drawing hellcats, and then there are these really gut-wrenching, moving, and meaningful moments.

    selfportraitc.jpg

    A friend of mine, Brittany Tingey. Her work has this fluidity, stylishness, plus a killer sense of design and color that I really admire. She's only a couple of years younger than I am, but she's so much more contemporary and in touch with her time (meanwhile, I am totally stuck in the 90's).

    1) What USED to influence you? What was the artist you loved at 13 that you never look at anymore? As a kid, it was all about Bill Watterson. I didn't really look at artists to learn from them. Later, as a teenager in the western U.S., I fell in love with the desert through Maynard Dixon and his geometric clouds.

    Mojave%20Desert%20Final%20small%202.jpg

    Something about Grant Wood really captured my imagination around that time, too.

    stone_city_grantwood.png

    2) What Artist/genre do you love that absolutely does not manifest in your work? All of these artists and many, many more. I don't think any of them really show up in my work, but I'd really like them to.

    3) How do you collect and catalog the artists you like? I've got a small book collection. Also, I've grudgingly joined Pinterest. It's kind of clunky to use, and I should really just do it on my hard drive, but then they all look so pretty sitting there, side by side. Then there's this:

    artbinder.jpeg

    Just a binder full of art that I bought prints of or found randomly or photo-copied out of books before I ever got a computer.

    4) What is the biggest non-visual influence on your work, and has this changed over time? In a general way, reading. I don't do nearly as much anymore, but books have definitely shaped my sense of story, humor, humanity, and self (which leak out into the drawings on good days). Some favorites: The Brothers Karamazov, A Room With a View, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Anna Karenina, Ella Enchanted, The Secret Garden, Death Comes for the Archbishop, The Hobbit, Charles Dickens, Neil Gaiman, Barbara Kingsolver, C.S. Lewis, and G.M. Hopkins.

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