Hi everyone! I thought it could be fun to have a topic where we could share some our favorite artists or those that influenced our art. Maybe we will even discover new artists that we never heard of before thanks to this! I don't know how it's going to go, but let me start.
1. John Howe: https://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/
So, John Howe is a fantasy illustrator working primarily in watercolors mixed with other mediums like inks and colored pencil. He worked with Alan Lee on the visual of the Lord of the Rings movies (which I never saw 
). I discovered his work in 2008, when I was getting back into drawing. I saw his book Fantasy Art Workshop in a bookstore and bought it because the cover looked cool. After finishing reading the book, I was ''I think I really want to draw as a living'' 
. So he's the one who started it all for me.
2. Kev Walker: https://tinyurl.com/sh8hp6h
I first discovered Kev Walker through his work on Magic: The Gathering, around the same time as I discovered John Howe. I never really played the game, but there's just so many cool illustrators working this game that I always kept an eye on it. Kev Walker was one whose art appealed to more than others. His backgrounds are often minimal and gives focus to the main subject of his art. And the way he conveys lighting and atmosphere using limited color palette is just something I love.
3. Kentaro Miura: https://tinyurl.com/vewevuu
Kentaro Miura is most notably the author and artist of the dark fantasy manga Berserk. When I got into Berserk, it started a shift in my art where I started to delve into darker subject which I never really did before. I never managed to figure out if Berserk got me into that or if me getting in that direction got me into Berserk, haha! He does some incredibly detailed inked pages that just blows my mind.
4. Feng Zhu: https://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL/videos
Feng Zhu is an interesting case for me because, while I enjoy his artwork, it's really his youtube channel that really influenced me. I discovered it in 2014-2015 and I've been looking forward to his videos ever since then. Even as someone who doesn't necessarely want to do concept art, the things he talk about are always interesting and relevant. I always want to draw when I'm done watching one of his video. If you ever get stuck with drawing, watch his Design Cinema episode 89, 90 and 101.
5. Junji Ito: https://tinyurl.com/tzcasps
Lastly, we have Junji Ito, famous for his horror mangas. My first exposure to him was years ago, with his short story The Enigma of Amigara Fault which I just found randomly. I thought it was okay, but that was it. Years I rediscovered his work (I actually don't remember how) and I was hooked. The way he draws the horror elements of his stories, with lots of details and hatching definitely influenced me. And it's a nice contrast to the more traditional and ''plain'' look of his characters. There's also this interview with him if you're interested to see him draw (there's english subtitles) : https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x65w5fu
So that's about it. I could have listed more and more artists, but I think these 5 had the most
impact on me as an artist. Feel free to share yours, but don't feel an obligation to write a description for each one like I did (although that'd be interesting to read 
)
