Influences and inspiration

I am fickle. Much as I experiment with different mediums and styles, so do I accumulate inspiration. Influences come and go, all leaving a bit of themselves behind when my eye gets caught by the next thing. As a teenager my biggest artistic influence was probably Roger Dean and while I still appreciate the artistry, that’s not a style I would try and emulate now. Many of my recent influences have been as technical as they have been stylistic.

When I first started making cards there were two women — Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner — who were a fount of techniques and inspiration and without whom it would have taken me an awful lot longer to get to grips with the core skills of cardmaking.

Then I got into Copic colouring and discovered Sandy Allnock. I learned so much about creating with Copic markers just from watching her colour and even more once she started creating online classes. There is one saying that sticks with me: “it’s a hot mess, until it isn’t”. So many times I could have abandoned a piece of colouring, but those words encouraged me to continue until it all came together. The other Copic artist that I admire is Amy Schulke of Vanilla Arts. She focuses on realism in her colouring and uses coloured pencils to refine her Copic work; both of which I want to experiment with more.

On the mixed media front, I cannot fault Shawn Petite; her Sunday Inspiration videos fill me with joy. The technical creativity demonstrated by Heather Tracy of Thicketworks, along with her love of dark and mysterious creations makes her videos a must-watch.

Other artists I am loving at the moment include Jo Holdsworth — I first found her through her “peoplescapes“, but she creates interesting landscapes too — and Maddie Rose Hills for the sheer scale and texture of her abstracts.

Online and off, the world is full of creative people who love to share their talents and by doing so they are all influential to one degree or another. The mere act of seeing an image adds to your internal catalogue of influences that can be drawn upon, whether consciously or not.

GESSO: Primed Creatives – Who influences or inspires your work?