One of the blog suggestions I got a couple weeks ago was asking about my influences/inspirations for individual pieces.
I thought it would be interesting to talk about here because all that has changed so drastically in the last several years, both in school and more recently.
In school I was kind of a workshop junkie. I really enjoyed learning as much about the basics of drawing, painting, composition, design, etc., etc. as I could. I didn’t have a specific way of working that I felt compelled to do over and over.
This isn’t to say that I didn’t have my own way of doing things; I definitely had a strong personality flowing through everything, but there was much more of a direct influence from outside sources going on, whether it was a teacher or a famous artist, and of course some of my friends from school.
In “Who’s Who” on the left, I purposely used fewer lines to outline things. I continued this experiment on the “Social Misfits” piece on the right, but also tried to improve the drawing and some experimentation with gradients.
And I think that’s all good. I’m the type of person who loves a lot of variety. I like playing around with different types of images, ways of telling stories, and tonalities… more so than most people perhaps, but thankfully not so much that I’m unable to express something more unique to myself.
I think that modeling ourselves after people who have the types of careers we admire is extremely important to our artistic and career development.
I actually have two categories of people who I consider “heroes” in art; there are the businessmen who’s careers I am inspired by, and there are the artists whose work makes me want to keep striving.
Some examples of artist businessmen I like are Charles Schulz, Walt Disney, and Todd McFarlane. All three of them were tenacious in their drive to create empires out of their art*, and unfortunately some other individuals were adversely affected in the process. But regardless, I respect their drive to create what they envisioned on a world-wide scale.
The less “anatomical” and more “cartoony” way I drew the ghost in “Yukki-Onna” (left) was one of my favorite drawings and inspired a similar take on many other pieces, such as the opening page of “Shot At Glory” (right).
Examples of people who’s work has inspired me is a far longer list. Degas’ sculptures, Rubens’ voluminous drawings, Manet’s life-sized portraits, Schiele’s aggressive line, Leyendecker’s perfectionism, Rockwell’s rich storytelling, Robert Weaver’s rawness, down to the tenacious spirit and drive of some of my contemporaries (who I’m fortunate enough to also call friends), like James Jean, Tomer Hanuka, Nathan Fox, Jillian Tamaki, Sam Weber, and Josh Cochran. Along with many others…
While it comes down to there being a ton of individuals who influence different aspects of my art, what I gather from most of them is a higher standard to hold myself to; that is, when I look at the works of these people I see them as a duty to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with.
Sometimes that doesn’t work out, but I consider this stuff to be a journey. Every failed experiment is a brick in my castle. These folks are who keep me striving to do it even better the next time.
But as far as specific influences on my work, took a long, long time and many, many failures to get to a point where the work itself drove the next piece (some call this “style,” but I hate that word).
The general aesthetic of Swordsman Monsterslayer (left) is what sparked where the aesthetic of my work today. “Umberto Eco” (right) was the first successful attempt at this, in my opinion. While I am proud of this piece, I feel like I’ve come a long, long way since then.
The work I do now came directly from an experimental comic I did back in the Spring of 2006, called Swordsman Monsterslayer. While developing my portfolio in a serious attempt at doing editorial illustration, I tried many times to recreate the look and feel that the comic had, before finally nailing it the way I wanted in Winter of ’06 as something I wanted to continue developing.
Every piece has its own successes and weaknesses, and every piece ideally will have chances taken and will inspire an experiment for the next piece.
Over time, things build with a kind of snowball effect, and a lot of times the inspiration for a new illustration is one I did a little while back, but this time I think I can do a little better.
In the “Backyard Camping” piece on the left, I experimented with adding tonal gradations in charcoal, and softening some of the lines with eraser afterward. In this piece on the right for Delta Sky Magazine, I tried to take both experiments further and even use more subtle lighting techniques, but ultimately was too crazy for the result, and have since backed off on those techniques.
Lately I’ve been pushing through what I feel are strong growing pains, trying to get my work to the next level, and while I think it’s working, I also think there’s a long way to go.
It’s really exciting to me that I have no idea what my work will look like just a few years from now. One thing I know for sure is that it will be stronger and more unique to my vision.
Thanks for reading,
frank.
*These guys are all people I’ve read or watched biographies of. On Amazon:
Charles Schulz
Walt Disney
Todd McFarlane
20 Comments
Add Yours →great post Frank!
Yup, I agree. Growings pains can be very addicting.
great read sir!
i would have never thought that
Todd McFarlane is an important influence to you, but there you go.
From a business perspective, he really did some interesting things i guess.
I agree about Todd’s commercial sense for sure. Whether you like his style or not the guy can draw a bit too 😉
As a fairly recent grad crawling my way through the arse end of the industry I can definitely identify with the growing pains.
Great work, great article as usual.
Thanks for posting this.
A comforting and inspiring insight into your development. Love the varied early work. I have no idea what my work will look like from one day to the next at the moment but am enjoying the difficulties of my own growth spurts.
Very interesting read, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Being in artschool right now, I’m constantly surrounded by new things that inspire and influence me.. it can get quite confusing at times. I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I should just roll with it and try different things in my work, rather than limiting myself to one approach, that might turn out to be something I’m not even that interested in in the long run. I guess that what school’s for: trying new things and learning the basics.
cheers!
Yes indeed, Schiele and Rockwell; I see these influences in your work…Fascinating blog!!! Thanks for sharing!
Bridget
thanks for the post Frank! I’m real interested in seeing clearer images of the old school basketball player and schoolgirl image up top.
That’s the funny too, since McFarlane is the reason I got into art. I’ve had “The Devil You Know” DVD since it came out years ago.
awesome post Frank, I really love the second part that you did for the camping in the wilderness scene. i always make note of your image angles and i love it when you capture the image from the drastic on the “ground shot.”
I really love seeing your older work especially the pre-2006 stuff, your a very prime example of how an artist needs to always strive for more and how “styles” are ever changing. I was wondering earlier, in regards to your older work, when you got out of college did you just jump right into freelance illustration or did you mentor/have an internship with anyone to put you on track towards the success’s your achieving now? Also, how about when did you change from using washes and inks for your freelance jobs, to primarily using digital color/mixed media.
sorry i ask so many questions 0.o
-Steve
hey Frank, just wanted to let you know that a lot of us looming in the undergrowth really REALLY appreciate everything that you share with us. i still can't get over how great your "different kinds of student" post was a while back
thanks for everything!
<3 Grim Wilkins.
frank- great read. i do have one question though. why did you say you didn’t like the tonal gradations you used in the delta sky magazine? i think that piece is extremely strong, especially the use of this technique in the figure in the background and the sky.
Big fan of your art, and you write just as well. Great read thanks for sharing.
i’m even more of a fan after reading such an awesome post! for a lot of creative types like me who are only just stepping into the real world, it’s really cool to hear about the journey of one of my heroes.
PS. was your Swordsman Monsterslayer comic a personal project? And do you find the time to do as much personal work now that you’ve got a consistent stream of editorial projects?
looking forward to more great stuff, cheers!
Hey Pal,
Thanks so much for spilling your guts like that. I admire people who are able to express themselves so well. I truly appreciate hearing…well reading all the words your wrote.
Only being a little over a year I am constantly thinking about that stuff. I think it’s interesting to read about your contemporary influences because mine are similar but I must admit that I definitely have to add you MY list. It’s people like you, Josh, James Jean, Marcos Chin, Yuko Shimizu and many others that I want to push myself to become better and better all the time. I have a long way to go to swim with the big fish but I figure just jump in the deep end right? Isn’t that the best way to learn how to swim.
Thanks for posting this post. Much appreciated. Take care.
Michael Byers.
thanks so much for this really in depth look at where your work has come from and how you’ve changed in the way you think about your work.
i’ve been struggling with this recently and so much has to do with the way artists find success in being true to what they and some find it through constant experimentation and changing what it is that they do. but we can see that each piece has elements of both and that there’s a balance that tips one way or the other. either way, thanks. i’ve been thinking about it a lot.
Thanks for the comments and great feedback, everyone. I’m glad this blog is helpful or inspirational to some of you.
diantres – thanks
griselda – I agree!
andreas – McFarlane was never much of an artistic influence on me, but he’s done some really cool stuff, from creating the Spawn comic to single-handedly revolutionizing the the action figure toy industry.
reeko – good luck and stick it out!
roland – just keep going and it’ll work itself out.
nachnoodles – yes, indeed.
puente / bridget – you’re welcome.
francis vallejo – I just got the Devil You Know about 6 months ago. It wasn’t as eye opening as the Disney or Schulz books, but still enjoyable.
steve – Glad you like the older stuff. I’ve largely tried to keep it all under wraps for the last couple of years because it’s not what I’m selling as a commercial artist right now. My student work was all in ink, acrylic, and oil, but I’ve never done that for freelance work; it’s always been digital coloring. And I didn’t have a mentor, I just jumped in. Maybe I’ll explain that better in a future post.
grim – thanks! I think that may have been my best “thinker” post.
anonymous – I just wasn’t feeling it. I might get back to it later though.
michael mikolon – thanks!
do yeah media – glad to hear it’s helpful to you.
Swordsman Monsterslayer is a personal thing I have been neglecting for a couple of years now. I will get it done in time though, promise. I don’t have enough free time to do personal work these days, so I end up taking the editorial work pretty seriously. Still, I have to make the time…
michael byers – yes, jump into the deep end! If you like Marcos Chin’s work, he’s going to be giving a lecture at the Society of Illustrators here in New York very soon. You should look into it.
tim durning – thanks, it’s a mess sometimes, but I’m trying to figure things out as I go along.
guy parkhomenko – you’re welcome!
–frank
Yes I second everything posted here! Seeing your progression all the way up to that last piece is really interesting. I can see your influences in the work, but moreso I see your unique approach coming through especially in the later pieces. You take aspects of what you like from other artists and make your own statement.
Also It’s great to hear the dialogue you go through with yourself on each piece, what you did right, what you did wrong, and what you want to try the next time.
As always, I’m looking forward to your next post!
Always inspiring come here, Frank.
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