Artistic Inspirations

CKutalik over at Hill Cantons and Steven Poag have raised some interesting discussion about art in the OSR. As an artist, of course such discussions are of great interest to me. When I was growing up I LOVED comics and my most fervent dream was to be a comic book artist (a desire that I think that has never really left me except for the fact that doing sequential art is very time consuming and laborious). In High School and College, I was an art student and I broadened my scope quite a bit as far as art interests. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I really admire RPG and Comic artists that break the traditional or expected norms of the genre and strike out on their own. Ultimately, I hope to leave an impression with my work that is beyond the typical fantasy fare (which I feel that I have not yet attained but I’m working on it). I have a ton of artists that inspire me and keep me striving to better my work. My personal favorites in comics are guys like Mike Mignola, Jack Kirby, Mike Allred , (Guy Davis), Eric Powell, Joe Sacco, Michael Kupperman, among others (oh, if you haven’t check out Fantagraphic Books – they have some great stuff that flies beneath the radar of mainstream comics). Each of these guys has a distinctive style and vision that really carries over and inspires me to achieve that in my own work. Further afield from comics, I have a wide range of artistic interests and influences such as guys like Raymond Pettibon, Sam3, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, BLU, Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, (Rev. Howard Finster), Robert Smith , Keith Haring and many, many, many more.
I think there are a lot of great artists in the OSR (I've mentioned them a few times but guys like McDevitt, Glad, Poag, Mullen, ATOM, and so many more). I’m excited to watch everyone develop and come into their own. It’s really exciting to be able to participate and I hope you’ve enjoyed my work even a fraction as much as I’ve enjoyed making it!