What Artist Influence You?

[Koko Ed]

What artist inspire your creativity?
(This is a remake of a now locked 2002 thread. There's some new blood that may add something new to the conversation. Plus I have a couple of new artists who have caught my eye).



ROGER DEAN: I just adore his visual otherworldly style. His lettering style alone I envy(my graphic design teachers on the other hand thought him a very bad influence upon me-"Simplicity Edward!Simplicity!"- and placed him up the with Norman Rockwell and Jim Ross hssssssst! as the great evils of the artistic world). This guy was a FIRST kind of guy before there was a FIRST(he did most of his work in the 70's). You got to see the house he designed. I don't think there's a straight curve to be seen anywhere! The guy had numerous ideas far too ambitious for the technology of the time. My favorite is the dragon scale pattern he designed for a commercial airliner. That would look soooo cool swooping down into an airport. Check out MAGNETIC STORM to get the inside scoop on ROGER DEAN.

CHRIS ACHELLIEOS: I have to admit. Achillioes' work is definitely risque(bordering on pornographic,at the very least sensual) but the guy is probably the best at doing (mostly female) figures of any artist I know(he doesn't even use reference). He has a great eye for detail that give the picture character and tells the story behind the subjects in his pictures.Check out MEDUSA to get the scoop on what makes him tick.

PHILLIP CASTLE: I would've picked castle just for one of my all time favorite pictures "What Was That?". It feature Castle's trademark subjects: the Chrome Angels. A mechanized pin up girl with silvery wings.Usually posing with some sort of jet (usually military) playing tag in the clouds. This picture feature a brunette "showing off" while a Trio of F-14 Tomcats race by. I'm just dying to paint it on a leather jacket. Castle is also a 70's artist and his style often has that painterly graphic style of the era but it is also playful and clever(his Mr. Spock Heineken ad is a classic). Check out AIRFLOW to find out more. If you can't find that try AIRSHOW a more recent but less impressive collection.

HAJIME SORAYAMA: His work is definitely not for the kids and some of it is not to my taste really but his mastery of metal is what knocked my socks off. This guy is well known by the airbrush community and he is a master of the art. If I needed someone to teach me how to work the airbrush it would be him.

MICHEAL WHELAN: If you read alot of Sci-Fi or Fantasy then you've seen his work. He is very prolific and very popular. What I like about his work is it's very majestic and breathtakingly beautiful without being overly dramatic. I would recommend THE ART OF MICHEAL WHELAN a great albeit expensive($50 hardcover and I haven't found a soft cover version. And my copy was stolen along with my copy of AIRFLOW,MAGNETIC STORM-which I since have bought again-,MEDUSA and numerous other books).


JOHN BYRNE: The master of the comic book battle. Read FANTASTIC FOUR #'s 249-250 to read the best comic book battle EVER for proof. He is a comic book legend most known for his classic run in the X-Men.

PAUL SMITH: He has a sharp linear style that reminds me of a comic book version of Patric Nagle. He caught my eye with his work in X-Men from the 160's up to #175. The series went WAY downhill after he left and I haven't been back since. In fact I've stopped reading Marvel altogether though I've heard they've improved in quality.

MICHEAL GOLDEN: I remember him from THE MICRONAUTS. His lively curvy style gives weight and urgency to the story. I regard him as a "tease" artist. He's a designated artist (Like ROCKETEER creator Dave Stevens, who does aw some cheesecake pics check out JUST LOOKING. Reincarnated Vargas!) who does the cover to lure unsuspecting readers in who buy the book only to discover a lesser talent was hired to do the actual book. I won't hold that against him though.

Misume Sharow(APPLESEED, GHOST IN THE SHELL) Inspired tech and just plain terrific design. Now if only he'd write dialog that wasn't like he was lecturing a philosophy class.

Katsure Otomo(AKIRA) Another great manga artist who transcends the genre with his eye catching design and attention to detail.

Terry Moore(STRANGERS IN PARADISE, Katchoo and Francine are the best couple in comicdom) Moore earns a better reputation for his writing (which is brilliant and heartfelt but take a closer look at his art and you appreciate his quality workmanship.

The Hernandez brothers(LOVE and ROCKETS) The best comics from the 80's. Jamies work is better in my opinion but Gilbert's Palomar storyline is nothing to be ashamed of.

Jeff Smith(BONE, BONE # 16 is the best single comic issue EVER!) I just read the whole series in the phone book sized graphic novel. Best. Comic. Series. Ever.

Barry Windsor-Smith. What eye catching beauty. His line work is to die for.

Bernie Wrightson. The man is amazing with his figure work and use of light and shadows.

Alan Davis. A very underrated talent who is particularly good at illustrating women.

Joe Mandura. He's part of the Marvel new breed that tends to leave me cold but his lively work sparks inspiration in me every time I see his work.

Jason Pearson(BODY BAGS) His story writing needs maturing but his art is very eye catching and sharp

Mark Schultz(XENOXEIC TALES aka CADILLACS AND DINOSAURS) What JURASSIC PARK SHOULD HAVE BEEN. Think Frank Frazetta doing a black and white comic book. Such loving detail on every page.

Boris Vallejo. A classic who's use of color is unique and inspired.

Patrick Woodruff.This guy is something to behold. Some of the most imaginative stuff you'll ever see. It transcend media definition.

Olivia.Gorgeous airbrush work, literally.

Alex Ross (Marvels) The best work Marvel has put out in years.

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (ATARI FORCE, NUMEROUS DC TITLES) He's not only great at character and production design but also very creative use of lettering.

Geoffrey Darrow. How this guy gets a book done is beyond me. He is a detail nut!

Dave Sims. A bit of a jerk but a great story teller.

Bill Whilingham.I LOVE THE ELEMENTALS!

Shawn McManus. His character design come alive on the page and are endearing to behold.

Frank Miller. His graphic storytelling style is just awesome. If you liked Sin City his comics are like that.

Howard Chaykin. Another artist known as a bit of a jerk but pick up his book American Flagg and be amazed.

[mechanicalbrain]

theirs a well known place in alexandria called the torpedo factory. its a art bazar in a old torpedo factory. all the artist their are of amazing calaber. they have turned down college art professors. amazing work and all of them inspire me alot!

[Conor Ryan]

I'm a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, yes I know he's an Architect but Architects are Artists too, and engineers. (creative and functional at the same time) But I like his blend of Nature, Practicality, and at Times uniqueness.

[Kyle Love]

Whos the guy that did the Campbell soup cans over and over??? He's pretty awesome!

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Kyle45

Whos the guy that did the Campbell soup cans over and over??? He's pretty awesome!

You mean Andy Warhol? I think that's who did it, and how you spell his name correctly.

Anyways, for me the word artist is a open term for everything creative.

So here goes:

Frank Lloyd Wright - Architecture master in his own rights, although his homes deserving of a million dollars a piece or more (to some) go for less cause of one detail. They only have one bathroom. True story. Saw it on a house hunter show on TLC or Discovery channel.

Fritz Lang - Metropolis (Movie): Revolutionary artist and film maker when movies were still silent who dreamed of massive skyscrapers and worlds beyond belief. I'm guessing the makers of the newer movie The Fifth Element took what Fritz started and ran with it to make their awesome cinematic settings.

Gary Larsen - The Far Side (Comic): Brilliant.. Just Brilliant. Enough said.

Charles Schulz - Peanuts - Same.. Just brilliant.

Matt Groening - The Simpsons - Ditto.. lol

Jim Davis - Garfield (Comic): Who else can take a lazy cat and his weird owner and turn it into a multimillion dollar empire and create a character everyone loves?

Jesse James & Crew and The Guys from American Chopper..
How can you not think what they do is art in it's purest most hardcore metal form?

Salvador Dali - The Persistance of Memory and others (Artist): I am a little biased on this one cause this is a surreal artist and in this particular piece the theme is time and features a surreal landscape where clocks seem to droop over other objects such as a tree.
http://www.fotos.org/galeria/data/52...-Of-Memory.jpg
*I actually based a senior project in HS off of this work (or maybe it was in 8th grade - i don't remember), by basically copying a section of the work onto the shape of a face of a panther..
Won an award for my innovative technique in doing so... basically I made a mini inverse panther face shape and cut it out and laid it over the portion of the art work and scaled everything onto a larger piece looking like a head freehand.
w00t
*I wish I knew where that was....

As for "real" artists, my favorites are not ranked really by artists but works of art.
1) Persistence of Memory - Salvador Dali
2) The Scream - Edvard Munch

Much more I can't think of right now.

[Freddy Schurr]

Andy Warhol- I had to do a painting for my 8th grade art project and draw a can of Campbell Soup on my Chair, it looks wicked even when I go back there now and then.

[EddieMcD]

YES! Finally, someone else here likes Persistance of Memory. I'm not to big a fan of paintings, and even I like that one.

Back on topic, it depends on how you define artist. I define it as someone who puts their brians, insights, and ideas out there for other people's entertainment. That being said, I tend to delve into the writing for television/movies.

A good deal of inspiration for my science, math, and engineering half comes from Dean Kamen and Johannes Kepler. My creative, visionary half is inspired by such people as Joss Whedon, the afforementioned Matt Groening, J.J. Abrams, Ronald D. Moore, and J. Michael Straczynski, just to name a few.

I suppose what inspires you depends on what your interests are. Mine happen to be science and sci-fi, so that's where my inspirations fall.

[JohnBoucher]

Stanley Kubrick

Frank Lloyd Wright If you are in the Manchester, NH area one of his works, the Zimmerman House. is open for tours. You need to make resverations through the Currier Museum. http://www.currier.org/browse/?gallery=zimmerman

Alfred Hitchcock

Jerry Garcia

Henri Cartier-Bresson

[MissInformation]

And as I said in the orignal thread, Michael Parkes is one of my all time favorite artists, with this painting being my favorite of his.

For comics and graphic novels, I like Dan Sweetman, illustrator for the Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children series. A Cotton Candy Autopsy is a good example of his art, which tends to be a little dark, a little gritty.

I have always loved Dali, and while Persistance of Memory is good, there are other works of his that I like better, such as this one and this one .

For photographers, Ansel Adams is my favorite for scenery and landscapes, and Lee Friedlander is my favorite for people. And for film, I have to go with Matthew Barney and his Cremaster Cycle even if his images give me nightmares.

Heidi

[Jeremiah Johnson]

ART! My specialty! I love it all... what can I say? Well... poetry doesn't hit me like the rest does.

My Favourites in each catagory:
Painting Salvador Dali
Etching MC Escher (all time fave)
Music Breaking Benjamin! Saw them in concert on Tuesday.
Writing Dan Brown, maybe. I donno.
Architecture Frank Lloyd Wright
Photography I don't really keep up on photography...

[dubious elise]

Oooooh!
Musically, I adore the works of Metallica. Honestly. Laugh all you want, but between Ulrich, Hammet, and Hetfield...lets just say that they make some of the most intricate, harmonious, and heartfelt speed metal (yes, I prefer the 80's stuff) I have ever heard. I also had a soft spot for the Youngblood Brass Band. They used to have this amazing tuba player that has been heralded as one of the best in the world and had been recruited by orchestras from San Francisco to London to Ukraine. Sadly, he recently left the band to pursue one of these paths, but their early albums are great. Classically, Vivaldi is fabulous. His style is timeless and great fun to play. In a contemporary classical vein, Philip Glass is...wow. Similar to Vivaldi in terms of tempo and patterns, but very unique in his own right.

In terms of writing, I sincerely enjoy C.S.Lewis, Ayn Rand, and Joseph Conrad. As much as I may not like to admit it, Lord Jim really was a fantastic book.

Architecturally, Santiago Calatrava (sp?) is amazing. Talk about combining form and functionality! The Milwaukee Art Museum is truly a sight to see (aaand they have great exhibits, and its nearby, and...)

My favorite artists are Monet, Georgia O'Keefe, Chuck Close, Leonardo DaVinci, Frank Netter, and Gregory Colbert. As a little girl, my parents always gave me books about art and my favorite one was one that was filled with paintings of his own garden, analyzing how colors and shapes changed as he aged. Seeing his works up close is phenomenal, the paint is piled on so heavily that the pictures look as if they have been crafted out of lacquered clay. O'Keefe has clean lines and beautiful, fluid images. Close, wow, his name belies his artwork in a most facinating way. The closer you get to his pieces, the less they make sense. This image takes a while to load but shows just how strange the images are up close. I have yet to see it in a gallery that gives viewers enough room to back up to see a completely focused image. Da Vinci and Netter are both widely heralded for their work in anatomical illustration. Again, laugh it up, but another one of my passions is reading medical/surgical textbooks to see how everything works. Pictures help tremendously Last, but not least, is Colbert, an astonishing photograper. Not only did he take beautiful photographs for his Ashes and Snow exhibit, he also created a reusable "museum" to house them both in travel and while on display.

I <3 art

[Joe Matt]

Artists, geeze, open a little eh?

Frank Lloyd Wright- I got a chance to see Fallingwater, he's amazing, his inspiration of Aztec design still makes it modern when viewed today. Timeless.

Van Gogh- Sunflowers is a favorite of mine. The use of brush strokes to highlight movement, light, and attatude makes the paintings seem alive.

Jonathan Ive- main designer of the iMac G3, G4, and G5, iPod, Cinema Displays, PowerMac G3, G4, & G5, PowerBook, I mean, this guy is amazing.

Green Day- Ok, a musical artist, but still. Some don't like their new work, but I find the focus of the music and it's background story and ideals inspirting, if not somewhat scarry.

Blue Man Group- Not so much the music as the theater presentations and image. If you have ever seen one of their shows you know what I am talking about.

[MasterChief 573]

Well as far as music is concerned I'd have to say, in no particular order

Breaking Benjamin
Trapt
RA
Audioslave
Alter Bridge

Five Great Bands and Major Influences