Decided to do this influence map I saw other artists doing. (Yay... bandwagon!) I know I did not follow the rules for sizes and shapes on the pictures, but I think that's okay.

1. Mike Wieringo - My oldest brother and a friend of his gave me a box fuul of comic books to go with what I already had. I remember being blown away by Wieringo's style. It had this strong linework and interesting style. This was the point where I started drawing comic book characters more and more. To this day, I still feel his version of Thing from the Fantastic Four is the best looking Thing. His passing was the only time I have ever felt saddened by the death of someone I never knew personally.

2. John Kricfalusi - His ability to slip in humor meant for adults into children's animation introduced me to humor that was not seen in kid's cartoons at the time. His humor influenced a lot of my odd humor in my art over time. I was let down by the Spike TV version of the cartoon, which showed what happens when you try to make vulgar humor too obvious.

3. Comic Books - Comic books inspired and influenced my art throughout my entire life. With so many different artists and story types, I had a so many different things influencing my art. I chose the Spider-Man cover since it was my favorite comic growing up. Reading Spider-Man also is how I was first introduced to Mike Wieringo's fantactic artwork.

4. 2-D Disney Cartoons - I remember watching Aladdin so many times as a child. I drew Disney characters Quite a bit as a kid. My style still reflects the western style animation, which the Disney influence shows through with.

5. Matt Groening - I remember trying to draw people I knew which was pretty much altered Bart Simpson drawings. His influence is now more from his humor and the way he can put together a group of characters that are so different and fit together so well. This is also a man who has the longest running cartoon series of all time.

6. Music - I listen to different types of music when doing artwork. I try to pick music that reflects that art I am trying to make.

7. Ninja Turtles - The Ninja Turtles was the first cartoon that I used to draw the character from. They were a huge part of my artwork when I was a child. As I grew older I began drawing more people than animal characters. They also are the reason I grew to a strong interest into actual ninja.

8. Zombies - Zombies became an influence on my art in recent years. I even started customizing minimate figures into zombies and making backgrounds from Legos for zombie outbreak pictures.

9. Video Games - As a nerd, I grew up on video games and drew the characters from the manuals. I used to love drawing Sonic and Mario, and eventually Link. I likethe artwork that is included with a lot of games for the newer systems, but the classic artwork that is hand drawn will always have more influence for me.

10. Past Mistakes - The past mistakes I mean with this fall into two catagories. First, is the mistakes I've made with my artwork over time. I learned to have a lighter hand and to start with thinner pens with inking. Second is in reference to the stupid stuff I have done over time. I like making light of things that have happened in my art. The picture in here is from when I broke my hand. I ran myself over with a golf cart I was driving when I jumped out and lost my footing trying run with it.

11. Humberto Ramos - Besides Wieringo, Ramos' artowrk has had the biggest influence on my art when it comes to comic book artists. He has a style that does not seem to follow a specific formula but is distinct. I've seen a lot of artists use a similar style but not as distinct as his.