INSPIRATO!
Which artists first inspired you to create?
Growing up as an only child I often had to find constructive ways to entertain myself that my parents approved of. Reading comics and comics-related books fit that bill perfectly! One family friend gifted me the above book, A Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Comics and my life was changed forever. Inside this hefty tome was a treasure trove containing artists whose work I still aspire to. The ink mastery displayed by three in particular set the bar particularly high, Will Eisner, Wally Wood, and Walt Kelly.
Eisner
Wood
Kelly
One thing I love about the pocket brush and especially the Color Brush is the versatility that allows for nice fluid lines with thin-to-thick variation like these masters. I also find a lot of great variation from thick to thin (brush for outlines and thin tip for details) with the Duo Flex brush pen. Various brush pens have one or the other but I love that the Duo point has both.
(some selections from some of my Inking practice sketchbooks)
Who are some of your favorite artists that first made you want to draw comics?
Best,
Mees
Love the references - that Smithsonian comic book looks great!! And love your examples from your sketchbook. I would always steal the full-page Sunday comics from the newspaper when I was a kid, and I would draw copies of them... I had a soft spot for Marvin, and Garfield of course. TBH my first person to inspire me to make art was probably Lisa Frank 😜 I'm a '90s baby, what can I say. But also we had such great talents in my family - my grandma was a great hobby painter + crafter; my aunt was a theater director + seamstress + pianist + voice actor (super creative), so I always was amazed when I would spend time with either of them. I think that planted the seeds for creativity.