So, the question I get asked more then any other is what are my inspirations. This is by no means an easy thing to answer. For one, the majority of what “inspires” me cannot particularly be put into words, or is so insignificant that no one would understand even if I tried to. “That one part in that one movie, where the light hit her face in that one way” or “that one drawing of that one flower in that one book by that one guy”. Needless to say, it’s certainly not easy to explain in a blog post.
I started to put together some things that were a little broader and easier to explain. There may be more posts about this….because really the majority of things that inspire me anymore are my friend’s work. And to be honest, I feel a little weird posting and gushing about people I have known for years…but maybe I will do a post just on those artists in particular in the future.
But in the meantime, let’s see how this goes. And I apologize in advance for the 90% chance of mindless ramblings that will inevitably happen.
In the beginning, there was Jonny Quest. I did not grow up on Disney, I didn’t grow up on Loony Toons, I grew up on Hanna Barbera and more specifically Jonny Quest. There was nothing about it i didn’t like. Giant birds, robots, invisible monsters, horrible racial stereotypes, mysteries of the orient, pipe smoking, and Race Bannon throwing barrels at “natives”. I actually never even liked Jonny as a character. Years and years after falling in love with the show, I bought a JQ collection on DVD and was absolutely stunned to see how much some of the art reminded me of my own. I had subconsciously absorbed years of heavy lines and brush strokes only to completely forget where they had originally come from. Artists like Doug Wildey and Alex Toth were groundbreaking in their time, and still resonate loudly in the art that people are producing today. I owe a lot to this ridiculous cartoon.
Link: Original Jonny Quest opening title sequence.
I know nothing about John James Audubon, and I am absolutely fine with that. But what I do know about ole’ JJ is the guy can take an incredibly mundane scenario, and make it absolutely breathtaking. He embodies the idea of “illustration” if you ask me. Being able to take the subject of a bird or two on some random plant, and unveil an entire story in one image? It’s a talent that I constantly strive for, and constantly fall short of. I have dedicated a good chunk of my body to being covered in tattoos that are an homage to Audubon, and really it doesn’t even scratch the surface of showing my respect for his work.
As awful as it is to say, I don’t particularly like modern illustration. Sure there are some stand out artists around, but for the most part it’s all flash. The heydays of illustration are long gone, and it’s truly a shame. Starting in the middle of the 19th century (more about that later) and up into the 1960’s is where it’s really at. I have fawned over 60’s editorial work for years, and pretty blatantly ripped it off a handful of times. There is something about the technique and the variety that has always held my attention. And Christ did those guys know how to draw a babe or two. Some of my favorite are Franklin Arbuckle (above), Bernard D’Andrea, Joe Bowler (those fucking compositions!), Perry Peterson, Andy Virgil, and many many more.
Link: a Flickr with literally thousands of scanned mid-century illustrations
Where does one start with Mark Schultz? Well, for one…Cadillacs & Dinosaurs is stupid. That’s all there is to it. The characters are stupid, the plot is stupid, the entire idea of it is stupid. But that doesn’t stop his artwork from being mind-blowing. His inks, eye for detail, and ability to layer images compositionally are pretty God damned ridiculous. I have been drooling over his work since the early 90’s, and am still blown away every time I look at his stuff. And the cherry on top? There’s fucking dinosaurs everywhere!
Once upon a time I was 12. And on a faithful day in 7th grade I went to the comic book shop and bought this new comic called Generation X, and my life was changed forever. Sure, the characters were awesome, the idea was awesome, the enemies were terrifying….but what stood out was Chris Bachalo. I can’t really say there are any other artists that have inspired me more than Bachalo. From his character designs, to his page layouts, to his panel composition…it’s all amazing. Bachalo is also one of the few artists I know of that completely turned his style upside-down mid career, and kept doing as much work as he was to begin with. Sometimes around The Age of Apocalypse story line (what, 95-96?) you could see his work start to change…getting a more cartoony bubblegum feeling that still carries through in his more recent work. And while I will always be more of a fan of his earlier work, he still remains an artist I keep coming back to. There is SO MUCH Bachalo work on the internet, but I was unable to find great examples of his older work that I like (though this Captain America page is astoundingly beautiful)….but look around, you’ll be amazed at what you find.
Link: Chris Bachalo’s online portfolio
Everyone loves Paul Pope, right? Well no, not everyone. In fact I hate the dude half the time. But the other half of the time my jaw is on the floor. Escapo is one of my favorite books ever. It’s not so much his inks that impress me (though they used to be all I could think about), but it’s more so his artistic vision within the books. It’s a perfect balance of sleek and gritty, and always so God damned stylish. His books are the sort that I never like the story that is actually being told in the book, but I love the idea of it…if that makes sense? Too bad the dude only comes out with a book every 2-3 years and just fills the gaps in-between with prints of naked girls (like I have any room to talk).
Link: Paul Pope’s ridiculous blog
Adrian Fucking Tomine. Every girl between the ages of 18 and 30 from the west coast is seemingly head over heels for his work, and really I can’t blame them. My work get’s compared to his a lot…which kind of confuses the hell out of me. I guess we both have a habit of drawing miserable looking people in spare surroundings. But really what it is that I love about Tomine’s work, is his compositions. There is a “moment in time” feeling that I really really love. He seems to have a habit like myself of drawing a lot from film and movie stills, which I can’t help but appreciate. I believe it is in Sleepwalk, but he has a short story about a guy who falls sick and his ex-girlfriend takes care of him. Within this comic there is an entire page devoted to a dream where the guy is lost in a snowstorm. It is 9 of some of the most perfect panels ever drawn. Apparently there is some connection with Adrian Tomine and me getting my first illustration job with Perry Ellis. If this is true….well, I guess I should probably stop complaining about him so much.
Link: Adrian Tomine’s online portfolio
Anymore there is no work I really look at more then 19th century engravings. Be it scientific illustration, natural history illustration, or just antique advertising. There is something about the breadth of the detail that I have been enamored with for years. I think part of what I find so fascinating about it, is that no matter how hard I try I am completely incapable of replicating it. There is a gap between where my artistic abilities end, and where these start….and that gap is one of the things that really drives me in my own work. Their inhuman technique is something that I feel is really lacking in today’s illustration, and once again proving that I was born in the wrong century.
Link: A blog that I follow that is completely devoted to antique book illustrations.
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So I can’t really imagine any of this comes as a real surprise to anyone. My work oozes with what visually inspires me, and I do very little in effort to hide it. But visual artists like these are only the tip of the iceberg. I pull a lot from literature, and history in general. But possibly my biggest inspiration outside of visual artists like the above are films. I would by no means call myself a film buff, but I probably watch 5 movies a weak and even more nature documentaries. There is something about the actual physical format of film that I have always been enthralled with. It leads to such great compositions when used well. A lot of my work is based around trying to tell a story through visual queues alone…moments in time, or still frames to movies that have never existed. I have probably spent a quarter of my life watching movies on mute with a sketchbook in front of me. Below are some screen captures in no particular order to movies that turn me into a stuttering idiot.
Hour of the Wolf. 1968, Ingmar Bergman. Seriously, the scene where he bashes the kid’s head in on the rocks? SERIOUSLY?
Revolutionary Road. 2008, Same Mendes. If I could draw a movie, it would look and feel like this one.
The Valley of Gwangi. 1969, Jim O’Connolly. Dinosaurs, cowboys, mexican circuses, and Ray Harryhausen. Do you really need anymore convincing?
The Strangers. 2008, Bryan Bertino. I think the influence of this movie on my work is pretty self explanatory.
The Proposition. 2005, John Hillcoat. The king of all westerns, and absolutely beautiful. Part of my longstanding love/hate relationship with Nick Cave.
Down in the Valley. 2005, David Jacobson.
28 Weeks Later. 2007, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Yeah, so it’s a bad sequel to an amazingly original zombie movie. But I could watch the first 10 minutes of this movie over and over again.
Children of Men. 2006, Alfonso Cuaron. I have seen this movie a dozen times, and I still can’t tell if I like it. But I sure as hell like how it looks.
The Sixth Sense. 1999, M. Night Shyamalan. Fucking M. Night Shyamalan. Remember when he made movies that were actually intriguing and gorgeous?
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. 2007, Andrew Dominik. If you know anything about my historical interests or my taste in music, then it is no surprise that I love this movie. FUN FACT: The only famous family relation I have is Jesse James. His mother was a Woodson, hence his full name Jesse Woodson James. Look it up.
Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah Talai Jone). 2000, Wisit Sasanatieng. A Thai spaghetti western, with painted backdrops and technicolor? No wonder it’s one of my favorite movies.
War of the Worlds. 2005, Steven Spielberg. This is one of those love it or hate it movies. But absolutely nothing GOOD happens in this movie, which immediately puts it high on my list. I would watch this thing on mute to save myself from hearing placenta-eating Tom Cruise’s overacting, if it weren’t for that God damned terrifying horn sound the tripods make.
The American Astronaut. 2001, Corey McAbee. If you haven’t seen it, you wont understand.
The Twilight Zone. 1959, Rod Serling. This still is from the episode “The Lonely” from the first season. There are few things in this world I love more than how the early Twilight Zone episodes look.
2001: A Space Odyssey. 1968, Stanley Kubrick. Yeah yeah, I know. Every film nerd loves this movie. And for good reason. I think what rings so brightly for me about this movie is how the colors are used.
In The Mood For Love (Fa Yeung Nin Wa). 2000, Wong Kar Wai. And last but absolutely not least, the most astoundingly beautiful thing ever made.
So I hope that helped answer some questions and maybe give a little insight to my work (as well as how much of an absolute creep I can be). I have no idea if I will ever do another blog post about inspiration, or even if there is a demand for it. But I can say this however; just doing image searches to find the images that I posted here was enough to send my brain wandering and my drawing hand twitching.
