My First Inspiration

Note: I'd never throw a bunch of comic books into a pile. I'm not an animal.

If I were ever put on the spot, asked the exact reason I started to pursue art, the first thing that inspired me to put pencil to paper, the answer would most definitely be comic books.

My dad raised my brothers and I on them. An avid collector with tens of thousands of books already packed away in our basement, my dad would come home every Wednesday with a new stack of books. I would marvel at the art on the covers as he sorted and placed them in their respective bags with boards. He loved to describe the stories if I ever asked, but he would always preface each retelling with the name of the writer and more importantly the name of the artists. My dad loved comic book art and could identify all of his favorite artists by the style and design choices of the book cover and could go on for hours about how the best artists could deliver a story through their imagery alone, and that was what made comic books so special.

My first few goes at drawing were attempts to impress my dad and get the same praise these artists did. But as I grew older his words about visual storytelling began to make more an more sense. The visual element adds a whole new layer to a story that words alone can't translate. The concept of telling whole stories through my art work alone was a fascinating one. This became my motivator to keep practicing and keep getting better.

My Fictional Mentor

By the time I had become proficient enough at reading on my own my dad had begun giving me my own comic books to read starting with paperback volumes of some of his favorite (kid friendly) series’. My Favorite of the bunch was Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man.

I imagine it’s most every boy’s dream to be a superhero, and Peter Parker was the character that made it apparent to me that it was absolutely possible. Peter was just like me, small, skinny, shy, but deliberate and thoughtful. It is a true work of art to be able to draw empathy from the reader toward a character who slings webs from his wrists and climbs walls, but Spider-Man’s actions and intentions behind the mask were what was most important in accomplishing that feat. Peter’s considerations of his power and privilege were always  married to his responsibility toward his loved ones and the people who needed him. While the motives for these considerations were often extraordinary given his position, I knew that what he practiced could be applied to my reality, and so i practiced them too. When I needed to make hard decisions or when friends came to me for help and advice I began to ask myself “what would Peter Parker do?” and honestly I sometimes still do.

And that’s how a fictional character became my mentor.

My Long, Long Ago

No four-eyed nerd’s movie collection is complete without Star Wars, and it certainly wasn’t missing from mine. Few movies can compete with Star Wars and the sense of wonder it instills on its viewers. For me what was most important in establishing this wonder was the concept that anyone can be a Jedi if they were focused and determined and, similarly to Spider-Man, the message that anyone can be a hero.

Luke Skywalker, a boy in a galaxy far far away was made relatable, even on this planet. The loss of loved ones, the uncertainty of the future and of our own potential, these struggles and strife can provoke empathy even when presented by a boy wielding a laser sword and moving objects with his mind.

Star Wars is the story that inspired me to make my own stories because it taught me that even the most unlikely heroes in the most confounded and inconceivable of circumstances I could ever dream of could be made compelling and relatable as long as I reflect myself in them.

My Galaxy Far, Far Away

Note: I really liked drawing Star Wars stuff

Star Wars was the first story that made me realize the potential for vast, seemingly endless universes in storytelling. In fifth grade, I am not ashamed to say, I would spend my free time that wasn’t drawing stuff from Star Wars reading about it instead. Everyday I would load up starwars.com and go to their “Expanded Universe Encyclopedia” and start with the recommended page of the day. I would learn everything there is to know about that person or creature or place and then I would click on the related articles and hyperlinked associated profiles. This would go on until I got tired or it was time to read my Star Wars comic books or to create my own characters or design my own technologies. My favorite thing to do after drawing a new character was to design a lightsaber hilt made specially for that character with a list of reasons why this character needed or wanted their hilt designed that way

I would not be the same designer I am today without Star Wars for a multitude of reasons, but a major one is that it taught me that the most compelling designs purposeful and thorough down to the last button on the Millennium Falcon’s control board. Even if the average viewer doesn’t the button's purpose, they’ll feel it has one if the artist believes it does.

My Power Up

I, like many kids of my generation, went through a phase where the only cartoons on my TV were produced in Japan. The Dragon Ball Z’s and Naruto’s and Pokemon’s were definitely no feats in great writing but still had a lot to teach in design and storytelling.

Each show was more ridiculous than the last with people throwing explosive energy balls to using ninja moves to create multiples of themselves. But one thing was for sure, it was damn fun to look at. Again I saw this as an instance of the artist using their language and confidence through their design to draw people in. Even if you’re just laying out the craziest ideas that come to your head, if you believe in them others will too.

Just like Star Wars these shows had extensive cast lists and vast universes that inspired me to create my own characters, each with their own back stories and special abilities that reflected them, just like the characters in these shows.

I won't share those though
Too embarrassing

My Azeroth

Note: This is my character on a throne. 'Cause I'm the king.

Though I haven't mentioned it yet, there has been a lot of video game playing in my life, more hours than i can count. But in my recollection no game stood out as a greater influence than the media I’ve mentioned thus far, rather they aided in driving home the lessons I learned more prominently elsewhere. That was until I remembered when I first started playing World of Warcraft. It had all the things I mentioned before that I learned to look for in stories; expansive universes, some over the top crazy design, and a feeling that the artists were speaking through that design. But was most important and crucial to the immersion it brought me was how it played, most notably the social aspect. I had played games with others before but never in the scale or persistent way an MMO like World of Warcraft asks. Playing with millions of people in the same world, either working together or facing off against one another made me feel like I was my character in a way no other game had before. This introduced me to a whole new level of what the potential of video games could be. How the aspect of interactivity can bring so much more to the presentation of art and its ability to invoke emotion and empathy. I think this was when I decided definitively that someday I would work on games.

Side Note: High School Sci Fi

One of the better classes I ever took in High School was a class solely dedicated to studying Sci Fi in all forms of media. While much of the media we discussed were already previous influences of mine, it did force me to put my feelings and opinions about the subject into words which helped solidify these opinions. 
Here’s a link to my blog from that class

My Ultimate Art Form

By this point we are catching up with present day Jimmy and though I’m sure there will be greater influences to come, the last big inspiration of mine came from the documentary Indie Game: the Movie. To this point, as I mentioned in the last entry. I had considered video games as a unique art form in their ability to involve the viewer like no other form of media. But unlike a painting of novel, I never considered the possibility of a video game, as a whole, being a reflection of an artist. Sure designs of specific elements of a game could reflect the designer who made it, but that is amidst the hundreds of others who worked on that game. Indie Game was proof that a game as a whole, from the art to the gameplay, could be the reflection of an individual.

Indie Game: the Movie is a telling of the trials and tribulations of several of the most successful independent game developers as they made the games that defined them, both professionally and personally. These developers pursued their deepest insecurities and fears and emotions and sought to reflect and describe those feelings through gameplay in addition to their visual art.

Gameplay could be like a form of poetry that could make the player feel what the designer was feeling. This solidified in my mind that video games in their entirety, from visual storytelling to the buttons you’re meant to push, are the ultimate art form.