It's been awhile since I've done a blog post. So how about I go look back at all the artist that have inspired and molded my style to what it is now. I guess it could be an interesting insight for me and the readers here.
Let's start with my very favorite artist, Ryusuke Hamamoto (also known as Ryumoto)
http://ryusukeworks.blogspot.com/ http://ryusukeworks.com/
Like I said above my favorite artist of all time. Thanks to this guy's drawing videos I've gotten a good grasp on how to color digitally and such. I just enjoy Ryumoto's sense of energy in his work and the vibrant colors he uses. He has a very east meets west kind of style in a way though it is more apparent in some of his works as opposed to all of his works. He has a very comic book feel as well being that he does like a lot of American comics. One last thing I enjoy about Ryumoto is how he has interacted with his fans. He likes to converse with others especially from out of his country. Though he doesn't do it so often anymore, he use to do sketch request on his blog. He actually drew something for me which was when I requested he draw Rachel Alucard from BlazBlue and I felt some connection because of that even though it was a very small interaction.
Next up is Takehito Harada.
http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~u1h/
He, was for the longest time, my favorite artist of all time until I came across Ryusuke Hamamoto. Now his claim to fame is that he was the character artist for the Disgaea series. The thing I was in love with, with his style was the way he colors. This painted line less style along side the petite body type (most of the time) he uses a lot for characters made his work stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately my taste have grown. I use to draw characters in a similar petite body style but after taking life drawing I just can't see any right from my past, anorexic characters. I still enjoy Takehito Harada's character design sense.
Chika Umino
http://www13.plala.or.jp/umino/
Chika Umino is known for creating the manga Honey and Clover which was adapted into one of my favorite animes of all time. She is also the character designer for Eden of the East. I won't lie some elements of my current new style comes from her. Even the laid back down to earth feel in some cases. I think the most obvious design aspect I got from her work is how I draw noses which I really love.
Satoko Kiyuduki
https://www.google.com/search?q=satoko+kiyuduki&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=zmW&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=7X1IT6K7LIiTiQKXiL3aDQ&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1150&bih=644 (because I can't find an official blog or site of hers)
She is known for her character designs in Yggdra Union and her two manga series G.A. Geijutsuka Art Design Class (one of my personal favorites) and Shoulder A Coffin Kuro. Geijustuka was adapted into a decent anime which I enjoy but not as much as the manga. I really enjoy her character design sense especially in her fantasy work. A lot of exaggerations like in the eyes or how characters with glasses would have them worn extremely low on the face but huge and round at the same time. I wish I could draw eyes like she does but I'm too use to making them tall and narrow. The round eyes I draw were inspired by her style as well as Ryusuke Hamamoto.
Alex Ahad
http://skullgirls.com/ http://oh8.deviantart.com/
Alex is probably best known for creating Skullgirls, the awesome fighting game that is coming out some time very soon as of the the publication of this article. He has a style that screams "his own." It's a melting pot of his inspirations from east meets west to monsters and cute but still disturbing monsters. I wish I could draw like he does but my mind just can't accept me drawing such exaggerated proportions and such plus I'm satisfied with my style and how it's practically my own. I wouldn't want to be a copy of Alex here now. I've seen Alex in person while test playing Skullgirls when they were demoing it at Comic Con some time ago but I never got to converse with him being that he was in the middle of a conversation and I didn't want to be rude.
Omar Dogan
http://omar-dogan.deviantart.com/
Omar is just an incredible artist. I love his sense of realism but how he still manages to keep it in the anime realm. Of course me being a big fighting game fan, I just absolutely love his Street Fighter art and such. His work is very clean and beautifully executed. I also like how he enjoys conversing with his fans and such. When he use to do a lot of drawing streams he would talk with the viewers while working on his artwork which brought more of a connection to him and his viewers. He is also one of the artist I have met in person even though I just said "Hey I'm a big fan of your work" type deal. I love how he draws hands I think some of my ability to draw hands comes from him in some way.
Mark Crilley
http://www.markcrilley.com/
If there is one person who is great at keeping in touch with people who appreciate his work it would be Mark Crilley. Known for creating the mangas Miki Falls and Brody's Ghost, he is an artist who loves to share his wisdom and it's something I respect highly of him and I hope to someday do the same with my Youtube channel. He is an outstanding artist. Much like Omar Dogan, he too has a very clean and excellently executed style, but I feel the Mark is more down to earth in his style than Omar.
Chamba Jeffrey Cruz
http://lastscionz.deviantart.com/
Chamba has an original comic out known as Randomveus. I love his dynamic style and his cel-shading. I hope to develop a similar cel-shading style as he does because it is incredible. He also has some wicked ideas especially when you look at Randomveus .
Bara-chan Rose Besch
http://barachan.com/
Bara-chan is one of the first artist that sort of introduced me to the idea that people as young as me could draw at such a high caliber. She also indirectly introduced me to deviantart along side other artist within the same group of friendship as she. She has a very bright and vibrant style which also has a lot of pop-culture feel to it. I really want to get that urban feel in some of my work as well. She is also an individual that will talk to you and give you advice and she has given me a number of advice through out the years. It was great to finally meet her in person at Anime Expo back in 2010. I wish I got a picture with her and bought a print oh well for sure the next time I run into her at a convention.
Yoshitoshi Abe
http://abworks.blog83.fc2.com/
Another legendary artist who was the character designer for two animes that are up there as my favorites list, Serial Experiment Lain and Haibane Renmei. I just enjoy his attention to detail and the organic feel of his works. I believe the reason his work appears more organic is that he is known to not use rulers. I'd like to make backgrounds like he does some day.
I guess I'll wrap it up for now, but I'd like to continue doing this so this is going to be a multi-parter. I still got a lot of artist to cover.
