Legendary Woodsman

I’m surprised at how verbose I am about this particular topic. I’m usually very reticent. But here’s the rest of my artistic influences:

Influence 6: Joe Madureira

Image comics was formed and so I followed the creators. WildC.A.T.s, Spawn, and Youngblood were the titles I read until I grew tired of the stories (which was very soon after) and I stopped picking up comics entirely. That was until one day in highschool drafting class, a classmate showed me his copy of Astonishing X-Men with art by Joe Madureira.

I was fifteen and drawing cartoon people with big eyes. People would ask me if I was drawing Japanese anime… Sailor Moon was popular at the time and I didn’t really see the connection of what I was drawing and what I saw on TV. But when I saw Madureira’s designs, I saw how I could improve my characters. My cartoon people grew taller and incorporated more human anatomy. Still cartoony, but more heroic proportions than what I was drawing before. When Ninja Scroll was aired on TV, I saw how Madureira’s art was similar to established anime.

My dad tells me that Madureira is a Portuguese name and that I should be able to e-mail Joe and use the ol’ Portuguese network to collaborate with him. I dunno. I’m kinda shy.

Joe Mad Fan Site

Influence 7: Bruce Timm

I must admit, when I first saw Batman: The Animated Series, I wasn’t too thrilled with the character design. But I was young and stupid and my taste matured with age. Even though I was drawing Madureira-inspired characters, I was having trouble with the flow of the characters’ bodies. The Bruce Timm style really helped me figure out how to balance the pose on the page and it was great to see on TV for the Batman, Superman, and Justice League cartoons.

Influence 8: Scott McDaniel

I was in a comic book store and the Chuck Dixon scribed/Scott McDaniel penciled Nightwing comic caught my eye. It was an impulse buy… or it was fate. I fell in love with the sprawling art of Dick Grayson doing acrobatics across a two-page spread and McDaniel’s curvilinear perspective framing the page. I even found great comic creating tips on McDaniel’s webpage.

Influence 9: Darwyn Cooke

This explanation is more irrational. Catwoman, New Frontier, The Spirit, Richard Stark’s Parker. If you don’t love the art that Darwyn Cooke pours onto the pages, you have no soul. Okay, fine… maybe you do have a soul but I’m gaga for Cooke’s art and storytelling.

Darwyn Cooke’s blog.

Influence 10: Eichiro Oda with One Piece

My friend, Steve, was teaching English in Japan and he introduced me to One Piece. It started out as a fun story and developed into an amazing epic. It was great following the anime and then I jumped onto the manga and now I am a dedicated fanatic. Steve gave me my first Color Walk (One Piece art book) and I’ve gone and purchased 2 through 4. I am the proud owner of Portrait of Pirates One Piece figures. On my trip to Japan, I managed to win a Luffy plush from the UFO claw machine.

But what is it of Oda-sensei’s art that influences me? The unique features. It’s Usopp’s nose, Sanji’s eye-brows, Chopper’s hats, and Franky’s… Franky. I want to draw characters with unique features that differentiate them from the rest of the pack. I want to capture that fun feeling in an epic adventure.

One Piece Wiki

What are your artistic influences? You can find the meme here and e-mail me the link to your Influence Map.

-tony