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Description
Old meme is old . . . but I'm cleaning out my hard drive, this is something else I can go ahead and delete now.

Starting at the upper left corner!

Berni(e) Wrightson's "The Reaper of Love"
This collection specifically. Wow! I got it when I was about 12 and it completely knocked me back. I had never seen anyone draw like that, the combination of cartoony, exaggerated poses and meticulous attention to detail. I STILL wish I could draw like that.

Wayne Barlowe's "Guide to Extraterrestrials"
You're going to see a theme developing here: science explaining fantasy. This and "After Man" were the cornerstones of my interest, I think. I'm proud to say that I've now read every book Barlowe mined for sources. Damn, that man can render textures.

"An American Werewolf in London"
Great movie, and along with "The Howling" it kickstarted my interest in special effects tech. I was already into werewolves.

Real life (iguana)
Being up close and personal with real animals is just about the best thing to improve your nature art. My one sister jokes she can tell which cat I'm using as a model for various critters ("That's Aly's tail!").

Re-Animator
It's sick, sick, sick, it's hilarious, and it's absolutely brimming with thinly veiled homoeroticism. No wonder it's just about my all time favorite movie. I tend to write splatschtick style probably because of it.

The Howling
As above, it's the lycanthropic double whammy that made me into a lover of weird cinema.

Manimal
The first 'fanfic' I ever wrote was for animal. Thank whatever god you believe in that the internet didn't exist back then . . . talk about old shame. Still, it got me interested in writing.

The Real Ghostbusters
Quite possibly the best cartoon ever. Lots of weird supernatural critters, fun storylines, pretty smart for a kid's show. Again, science (albeit rubbery) and monsters.

Robert Silverberg and Michael Whelan
A twofer. Silverberg's writing style was a big influence, especially his worldbuilding in the New Springtime books, and Whelan's art was everywhere on sci fi and fantasy book covers, so it can't help but be an influence.

Dougal Dixon's "After Man: A Zoology of the Future"
Look at all the cool monstery animals! And while I was enjoying that, I was learning some basic stuff about ecology and evolution as a little kid. Great stuff.

Clare Bell's "Ratha's Creature"
This came out when I was 9, and I fell instantly in love. A book deep themes, and it influenced me so strongly I grew up to be the new cover illustrator. Full circle!

Rien Poortvliet's "Gnomes"
More science/fantasy. Also, the casual gorgeousness of his art style is something I aspire to.

Dungeons & Dragons
I am such a nerd . . . I didn't actually play it til college, but I loved reading all the manuals. The world I created for my campaign eventually evolved into my pet world-building project, Caranoctia.

Bob Bakker's "The Dinosaur Heresies"
I've always likes dinosaurs, and Bakker's book was an absolute bombshell, and the elegance and conviction of his theories was very refreshing when most dinosaur book regurgitated the same old pictures and theories.

Greg Paul's "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World"
Dinosaurs are real-life monsters . . . Paul's book explained the meat and gristle of giving life to the bones, and I realized I needed to study anatomy pretty damn hard.

John Sibbick
Yes, MORE dinosaurs. I did say I love them, although I hardly ever draw them nowadays. I think that's because I prefer the way they were drawn back then, big and clunky, as opposed to the anorexic, strung-out chickens in Carnivale drag everyone draws nowadays.

Thundarr the Barbarian
It's the future, but it looks like the past - with magic! Yeah, that's pretty much Caranoctia.

Lovecraft
Isn't every nerd influenced by Lovecraft? Yeah, probably. I read a double volume collection of his works when I was a kid, and it left me permanently using $10 words in my purple prose.

Description
Old meme is old . . . but I'm cleaning out my hard drive, this is something else I can go ahead and delete now.

Starting at the upper left corner!

Berni(e) Wrightson's "The Reaper of Love"
This collection specifically. Wow! I got it when I was about 12 and it completely knocked me back. I had never seen anyone draw like that, the combination of cartoony, exaggerated poses and meticulous attention to detail. I STILL wish I could draw like that.

Wayne Barlowe's "Guide to Extraterrestrials"
You're going to see a theme developing here: science explaining fantasy. This and "After Man" were the cornerstones of my interest, I think. I'm proud to say that I've now read every book Barlowe mined for sources. Damn, that man can render textures.

"An American Werewolf in London"
Great movie, and along with "The Howling" it kickstarted my interest in special effects tech. I was already into werewolves.

Real life (iguana)
Being up close and personal with real animals is just about the best thing to improve your nature art. My one sister jokes she can tell which cat I'm using as a model for various critters ("That's Aly's tail!").

Re-Animator
It's sick, sick, sick, it's hilarious, and it's absolutely brimming with thinly veiled homoeroticism. No wonder it's just about my all time favorite movie. I tend to write splatschtick style probably because of it.

The Howling
As above, it's the lycanthropic double whammy that made me into a lover of weird cinema.

Manimal
The first 'fanfic' I ever wrote was for animal. Thank whatever god you believe in that the internet didn't exist back then . . . talk about old shame. Still, it got me interested in writing.

The Real Ghostbusters
Quite possibly the best cartoon ever. Lots of weird supernatural critters, fun storylines, pretty smart for a kid's show. Again, science (albeit rubbery) and monsters.

Robert Silverberg and Michael Whelan
A twofer. Silverberg's writing style was a big influence, especially his worldbuilding in the New Springtime books, and Whelan's art was everywhere on sci fi and fantasy book covers, so it can't help but be an influence.

Dougal Dixon's "After Man: A Zoology of the Future"
Look at all the cool monstery animals! And while I was enjoying that, I was learning some basic stuff about ecology and evolution as a little kid. Great stuff.

Clare Bell's "Ratha's Creature"
This came out when I was 9, and I fell instantly in love. A book deep themes, and it influenced me so strongly I grew up to be the new cover illustrator. Full circle!

Rien Poortvliet's "Gnomes"
More science/fantasy. Also, the casual gorgeousness of his art style is something I aspire to.

Dungeons & Dragons
I am such a nerd . . . I didn't actually play it til college, but I loved reading all the manuals. The world I created for my campaign eventually evolved into my pet world-building project, Caranoctia.

Bob Bakker's "The Dinosaur Heresies"
I've always likes dinosaurs, and Bakker's book was an absolute bombshell, and the elegance and conviction of his theories was very refreshing when most dinosaur book regurgitated the same old pictures and theories.

Greg Paul's "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World"
Dinosaurs are real-life monsters . . . Paul's book explained the meat and gristle of giving life to the bones, and I realized I needed to study anatomy pretty damn hard.

John Sibbick
Yes, MORE dinosaurs. I did say I love them, although I hardly ever draw them nowadays. I think that's because I prefer the way they were drawn back then, big and clunky, as opposed to the anorexic, strung-out chickens in Carnivale drag everyone draws nowadays.

Thundarr the Barbarian
It's the future, but it looks like the past - with magic! Yeah, that's pretty much Caranoctia.

Lovecraft
Isn't every nerd influenced by Lovecraft? Yeah, probably. I read a double volume collection of his works when I was a kid, and it left me permanently using $10 words in my purple prose.