Influence Map 2012

Decided to join the ancient bandwagon after a few friends told me that I actually had an artstyle which made me super happy! So, out of curiosity, I decided to try to dig back and find the possible influences.

REMEMBER! This is an INFLUENCE map-- the things that have helped me get to the point where I am now, determining how and what I draw.
I look up to and are inspired by many other amazing things and artists, I just haven't gotten there yet QuQ

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01. Legend of Zelda (Nintendo)
What else did you expect! The time I got into serious illustration was when I got into video games, and damn, I am thankful for that. At the age of 10, I knew that I was on to something and that I really wanted to extend my drawing ethic. Upon discovering 'Legend of Zelda' there was nothing but scribbles of crudely drawn Hylians and heroes.
Something about the Zelda franchise really stuck out and stuck onto me and I really don't know where I'd be without it!
AND ALSO NINTENDO IN GENERAL. THANK.

02. gigidigi [link]
Where do I even start. I was a really big fan of Gigidigi back when she was still known as 'Peachi' with her hilarious Metal Gear Solid comics. Her return to the internet has brought some of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen. Everything you could ever do, she had mastered it. Her colour and concepts are to die for-- to reach that caliber of quality would be one of the greatest achievements for me.
If you haven't already, check out her webcomic CUCUMBER QUEST!

03. Art Nouveau (Alphonse Mucha)
I've only discovered actual Art Nouveau recently, and I must say; I am in love with it. Even though I fail to emulate the style every single time, I still try to emulate the strength, beauty and flow that it creates.

04. ~thunderjelly (The best role-model ever) [link]
My sister has always been a big idol in my drawing for me growing up. I knew my sister was a good drawer-er but when she discovered Photoshop as an art program and started to draw digitally--
I don't think I really got into art programs like SAI or Photoshop until early last year, but I really have a lot to thank for my sister;
She's my biggest supporter, critique and had put up with all my whiney shit.
If you really like Assassin's Creed, definitely follow her, and because you DO like her stuff, you're GOING TO ask for a commission while you're there!

05. *Mudora [link]
I've been quite the fan of Mudora for a long time. Her style was just so mature and interesting to me and I really looked up to her during my moody comic-book style phase where I wanted to stray away from my previous art style which was always dubbed as 'anime' (that really annoyed me but now I've given up). I never really got the style I was looking for then, but she's still affected it in some way, especially in my sketches.
Her works are sometimes a bit hit-or-miss for me, but it will always be amazing in the end.
If you're a fan of Zelda and if you're not following her, THEN YOU'RE CRAZY, GO DO IT RIGHT NOW.

06. Walt Disney Pictures
I'm not even going to bother.

07. Middle Eastern Culture
Wow, I don't even know how to go about this. Something about the exotic culture of the Middle East; the colours, the clothes, the architecture, the people-- all of that is just so fascinating and beautiful to me. I'm not sure how it directly affects my style, but I always seem to go back to it for inspiration.
You have no idea how long it took me to find a picture to represent "Middle East"-- not even this one justifies the love I have for it.

08. *lulles [link]
Lulles has also been a long-time influence on me-- I've seen a lot of her work floating around in the past but I never actually 'found' her until about a few years ago. For the longest time, I've just sat-back and looked at her work, but just last year, I wanted to try out the techniques that I found really attractive.
I hope you guys have noticed that I really liked the 'bubblegum hair' kind of shading enough to realise that I've actually adopted a kind of 'poor-mans' version/hybrid of it used in my painting illustrations.

09. *Phobs [link]
Oh god, I could never be as amazing as Phobs, but he's really made an impact on me and my art style which I hope you can kinda see in my sketches-- only mine are really crap.

10. Potato "Taters" Tan [link]
I've only known Tater's for 2 years, but by gosh, have I learned a lot from this girl. She's really influenced how I go about my colours and colouring and has taught me so much more. TATERS IS LIKE SEMPAI.
You may know her as the Ask Skyward Sword Zelda on Tumblr! If you haven't checked her out yet SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOU.
She's made a joint Skyward Sword Ask-Blog, so head over there (ask-skyloft.tumblr.com) and ask your life away to some of your favourite characters!

11. Tetsuya Nomura (Kingdom Hearts II)
Okay, this is going kinda back in time here, back when I was a Kingdom Hearts Tard. It doesn't necessarily influence my current art style, but I do think it did then, which I think is an important thing to note. Any of Tetsuya's work it just such eye candy, it was so hard to pick what image to use, so I went back to KH2 because that's where my main roots were and hold a very special place in my heart. Other than that, I could've used any of his works BESIDES ANYTHING BEFORE 8 BECAUSE 7 SUCKED GO 8 DON'T HATE GUYS.

12. Yoji Shinkawa (Metal Gear Solid)
Oh my gosh, this man is my god. Again, I could never emulate anything this gorgeous, but being introduced to MGS was just such a blessing to me. Yoji Shinkawa's style was just so hypnotic and just to make the manliest men look so beautiful is something that always gets me. Like Tetsuya Nomura, it might not affect my art style now, but it did and I hope to work back into it again.

13. That one artist that I don't know (Ace Attorney)
Around the time of my earliest Video Game phase, I actually didn't have a lot of Zelda, but you know what I did have? ACE ATTORNEY YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!111!!11! While I might not have drawn as much AA, I admit, I might have been more invested into it than Zelda at the time. I don't even know how long I would've spent on Court Records looking at the sprites and art-- especially this one artist.
Some of you may know, the art of AA is made by a team of 3, but just one of them really sticks out to me. Their work is the image being used in the map and is separated from the other 2 by his soft art style; his drawings are soft, the inking is soft and especially the colours-- I love his soft yet bright colours that he uses and has really influence me in my value and hue views.
IF ANYONE KNOWS HIS NAME, I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.


Also, Gods, Myths, Lore and Legend-- I forgot about that before I finished the map OTL;;
There are probably tons of other reasons to my influences, especially my friends and family, but that's a given C:

I hope, in the future, I will be able, to at least be half as good as any of these artists! Again, if you haven't, check them out! You might see something you like!