Last week I talked
a little bit about the process of coming into the drawing style I have now. This
got me thinking about my artistic inspirations and influences, so I thought I’d
share them with you.
The first
and most important influence on my art, ever and always, is the ultimate Artist
and Creator. Whatever ability I have is from God and I owe everything I am to
Him. And how can any artist not be inspired by the beauty He has surrounded us
with? As an artist who mostly works with the figure, I am especially inspired
by the work of His hands that is the people all around me.
The artist
Jemma Salume is another artistic influence (Specifically in her treatment of
the figure and the nose). Until I aquainted myself with Ms. Salume’s work, I had
been drawing noses in what I call “the Disney Princess style.” Basically, I used
a few tiny lines to indicate shadow and shape for a delicate nose. However,
Jemma Salume doesn’t get shy about noses; she outlines their shape and gives
them a slightly different color than the rest of the face. As someone who is
incredibly intrigued by noses, (I’m weird, I know) I was inspired to follow Ms.
Salume’s example and distinguish the nose instead of pushing it back into the
rest of the facial features. I was also inspired by Salume’s graceful,
elongated, dancer-like figures, which bring a Fine Art touch to her
illustrations.
Paul Pope
got me to do something in my drawings that no number of drapery-drawing
sketchbook assignments ever could… adding folds, seams, and stitches to the
clothes of the figures I draw. If you’re a fan of comic books/graphic novels,
and Batman too, then you should definitely read Batman: Year 100 by Paul
Pope. Pope has a gritty, expressionist style with an almost Suess-esque whimsy
to the architecture and figures in his drawings. Pope’s characters have a real
world quality, their clothing is worn, Batman’s costume doesn’t meet his gloves
so his wrists are bare, and the people don’t just have lips and teeth, their
gums are drawn too. Pope wrote about showing Batman’s wrists as a sign of
vulnerability and humanity. I wanted a similar down-to-earthiness with my
figures, so I started adding in details that tether them to the plane of
reality.
Aubrey
Beardsley is one of those artists that you really wonder about (or maybe you
don’t, but I do). His personal life is quite sad and lonely and a number of his
illustrations reflect a preoccupied mind. However, his style of extravagantly
detailed illustrations with richly balanced black and white compositions. Beardsley
illustrated the figure in such a way that the viewer is aware of its story. I was
especially influenced by Beardsley in creating the pieces for my senior gallery
exhibit at Olivet. I try to bring the same sense of story to my portraits with
a detailed illustration style.
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| The Toilet, 1896 by Aubrey Beardsley |
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| Semiramis, 2012 From my show, "Slight Exaggerations" |
Another
influence is Mo Willems, the author and illustrator of Don’t Let the Pigeon
Drive the Bus! and the many more amazing stories. If you don’t believe that
simple lines and shapes can create readable expressions, please pick up one of
Willems’ books and then tell me that pigeon is not one of the most emotionally
expressive 2-D characters you’ve ever seen. In other words, emotion and
personality don’t need to be complicated. It’s about capturing feelings and attitudes
in spite of how simple or detailed a character’s face is. When I was in high school
I thought it was the worst thing to make cute art. I thought everything had to
be edgy and raw to have meaning or value in the art world. I tried to be that
artist for a while, but that’s just not who I am. I think I’ve been able to
come to peace with drawing cute things. Illustrators like Mo Willems remind me
that creating art that makes people smile and keep looking is a wonderful
thing.
In other
news, I’m starting work on getting my Etsy shop up and running and I’ve begun
thumbnails for my illustration project on Winchester the dog. Woot!
Thanks for
reading!
