Zdzislaw Beksinksi's work is where I draw a lot of inspiration from for my work, not only do I love his very intricate way of working but also the scenes he depicts. The figures that he paints are a weird mix of realistic yet exaggerated, they appear anatomically correct yet certain parts like joints and length are are emphasized. This is something I would like to try and weave into my work, I like the look of thin, bony elongated figures which evoke an uneasy and mysterious feel, they look almost like something out of a nightmare. I think its quite effective the way that Zdzislaw does not try to explain any of his work, which I think allows for people to draw different things from each image, interpreting it how they like. As the images are so weird and complicated, I think its easy for people to see something different each time they look at it, a lot of the detail can only be seen when looking up close, so there is always something new to see and discover in his work each time you look at it.
2- Andrew James Jones
I like Andrew's work so much because it reminds me of what I wanted to draw all the time when I was about 13/14. I had a thing for drawing weird/offensive/grotesque pictures, which at the time was frowned upon, his work inspires me to rekindle my love for the pointlessly weird. I think the different techniques and media Andrew uses is effective in communicating the sort of mismatched and crazy ideas in his work, the way he uses collage by working on top of real images I think, makes his work even more creepy, because it blends reality with his weird imagination. I also think the way he uses both simple and bold monochrome lines and colour schemes is effective because it doesn't over complicate things and take away from the narrative of the characters.
Aside from his illustrations he also creates characters which reflect his style using different materials like cardboard and glue. I think that these creations work well alongside his other work because they have a kind of fluidity even thought they are different materials, because they both communicate a kind of distorted and weird view of reality, because we can tell these masks are meant to be faces but they are heavily changed. I think one of the main things that makes these so successful in conveying the same feel as his other work is the texture in the masks, they add to the grotesque look of the mangled features.
3- Kelly Walton
On the slightly less weird end of the spectrum of the things that inspire me is Kelly Walton's work. Again she uses a very simple colour scheme, often only one or two colours, which is something I really want to make a big focus of my work, I like that you can create something so beautiful, only using a limited range of colours and letting the images themselves stand out and not be over shadowed by a bright and garish colour scheme. The media that Kelly often uses is ink, which creates very soft, delicate lines and shapes, which I think works really well with the innocent atmosphere she creates in her work. Kelly experiments with making character out of simple block shapes, which may only be a few large brush strokes and she uses this technique in her comics to create a cute, simple and effective narrative.
4- Philippa Rice
The reason that Philippa Rice's work inspires me so much is because of the actual content of her work, not just the aesthetic. I think the way she makes her comics so easy to relate to, no matter who you are makes them so effective. I want to be able to create work that conveys a certain feel about it, that people find funny and can relate to, not necessarily through experience, but it something they can recognise. I think it is quite difficult to create something that is so powerful, yet is also so simple, and done in only a couple of image sequences. Again I believe the simple colour scheme in her Soppy comic works very well with the feeling she is trying to convey, I particularly favour screen printing as a way of making images because I think it gives a very handmade look to the work, because it is not always perfect, yet the line quality is high and the colour are very distinctive.
5 - LAD/Swag/Yolo culture
One thing among the many things that I hate/things that irritate me, yet still inspire me, is the recent trend of Swag/Yolo attitudes that people of a certain age seem to have adopted. It seems to be also the lifestyle associated with this trend which also irritates me, the assumption that people my age exist only to get pissed every night and be lazy the rest of the time. I believe that people are free to act and do as they please as long as it does not negatively effect other people, however I hate it when people seem to create this blanket opinion of young adults and create an image in their head of what every young person does/acts like. I get inspired by this, not necessarily in my art work, but just in my general life, to do things/create things that please me, and not be effected by what other people or society thinks I should do/create. I think this could translate to my work, as I am inspired to create what I think is best, and draw things that I like, even if it perceived as being weird or wrong.
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