Artists are influenced by just about anything – their life, environment, childhood, school, work, television, movies, other artists, etc. I think everything we see and experience in life influences our art in some way, whether directly or indirectly.
All artists have influences, whether we want to admit it or not. Of course, some things may influence our art more than others.
My personal influences come from my surroundings, present and past experiences, and my favorite artists.
I have been asking artists the above simple question in the artist spotlight.
Listed below are 10 artists from the artist spotlight. Some have answered this question, and their responses are included here.
- Velvet Tetrault
Arizona, USA
Style: realism
Mediums: Acrylic, Oil
Influences:
My earliest influences were from artists at Science Fiction Worldcons. My favorite artists were Frank Frazetta and Boris. I was also influenced greatly by Dali. This is when my love of realism and surrealism began.
Thomas Woodruff’s Circus of the Absurd has been an imaginative influence on me. I have watched Jerry Yarnell videos since 1990, and his methods and instruction have had a major influence on my techniques.Quinten Gregory instruction on landscapes has also had a heavy influence on my landscape painting. I have been learning about grisaille and chiaroscuro through video and text, and this has prompted me to strive toward more still-life and figurative work in the chiaroscuro and grisaille methods. I became interested in these methods from looking at old Masters paintings.
- Helga McLeod
South Africa
Style: “Depending on the day/subject. Mostly my painting is to create a feeling.”
Mediums: Watercolor
Influences:
I love looking at art and photography on the internet. They mostly always move me or influence what I do next.
- Jody Smith
United States
Style: impressionistic
Mediums: Pastel, mixed media,oils
Influences:
I have always like Monet’s paintings. I am influenced by many current artists who can show beauty, light and emotion in their paintings.
- Susan Prinz
United States
Style: abstract
Mediums: acrylic, pastel, oils, mixed media
Your mind is your canvas
. When was the last time you sat quietly by yourself and thought of what you would like in your life and meditated on what you would like to bring into your life right now? Most of us don’t make a habit of taking time out for ourselves and imagining, and contemplating what would really make us happy in our lives. I am here to tell you that by recreating in your mind how you would like your life to be you have redemptive power.
- Stephen Quick
Bristol UK
Style: Post Modern Pop Art, Live painting, Post Modern Satire and Speed Painting Videos.
Mediums: Acrylic paint, watercolour, paint pens, household paint, spray paint and video
Influences:
Kubrick, Lennon, Warhol, Jovi, Whedon everything I see…. Todd McFarlane made me want to be an artist, Kubrick made me want to film the world and Warhol gave me an artistic concept I could get on board with.
- Maryssa Anne
North Carolina, US
Style: Abstract realism. Grunge
Mediums: Watercolor, Acrylic, Graphite
Influences:
Agnes Cecile…
Books, movies, news, Tumblr. Pretty much anything I see on the internet or news that affect me. Also my own personal things I am experiencing contribute.
- Alan Derrick
Alabama, USA
Style: 3D Metal Pop Art
Mediums: Paint on steel over panel
Influences:
When I was young, I worked for my father unpacking GE appliances for display in his furniture and appliance store. I noticed that the appliances were splattered with black and white paint specs on the back. I thought that was an attractive finish. So, 30 years later, when I was trying to figure out how to paint my art, I figured that I would do the same thing since I only messed things up when I tried to paint with a brush.
- Marijke van Welzen
RegiVlaardingen, the Netherlands
Style: wearable art
Mediums: Textile, fabric, fiber, thread
Influences:
A book by Rosemary Eichorn: the art of Fabric Collage.
After I found it in 2000 I was extremely inspired and started to make vests and jackets.
Not only I have grown in my work, but the size of my work has as well.
- Jennifer Beaudet
California, America
Style: Modern Impressionist
Mediums: oil and watercolors
Influences:
I am very influenced by the old impressionists of the past such as Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh.
- Dorothy Lorenze
New York, USA
Style: Contemporary Realism
Mediums: oil
Influences:
Although I’m happy to paint daily on my own, I also believe in learning from highly qualified instructors and am fortunate to have access to accomplished artists in the New York area. From Karen O’Neil at the Art Students League I learned about using clear color and connecting elements of the composition with color. From Leah Lopez at New York Academy of Art I learned about formal composition, the importance of darkest values and how to render surface motifs across a form. From Todd Casey, of Water Street Atelier and Grand Central Academy… I am still learning so much about careful rendering, grisaille and the classical, atelier method of oil painting. From Julian Merrow Smith I learned how to seize the moment in a challenging plein air environment on blustery fields in France! All have been amazingly generous mentors, resources and friends.
Thanks for reading and please share!
What about you? What are your influences for making art?
You can't escape who you are and what your past and present experiences are. Learning to embrace this and using it in your work, whether it be painting, writing or music is a well that has a never ending supply of inspiration. Some ideas can be very complex, but most often, I find that the simpler stuff works better than anything else.
ReplyDelete