Tuesday, 14 September 2010

SC's Influence Map

Favourite movie: Disney, Avatar, Bridge to terabithia, The last unicorn, Tim burton's, Studio gihbli, Don Bluth
Favourite band or musician: Jethro Tull, Phill collins, Mike Oldfield, The cranberries, Blackmore's night, Deep Forest, etc
Favourite artist: Bleedman, Khaosdog, Iceandsnow, Jhonen Vasquez...


Mort Drucker - My earliest comic book influence. I regularly picked up MAD magazine for years before I picked up my very first "super hero" comic book, and the main reason for buying MAD was for Drucker's inspired movie parodies! To this day, whenever I have to draw a likeness, it's all Mort! I also still regularly use many of his deceptively loose rendering cyphers. Books to look for: Mort Drucker's MAD Show-Stoppers, Familiar Faces: The Art of Mort Drucker, & MAD About the Movies.

Arthur Adams - Still my most dominant and noticeable influence! Ever since I laid my eyes on X-MEN Annual #12, I've been hooked! Most noticeable still in my style is his dynamics, body positioning, facial expressions and understructure. Books to look for: Arthur Adams: X-MEN LEGENDS 3 & Longshot.

Jim Lee - Having been fortunate enough to have mentored under Jim Lee first hand, you can still see a very obvious influence in my work to this day. Most notably, in my storytelling and rendering of figures and backgrounds, and the kinetic speed at which the artwork appears to be produced. Favorite Jim Lee books: X-MEN Visionaries: Jim Lee, X-Tinction Agenda, & BATMAN: HUSH.

DISNEY - Originally thinking for many years that I would be an animator before I ever considered the idea of being a comic book artist, the classic and modern age animated features of Walt Disney Studios remains a dominant influence on my approach to art! Most prominently, the work of:

Marc Davis - Marc's designs of both the Princess and Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty" remain two of my all time favorites! Not to mention his design and animation of Tinkerbell! Marc's artwork came to define the BEST in Disney females, and probably still hasn't been topped to this day!

Fred (Freddy) Moore - You most likely wouldn't have had a Marc Davis girl if Fred Moore hadn't defined his vision of the "Freddy Moore Girl" first! His signature "girly" art and animation can be seen in the shorts "All the Cats Join In" in Make Mine Music, "Casey Bats Again", The "centaurettes" in Fantasia, and my personal favorites, the mermaids in Perter Pan!

Milt Kahl - His graphic, angular and often lanky character designs lend themselves to the aesthetics of my figures very well. An older influence that I've only recently come to revisit and reincorporate. Some of my favorites: Roger and Anita from 101 Dalmatians, Shere Khan and King Louie in The Jungle Book, and his work in The Aristocats and The Sword in the Stone. Any doubters should simply google "Milt Kahl" and "Hands" and be WOWED by the jpeg compilations that pop up!

Great Disney related books: The Illusion of Life, DRAWN to LIFE Vol 1 & 2, and Walt Disney's Nine old Men. And if you're REALLY lucky!!... Les Héroïnes Disney.

Phew! ... to be continued...
SC's Influence Map

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