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I went ahead and put together a few lil things that inspire and influence me on a regular basis (and yes, I am influenced by Bo-BoBo; I'll get to that momentarily).

Yoji Shinkawa, as most of you know is an immensely talented visual artist who has drawn all that Metal Gear cover art we see. I've always been in love with how he uses shadows to bring his pictures to life--ever since I was a kid I've been amazed at how rugged and bold his drawings were.

Bruce Timm's art has, again, been a tremendous inspiration to me. I grew up watching Batman The Animated Series and I always admired the sharp, pointy looks he gave to all the characters. The broad shoulders on the men and the wide hips on the women have always stood out as some of my favorite aspects of the anatomy he draws.

Paper Mario, and Mario in general has helped inspire me in various ways. Growing up, I didn't really have much of a social experience; I had video games, particularly Mario games. Paper Mario stood out as one of the first games that I felt safe with--it helped me cope with anxiety and bad feelings I'd feel from time to time. I always enjoyed just wandering around and exploring the worlds in the Mario series, as they were somewhat of an escape into a place where I couldn't be hurt. Similarly, Paper Mario is what got me into drawing! Of course I was scribbling and stuff most of my early childhood, but it was not until I had played Paper Mario when I started experimenting more often with my drawing skills.

Bo-BoBo. Should I say more? I watched this when I was younger, and it gave me so many creative ideas since it was an aggressive breath of fresh air for me. I say that because the only animes I really watched were Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha, Dragon Ball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho--aside from Dragon Ball, most of these animes were EXTREMELY dark to me at that age. I couldn't handle that for whatever reason, and once I saw Bo-BoBo, it made me realize how anime can be just dorky, stupid fun. Basically it was another Paper Mario instance for me, as I watched Bo-BoBo pretty much every time it aired on the weekends back when it was first showing. It also provided me with reassurance that I could get away with making my own goofy fictitious characters.

FOOD. Okay so yeah, we all love food, especially desserts (at least for me). I love to cook; I love to prepare dinners and bake sweets from scratch--it gives me a sense of accomplishment knowing that I can make great tasting and good looking dishes. I grew up watching my grandma cook, and I always wanted to follow in her footsteps. She taught me the basics and I have since taken it from there and adapted my own methods of preparing certain foods. I love love love to make homemade cinnamon rolls, pies, and a really good burger.

Undertale is another influential video game for me. While this has only recently been introduced to me back in 2015, it served as quite the emotional experience. All of the characters were completely unique, the music made me feel immediately nostalgic, and the story itself was breathtaking and captivating, especially near the end (no spoilers though)! I think each of the characters gives us all something to relate to, and that helps me when determining a sense of self.

Korn has always and forever will be one of the most distinct bands out there--their album "Issues" in particular is one of my absolute favorites. I always listen to this whenever I'm feeling out of place, or even when I'm working on art. Yes, to those of you out there wondering what I listen to to fuel my creativity whenever I draw Lara Ravencroft, here ya go.

SPLATOON OH GOD it has taken over my life. All the colors, all the characters--it's so cute. I just, can't get enough of the vivid colors, help.

Lara Croft. Growing up, I always used to watch my dad play Tomb Raider. From TR1 to Last Revelation (we started renting them after the PS2 came out and didn't play through them all the way), I was exposed to the badass female role model that was Lara Croft. She was literally just female Solid Snake (basically my childhood hero next to Mario). This game really got me into the idea of exploration (which was also fostered by playing Super Mario 64 and Paper Mario).

GAME GRUMPS is a show about two dorks who sit on a couch and play video games and make penis jokes. Honestly since they started back in 2012 with JonTron, I've watched their videos and they've helped me through some tough times. Honestly I think their Kirby and Mario Sunshine series have made this world a better place to live in. Anytime I'm in a good mood, I get more artistically motivated.

Homestuck -- the webcomic by Andrew Hussie that turned us all into mindless slaves. I've known about it like, forever and a half but only recently got into reading it 2 years ago back when my fiancee and I first got together. I'm really glad she introduced me to it cos it's like, I mean, clowns and Fruit Gushers and memes and cakes and more clowns and spider 8a8es and 1LL SL4M PO3TRY and honks and fAyGo and (o:

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Influence map template:

All art above belongs to its respective owners.

Description
Meme by

I went ahead and put together a few lil things that inspire and influence me on a regular basis (and yes, I am influenced by Bo-BoBo; I'll get to that momentarily).

Yoji Shinkawa, as most of you know is an immensely talented visual artist who has drawn all that Metal Gear cover art we see. I've always been in love with how he uses shadows to bring his pictures to life--ever since I was a kid I've been amazed at how rugged and bold his drawings were.

Bruce Timm's art has, again, been a tremendous inspiration to me. I grew up watching Batman The Animated Series and I always admired the sharp, pointy looks he gave to all the characters. The broad shoulders on the men and the wide hips on the women have always stood out as some of my favorite aspects of the anatomy he draws.

Paper Mario, and Mario in general has helped inspire me in various ways. Growing up, I didn't really have much of a social experience; I had video games, particularly Mario games. Paper Mario stood out as one of the first games that I felt safe with--it helped me cope with anxiety and bad feelings I'd feel from time to time. I always enjoyed just wandering around and exploring the worlds in the Mario series, as they were somewhat of an escape into a place where I couldn't be hurt. Similarly, Paper Mario is what got me into drawing! Of course I was scribbling and stuff most of my early childhood, but it was not until I had played Paper Mario when I started experimenting more often with my drawing skills.

Bo-BoBo. Should I say more? I watched this when I was younger, and it gave me so many creative ideas since it was an aggressive breath of fresh air for me. I say that because the only animes I really watched were Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha, Dragon Ball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho--aside from Dragon Ball, most of these animes were EXTREMELY dark to me at that age. I couldn't handle that for whatever reason, and once I saw Bo-BoBo, it made me realize how anime can be just dorky, stupid fun. Basically it was another Paper Mario instance for me, as I watched Bo-BoBo pretty much every time it aired on the weekends back when it was first showing. It also provided me with reassurance that I could get away with making my own goofy fictitious characters.

FOOD. Okay so yeah, we all love food, especially desserts (at least for me). I love to cook; I love to prepare dinners and bake sweets from scratch--it gives me a sense of accomplishment knowing that I can make great tasting and good looking dishes. I grew up watching my grandma cook, and I always wanted to follow in her footsteps. She taught me the basics and I have since taken it from there and adapted my own methods of preparing certain foods. I love love love to make homemade cinnamon rolls, pies, and a really good burger.

Undertale is another influential video game for me. While this has only recently been introduced to me back in 2015, it served as quite the emotional experience. All of the characters were completely unique, the music made me feel immediately nostalgic, and the story itself was breathtaking and captivating, especially near the end (no spoilers though)! I think each of the characters gives us all something to relate to, and that helps me when determining a sense of self.

Korn has always and forever will be one of the most distinct bands out there--their album "Issues" in particular is one of my absolute favorites. I always listen to this whenever I'm feeling out of place, or even when I'm working on art. Yes, to those of you out there wondering what I listen to to fuel my creativity whenever I draw Lara Ravencroft, here ya go.

SPLATOON OH GOD it has taken over my life. All the colors, all the characters--it's so cute. I just, can't get enough of the vivid colors, help.

Lara Croft. Growing up, I always used to watch my dad play Tomb Raider. From TR1 to Last Revelation (we started renting them after the PS2 came out and didn't play through them all the way), I was exposed to the badass female role model that was Lara Croft. She was literally just female Solid Snake (basically my childhood hero next to Mario). This game really got me into the idea of exploration (which was also fostered by playing Super Mario 64 and Paper Mario).

GAME GRUMPS is a show about two dorks who sit on a couch and play video games and make penis jokes. Honestly since they started back in 2012 with JonTron, I've watched their videos and they've helped me through some tough times. Honestly I think their Kirby and Mario Sunshine series have made this world a better place to live in. Anytime I'm in a good mood, I get more artistically motivated.

Homestuck -- the webcomic by Andrew Hussie that turned us all into mindless slaves. I've known about it like, forever and a half but only recently got into reading it 2 years ago back when my fiancee and I first got together. I'm really glad she introduced me to it cos it's like, I mean, clowns and Fruit Gushers and memes and cakes and more clowns and spider 8a8es and 1LL SL4M PO3TRY and honks and fAyGo and (o:

-----------------------------------------

Influence map template:

All art above belongs to its respective owners.