Biggest inspirations for your work?

[jpnakashima]

@Masterman Have you read Scott McCloud's Zot? Great stuff!

@indagold Oh man, Yume Nikki, I was obsessed with it for a while. I feel myself getting down this rabbit hole again, it's been a while since I last played

[Masterman]

Definitely! I picked up some Zot back issues as soon as I read Understanding Comics; later on down the road, I bought the collected edition (which sadly I lost in a house fire, along with 33 years worth of books and comics). But yeah, loved it a ton. Zot actually had one of the earliest LGBTQ characters in comics, and Scott wrote that story beautifully.

[Akhdas]

none.

NOW WHERE'S MY TROPHY I HAVE WON THIS CHALLENGE I AM THE GREATEST OF ALL.

[jpnakashima]

Oh man, sucks about the fire... Happy you're okay though, goddamn!
I also have the collected edition. Sucks that the first issues are not collected, even in b&w, but still, wow, what an amazing run!! I love those ''optimism x cynicism'' stories, and Zot is just so layered and well executed. All the teenager stuff, with sexuality and identity is, as you said, wrote beautifully. McCloud is really a talent to behold, hm? All

[Poodie]

music inspires me most of the time.
but i guess for art style, Naruto, treasure planet, one piece, wolf children, almost every Studio Ghibli and a bunch of webcomics from lezhin.
but Max grecke is my biggest inspiration, this guy is my driving force to pick up a pencil.

(have this weird thing where i unconsciously pick up on certain art styles from different artist, or pick up on things i see everyday and my mind merges these things with my style, so at this point a bunch of things inspire me)

[SlugBomb]

Oh man, Studio Ghibli was the bomb! I should have mentioned Nausicaa as one of my inspiration, just from how cool the Sea of Corruption is.

[SlugBomb]

gasp art thou the fabled wellspring from which all original ideas are borne from???

you get a like

[onyefrankie]

Well for my work posted on Tapas:

• One Punch Man: Saitaima's Character hit me in a way that I didn't expect. I mean this guy is the definition of over-powered so why? But he's so strong and can best all those people and yet, he seems so average and I loved that. He's the main inspiration for my character, Marcus.

• Studio Ghibli: The movies that leaves us wistful, relaxed, smiling, crying and laughing. This is the kind of feelings I want to show through my writing.

• Slavic mythology: Which is basically it. I find mythology of different cultures fascinating but at the time of the book, this was my main obsession.

• Jason Todd: The second Robin always influences my work in one way or the other. This dude is my lifelong hero and that's just about it. Everything he's been to would have ruined others completely and he uses it to fight back. He's my main inspo for the character, Kuzma.

And there's probably more I'm drawing a blank on right now XD

[specticentertainmen]

I'm currently in the process of revising mine but my comic is directly a satire on shounen manga specifically series such as gintama or bleach. it's also an obvious nod at samurai jack which was what originally inspired the idea because it was making a come back right around when I was looking for a simple series I could make.

Samurai Jeff | Tapas

[SlugBomb]

Yeah I have the habit of trying out the art styles of shows or comics I've recently watched/read. My most recent was the cartoon Star vs the Forces of Evil. End product was some weird, awkward bug-eyed mess of a human being.

[Pinwheel]

Biggest inspirations has to come from 2000AD, a good bit of Hellboy and some good old H.P. Lovecraft.

[beta1042]

I think my story is inspired by decades of reading manga, mostly shoujo manga. I'm not sure I can pin it down to one particular story above the rest. I used to love the art of CLAMP when I was growing up, so I know they inspired me to start drawing in the first place.

[Velome]

I have several inspirations divided in both drawing and narrative writing!

I started being inspired by the art of Yusuke Murata and Masakazu Katsura (particularly his art in Zetman). Later I found Vagabond and since then I've been inspired by its inking as well.
(EDIT: although one could barely see my references in art since my drawings suck XP)

In terms of narrative writing, works like 20th Century Boys, 24, and Metal Gear Solid series are my biggest inspirations.

[SlugBomb]

Sounds like you're a fan of thrillers steeped in conspiracies and secret societies.

[Velome]

Yep! and it's not just that: I like all the action and drama involved in that genre too.

[Allanbrito]

genndy tartakovsky!!!! Definitely, that man always inspired me to draw so much. I love Samurai jack and the way that it takes advantage of the graphical aspects to explain a great story with character building and imaginative cituations. I love the outline, that simetric but still unlined thick line stile. I like the thin line also, but for me works more the thick line.

[SlugBomb]

I love that guy too! Glad he managed to finish Samurai Jack.

[Anthien]

Two anime series standout to me as the biggest inspiration for my manga, Faith Academy:

Eureka Seven - I really enjoyed the journey of Renton as he tries to find his place in the world. The characters had depth and the world was very immersive. The relationship between him and Eureka was heartwarming but tragic at times. I want to create a story that's inspirational and able to pull at reader's heartstrings.

One Piece - Basically how long it's gone for, and how much world building and characters the story has. I really liked how well Oda foreshadows his events which inspired me to plan ahead and put Easter eggs. So it made me want to create a super long series with memorable characters that go through a lot of hardships and overcome them.

[LittleMissDevil]

There are a lo of inspirations for my comic The Machinist. Funnily enough a lot of Manga come to mind, even though I am a collector of superhero comics. I would say superhero comics ignited my love for comics in general, but they did not have a big impact on the look or the story of my own work.

More influenceial where:
Battle Angle Alita: The setting of this Manga is not to different from the one, I chose. I loved the world building and the moral ambiguity in this world and I loved the character dynamics between Ido, Alita and Yugo, which inspired me to work on the connections between my characters more. It also opened my eyes to the differences of storytelling and paneling in japanese comics. Something I try to utilize, when I find it fitting.

Ghost in the Shell: It's the artwork. I love the story and the social commentary but it's always the artwork that makes me go back to it. It inspires me to try harder and get better, to learn to draw better backgrounds and everything.

Cartoons or animated movies in general, but specifically Avatar, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Batman Animated, Disney movies... the list goes on. But yeah, the imagination people put into this work and (for the series mentioned) the way they use world building and the connection of their characters. I watch these cartoons and I just want to create. I get this urge to strive to be better, to express myself and am in awe of the joy they bring to me. When I have art block I look at these shows that I love so much. It helps me get back on track.

Last but not least: the webcomics "Alfie" and "Gunnerkrigg Court". Gunnerkrigg Court I love because it shows so well how long running mysteries can be established, how art can evolve through working on a webcomic and how one man can tell his one story over years. It was my first contact with a long running webcomic and the endurance of the author amazes me. This was the point where I thought "I might want to try again to draw a comic" as in the past I have tried and failed. Alfie is an NSFW comic that showed me how well character driven narratives can work and how to build a world through them. It's a great read, with great art and kinky fun and I love how the author uses paneling. It's probably the style of drawing I try to understand the most, even to the point of emulating little things or looking for inspiration when I am unsure on how to panel a page. It's just great work.

Oh man, I have rambled a while. But I have a lot of artists I admire

[akemikae]

Hm, I have quite a few random inspirations for my comic actually. I'm still pretty new to drawing comics (only done one comic for a little over a year), but well, I have a pretty big amount of inspirations I pull from.

First off, I firmly believe in the "write what you know" theory, so I write a lot of situations/characters/plot points off of stuff I've personally experienced or been close with. I find it much easier to make it real and interesting that way.

I really, really try not to grab too many cliches from the manga/comic community, but unfortunately, since I'm new to comics, I KNOW I'm doing some of them anyway. I'll get away from that eventually. Anyway, so my initial idea for my comic was to make a shoujo manga style story but....with two guys falling in love instead. I know, I know. The BL takeover, but I swear, I'm trying my damnedest to make it more similar to a shoujo than I am to the typical BL/yaoi stuff you see everywhere. I'm honestly a huuuuge fan of shoujo manga, so I figured, eh, why not? Just make the love interest also a guy and see where that goes? Some of my favorite shoujo mangas to pull from are Lovely Complex, High School Debut, Horimiya, and Cardcaptor Sakura (yes, I'm counting that as a romance, haha). I DO pull from BL too, but they tend to be the ones that defied the norm, like Doukyuusei and Hidamari ga Kikoeru.

Really though, I just pull from a lot of places, and a lot of it is first from experience, and then from other sources. As far as art goes though? Well, that's for another thread entirely. haha