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Description
This was a ginormous challenge for me. I could have filled in one of the influence map memes that exist; but that just seemed too simple, I guess. Besides, I wanted to try and make myself draw different face structures. I hadn't even thought about the lion... As you'll see, most of these influences are actually progressions in Sebrina's character development. But she is one of my oldest characters, so...yeah.

Clockwise from top right:
The Chronicles of Narnia: So, here we see Aslan, the Great Lion, from C.S. Lewis' epic saga. This was my first introduction to the medieval fantasy genre as a child and was therefore responsible for my later fascination with Lord of the Rings, The Tower of Geburah, and other related stories. Of course, when I was a child, I pronounced it "nar-NAY-uh" because "NAR-nee-ah" sounded silly to me. The Disney/Walden Media production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was largely responsible for my Aldorian Chronicles book; after seeing that movie, I wrote that book in under a year, which is a personal record.
Celtic art: Specifically knotwork, jewelry, and music. Celtic Woman remains one of the most emotive musical groups I have heard (of course, I'm also fascinated by E.S. Posthumus, John Williams, Within Temptation...yeah, about that...), and I've always loved the intricate designs of the knotwork. Some of my classmates make fun of me for being "one of those hippies who goes to Renaissance festivals," but I love 'em. Seriously fascinated by all of it. And yes, I know there are mistakes in the knotwork I drew. I got a little carried away with the complexity of the design.
Harry Potter: I chose the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD jacket as a reference because I didn't get interested in the series until the third book had been released. It was a series of Harry Potter-themed roleplaying games (and one long-term game in particular) that really developed Sebrina's personality and character. It's probably also where my recurring "two guys and a girl" dynamic came from--as some of you may have noticed, I've used it more than once. And some of you may also know that I've been accused more than once of being too much like Hermione Granger.
Supernatural: Damn you, Eric Kripke, for using "Highway to Hell" in your pilot episode. I haven't been able to stop watching since. If there was any doubt in anyone's mind as to why Josie and her brothers are the way they are, here it is. The idea of the Seward siblings and Josie's condition as "not dead" existed long before that pilot aired, but this really resurrected the story and helped to flesh out the characters a little more, as well as offering an explanation for Josie's condition. Jason and Jesse Seward are not Dean and Sam Winchester, but seeing them do their thing has helped me to imagine Jason and Jesse doing theirs. (And no, Qaphsiel is not Castiel. For one thing, Qaphsiel is not a corny angel-of-the-day. )
Charmed: I was nine years old when this series started (gawdz, that was a long time ago!) and thought it was so fascinating because it was about women with magic powers. While the later seasons involving Paige are what I remember better, the original aim of the show as three women fighting evil and demons established Sebrina's original status as an epic demon-fighter (with three aunts...coincidence? ). Of course, Sebrina's aunts are not the Charmed Ones; for one thing, Sebrina's aunts are evil. But it still left a lasting impression on my ideas about what a person with supernatural powers should do with them.
~Tsutyfoni-Chan : Chibi-chan basically taught me how to draw. And she's been my faithful pep squad through all the craziness of my creative career. I always enjoy hearing her input on characters, even if I sometimes do things to spite her (for instance, I know Damien drives her nuts but I write him anyway ); but I make up for it by appeasing her inner fangirl at other times (because of her, Aaron McNeille is still in Purgatory, although I'd considered phasing him out). And she suggested I watch The Silence of the Lambs, after which I scrapped nearly the entire plotline of Sebrina's story. So kudos to you, Chibi. You've saved some of my series' from death by boredom.
Jewelry: While the jewelry pictured here is Galadriel's headpiece from the Lord of the Rings movies (an allusion to their influence as well), one of my very earliest successful stories was based on jewelry. My fifth-grade teacher had us each write a story based on the phrase "Suddenly I saw..." and challenged us to decide what we'd suddenly seen and what happened next. She gave us little books in which to write and illustrate our stories, but my story (based on a playground game) became so complex and involved that I had no room for illustrations and in fact had to insert extra pages just to get it all to fit. Three girls "suddenly see" a ghost at the end of the street which sucks them into an alternate dimension by placing three gemstone hearts around their necks. One girl gets an emerald, one girl gets a sapphire, and the third gets a cubic zirconia (not a diamond; I wanted to be different ); and the three gemstones had magic powers intended to save this strange new world from a great evil. The only illustration I wound up using was a map of the world, which I eventually modified (keeping most of the original place names) to become the map for Aldor in The Aldorian Chronicles. Totally different story, but still worked.

And this isn't even all of my influences! I had almost no opportunity to mention the music (which has shaped more scenes than I care to admit), nor Star Wars (responsible for virtually all of The Four Apprentices), nor The Sword in the Stone or Merlin (Gwen, obviously), nor...wow. I must be a very malleable mind, for I am influenced by a lot of things.

Want to learn to draw that lion? Visit this great YouTube tutorial I used: [link] . References obviously used for the portraits, though not always to great success. All you pretty people (Emma Watson, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, ~Tsutyfoni-Chan )...may you fall face-first into a pile of smelly gym socks. You are ridiculously difficult to draw.

Description
This was a ginormous challenge for me. I could have filled in one of the influence map memes that exist; but that just seemed too simple, I guess. Besides, I wanted to try and make myself draw different face structures. I hadn't even thought about the lion... As you'll see, most of these influences are actually progressions in Sebrina's character development. But she is one of my oldest characters, so...yeah.

Clockwise from top right:
The Chronicles of Narnia: So, here we see Aslan, the Great Lion, from C.S. Lewis' epic saga. This was my first introduction to the medieval fantasy genre as a child and was therefore responsible for my later fascination with Lord of the Rings, The Tower of Geburah, and other related stories. Of course, when I was a child, I pronounced it "nar-NAY-uh" because "NAR-nee-ah" sounded silly to me. The Disney/Walden Media production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was largely responsible for my Aldorian Chronicles book; after seeing that movie, I wrote that book in under a year, which is a personal record.
Celtic art: Specifically knotwork, jewelry, and music. Celtic Woman remains one of the most emotive musical groups I have heard (of course, I'm also fascinated by E.S. Posthumus, John Williams, Within Temptation...yeah, about that...), and I've always loved the intricate designs of the knotwork. Some of my classmates make fun of me for being "one of those hippies who goes to Renaissance festivals," but I love 'em. Seriously fascinated by all of it. And yes, I know there are mistakes in the knotwork I drew. I got a little carried away with the complexity of the design.
Harry Potter: I chose the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD jacket as a reference because I didn't get interested in the series until the third book had been released. It was a series of Harry Potter-themed roleplaying games (and one long-term game in particular) that really developed Sebrina's personality and character. It's probably also where my recurring "two guys and a girl" dynamic came from--as some of you may have noticed, I've used it more than once. And some of you may also know that I've been accused more than once of being too much like Hermione Granger.
Supernatural: Damn you, Eric Kripke, for using "Highway to Hell" in your pilot episode. I haven't been able to stop watching since. If there was any doubt in anyone's mind as to why Josie and her brothers are the way they are, here it is. The idea of the Seward siblings and Josie's condition as "not dead" existed long before that pilot aired, but this really resurrected the story and helped to flesh out the characters a little more, as well as offering an explanation for Josie's condition. Jason and Jesse Seward are not Dean and Sam Winchester, but seeing them do their thing has helped me to imagine Jason and Jesse doing theirs. (And no, Qaphsiel is not Castiel. For one thing, Qaphsiel is not a corny angel-of-the-day. )
Charmed: I was nine years old when this series started (gawdz, that was a long time ago!) and thought it was so fascinating because it was about women with magic powers. While the later seasons involving Paige are what I remember better, the original aim of the show as three women fighting evil and demons established Sebrina's original status as an epic demon-fighter (with three aunts...coincidence? ). Of course, Sebrina's aunts are not the Charmed Ones; for one thing, Sebrina's aunts are evil. But it still left a lasting impression on my ideas about what a person with supernatural powers should do with them.
~Tsutyfoni-Chan : Chibi-chan basically taught me how to draw. And she's been my faithful pep squad through all the craziness of my creative career. I always enjoy hearing her input on characters, even if I sometimes do things to spite her (for instance, I know Damien drives her nuts but I write him anyway ); but I make up for it by appeasing her inner fangirl at other times (because of her, Aaron McNeille is still in Purgatory, although I'd considered phasing him out). And she suggested I watch The Silence of the Lambs, after which I scrapped nearly the entire plotline of Sebrina's story. So kudos to you, Chibi. You've saved some of my series' from death by boredom.
Jewelry: While the jewelry pictured here is Galadriel's headpiece from the Lord of the Rings movies (an allusion to their influence as well), one of my very earliest successful stories was based on jewelry. My fifth-grade teacher had us each write a story based on the phrase "Suddenly I saw..." and challenged us to decide what we'd suddenly seen and what happened next. She gave us little books in which to write and illustrate our stories, but my story (based on a playground game) became so complex and involved that I had no room for illustrations and in fact had to insert extra pages just to get it all to fit. Three girls "suddenly see" a ghost at the end of the street which sucks them into an alternate dimension by placing three gemstone hearts around their necks. One girl gets an emerald, one girl gets a sapphire, and the third gets a cubic zirconia (not a diamond; I wanted to be different ); and the three gemstones had magic powers intended to save this strange new world from a great evil. The only illustration I wound up using was a map of the world, which I eventually modified (keeping most of the original place names) to become the map for Aldor in The Aldorian Chronicles. Totally different story, but still worked.

And this isn't even all of my influences! I had almost no opportunity to mention the music (which has shaped more scenes than I care to admit), nor Star Wars (responsible for virtually all of The Four Apprentices), nor The Sword in the Stone or Merlin (Gwen, obviously), nor...wow. I must be a very malleable mind, for I am influenced by a lot of things.

Want to learn to draw that lion? Visit this great YouTube tutorial I used: [link] . References obviously used for the portraits, though not always to great success. All you pretty people (Emma Watson, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, ~Tsutyfoni-Chan )...may you fall face-first into a pile of smelly gym socks. You are ridiculously difficult to draw.