Influence Map thingie

Because if everyone else jumped off a bridge, I'd be asking "Which bridge?"

But seriously, I do get this question a lot, so so here's some answers! I tried to keep it mostly focused around my comic work, too, and included my earliest influences as well.

1. Star Wars-- One of my earliest memories is watching this movie with my dad as a kid, and I definitely credit the original trilogy to activating my imagination, interest in art and fantastical places. And hell, read mysticrev--it still continues to inspire me to this day.

2. Record of Lodoss war-- this is the first manga/comic that I ever owned. It was given to me with this suncoast catalogue I think, but in any event I was fascinated by seeing the way they told stories in comic form. This is why I draw elves with giant ears!

3. Magic Knight Rayearth/CLAMP --I actually got into clamp after sailor moon, but there was a square up there so that's why it's ahead. Anyways, MKR for a long time inspired most of my armor designs. I would draw loads of chicks with those funky baubles all over the place, it was awesome.

4. Sailor Moon --My first anime that I actually knew was anime (because I had been a robotech/speedracer/voltron fan as a kid, but didn't think of them as anime so much as 'cartoons'). Sailor moon captured my imagination as a kid because 1. It's all about girls who kick ass! 2. They wear really cute outfits! 3. SHE'S A PRINCESSS AND LIVED ON THE MOON AND HAD A SEXY PRINCE!! My first comic ever was a sailor moon fancomic (about Sailor Star, whose symbol was the atom :rolleyes: ) and you can still see loooooads of sailor moonishness all over my comics XD

5. HR Giger/Aliens --Ok, so I also saw Alien/Aliens when I was a small child, and though I didn't quite get the sexuality of the work, I though that biomechanical stuff giger did was just really cool-looking! So a lot of my early sketch books when not covered in doodles of magical girls were covered in weird giger-esque bio stuff. In fact, you can see giger's influence on a lot of the Mystic Rev creatures!

6. Christina Strain --A new influence! I fell in love with this woman's coloring in Runaways--no matter who the artist, her style would change to adapt to their style, and it was always vibrant gorgeous and innovative. Studying her use of color theory on her pages is what has made the coloring on the newer Mystic Rev pages not suck as much XD

7. Battle Angel Alita --Good god, this guy's art is soooo goood. This book (aside from being AMAZING) totally got me into cyber-punk stuff, and now I can't help but love drawing things super technically and detailed. Maybe someday I can be as awesome as him ;_; Fun fact: The reason Lourdes has those little marks under her eyes is a reference to galley!

8. Dungeons and Dragons/RPGS --Without DnD, there'd be no Aeiryn (she's based on like, ALL the stuffy/pompous/racist elves that my friend Vicky would play, so I made her an alcoholic to poke fun at her). I love RPGs sooo much, and DnD + Baldur's Gate 2 got me into them. I should've probably included FFXI in here somewhere too, because that+DND sourcebooks helped me create the initial world/rules around the Mystic Rev world, but there was only so much space X\

9. Megatoko-- The first webcomic I ever read! And this (specifically the endgames bits) were what inspired me to start putting MR online--actually, in the first incarnation of MR, it was very much like the original MT format--4 panels, gag at the end of the strip. But yeah, I really liked the Endgames stuff and wished he did more of it, and figured that if I liked it a lot that other people would too, and thus, I put my own comic out there! But yeah, Lourdes' original personality was based on Erika, with Ninja kinda based on Largo, though I like to think that they've moved on to become their own people (much like Erika/Largo have evolved and become different characters as well).

10. Berserk --Miura is the greatest living comic artist right now. That's really all there is to it. Also, Toasty was always meant as a kind of poke at Guts, as like 'instead of going insane with anger, he went insane with...insanity!' though now it's a bit more obvious =X But yeah, LOVE Berserk, and really picked up a lot on good crosshatchy technique from this guy.

11. Adam Hughes --Another new influence! His subtle coloring techniques and gorgeous use of color theory totally blows my mind. I'm learning things about coloring with markers studying his sketchbooks, and trying to figure out how to make a more striking color composition by studying his art book!

12. Streetfighter/Darkstalkers/Studio Udon --LOVE these guys. What I dug was that the SF/DS art is really the best blend between the american super-hero style and the japanese manga style--and it looks super cool! Totally helped me draw men. Also, ninja's first outfit was based off Ryu's.

13. Shonen Manga-- Specifically One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Eyeshield 21 and Bleach. If the current arc of MR is any indication, I LOVE shonen comics. Especially One Piece/Hunter x Hunter --story wise they always inspire me to go more over the top, more epic, and more awesome. If anyone's liked the fights in MR, its because these comics push me to be better.

14. Brion Foulke [link] Because whenever I'm stuck on a layout, stuck with a drawing or need help with something, he's always there to help me figure it out and work through it. He also introduced me to many of the influences ON this chart, so I owe the guy a lot <3