Where do you get your inspiration?

I have to admit that I’m a real hooked fish for visual images. Most of my characters are inspired by something I’ve either seen in a movie, comic, manga, or other visual arts. Digital paintings and fantasy art are a never ending inspiration for me.

I think all illustrators have to be story tellers to really make their work stand out. It’s a much more difficult form of storytelling than what I do. I can capture an entire event, from it’s start to its finish, and hopefully give the reader the feeling that what they read was something real. And illustrator, painter, or other still image artist must capture a single moment in time and give the viewer the impression that life came before this image and that life will continue beyond it.

As an author, I will often look at a work and ask myself questions about the character. Who is this person or this thing? How did she get where she is? Where is she going or where does she want to go? What is she most afraid of?

When exploring the fantastical there’s more to the depth of character than the fact that the fantastical is unreal. Unreality is the easy part. It’s exploring the reality of the unreality that’s difficult. It’s the process of bleeding over enough reality that the unreal seems more likely than our physical world.

This is why I tend to appreciate Realism as an art form more than any other. Realism doesn’t always mean that the subject of the image is real. It has more to do with style. I just want to point you in the direction of some artists who are working with the style to tell some fantastic stories.

Warning: many of these sites contain adult content and might not be suitable for younger viewers or a typical work environment.

Brom – Not only a talented artist, but now a novelist. Doesn’t quite seem fair, does it?
Ryohei Hase – Digital painter
Dorian Cleavenger – gothic pinup
Lauren Cannon – digital artist
Patrick Arrasmith – Etchings
Anne Yvonne Gilbert
Samuel Araya

Like I said, these are just a few of my favorites. I’m always looking for more inspiration, so please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know who some of your favorite visual artists are.

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