Inspiration

Some creative people that I look up to

I love illustration, and have countless ‘favorite artists’.

One of my favorite mangakas has got to be the legendary artist Takehiko Innoe, also the writer of series like ‘Vagabond’ and ‘Slam Dunk’. His style is very beautified but also realistic. He works primarily with brushes and ink, and produces some of the most incredible illustrations.

Another artist I’m a big fan of is Range Murata, who is incredibly talented at drawing cute characters. His artsyle is very soft, but also has hints of realism. He’s worked on a ton of different games, comics, and figures!

You can’t mention comic book art and then forget the legendary french illustrator Moebius. His artstyle is truly something unique to him. I’m not sure exactly what mediums he worked with, but I believe he used pens and watercolors to achieve the vibrant colors that you see in his work. No one does sci-fi like Jean.

Building scale models is also a big hobby of mine, and I have a lot of amazingly talented people that I look up to.

I love the work that Japanese modeller Kazuhisa Kondo produced in the late 80’s and early 90’s. He took a very WW2-inspired route with modeling mecha, incorporating features like zimmerit, panzer fausts, and other ‘ground warfare’ aesthetics that you didn’t really see before people like him.

A bit more popular, the modeller Kow Yokoyama has managed to create a plastic modeling empire of his own with his Maschinen Krieger line. His designs are much more ‘power armor’ than ‘giant robots’ mecha, but also sport the dingy and rusty look I love seeing. Weathering and grime are a staple of the Maschinen Krieger series.

Probably my favorite purely from a design perspective, Makoto Kobayashi designed machines that dwarf humans. His mechs are always gargantuan, chunky, and imposing. His artwork is also incredible. You don’t want to be on the battlefield if you’re going up against one of Kobayashi’s mechs.