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Description
First off, thanks to fox-orian for the PSD file and J. Scott Campbell for the inspiration to make one of these.

My work is constantly evolving as should every artist's, but without these people, I wouldn't be able to call myself an artist. The images chosen best represent the point in time where the artist greatest influence on me.

Jim Lee - By far my biggest influence. I learned to draw by copying and studying the way he rendered anatomy, proportion, lighting, composition; I could go on and on. When I was twelve years old, I went to my first comic book store and the first comic I picked up was X-Men #1. For many years I drew in the Jim Lee-vein of American Comic style. Depending on the subject and tone, you'll probably see more of his influence on my work.

Rumiko Takahashi & Atsuko Nakajima - My sister introduced me to Ranma 1/2 during one of our first San Diego Comic-Cons. She dragged me into an anime screening room where they had a Japanese language episodes showing without subtitles. We saw the ice skating episodes from the first season which were new at the time. Years later after being licensed through VIZ, my sister bought every Ranma tape (yes, VHS) that came out including the OVAs where Nakajima served as character designer and animation director. I would pause a frame I liked and trace the image on cellophane (because I didn't have tracing paper and it clung to the tv because of the static) using a Pilot Pen. Keep in mind VHS players only paused for 5 minutes at a time. Then I would use carbon paper (or a sheet I rubbed with soft lead) to trace the image on to paper. After that, I would ink the drawing and color with Crayola colored pencils. And that's how I started drawing in the anime/manga style.

Akira "Akiman" Yasuda - I love Capcom fighting games. I was blown away when X-Men vs. Streetfighter came out. The action was fast, the moves were big and the character select and versus screens had art that was amazing. Out of all the Capcom Versus games, I think Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter was the best visually especially in the character design. Marvel vs. Capcom comes a close second. Akiman's take on Marvel characters continues to push me when interpreting someone else's character while still staying true to the design.

Whilce Portacio - Like Jim Lee, Whilce taught me a lot about anatomy and cross-hatching. You can see a lot of his muscle structure influence especially when I draw the arms and upper body.

Joe "Mad!" Madeira - Joe did what I wanted to do years before I could even think about it. He found a balance between Japanese and American comic styles that was successful in the US mainstream market. His pencils are incredibly rendered if you've ever seen his work before it gets inked and colored.

Travis Charest - I remember trying out watercolor pencils (unsuccessfully) after I found out that Charest used them in some of his early Wildcats work. He uses negative space very well and always has interesting panel composition.

Masami Obari - Fatal Fury: The Movie is excellent. But when I first saw it, I thought the character designs were weird and awkward. Back then, I had a narrow view of what anime was and in the world in general. Obari's movies lke Fatal Fury and Gowcaizer are very stylized and have a certain fluidity in especially in the action sequences, not to mention dynamic angles.

J. Scott Campbell - If you can find it, get the J. Scott Campbell Danger Girl sketchbook. I has a bunch of great Campbell pieces and shows a lot of his process. Excellent resource. His style is consistent and always polished. His Spider-Man piece with Spidey on top of the web-ball with the robbers is my absolute favorite Spider-Man image. His skills in typography and design are also very unappreciated.

Marc Silvestri - Cyberforce #1 was my first Image comic book. And there was a time where I didn't follow comics for awhile and the Darkness #1 brought me back. Silvestri brought up great talents like David Finch and the late Michael Turner.

Kosuke Fujishima - Have you seen this guy draw hair? And clothes? And wings?!!! A fantastic artist with a lot of personality in each of his characters. Very distinct and all interesting even with a larger cast as in Ah! My Goddess.

Todd McFarlane - You won't see much of his influence in my style, but when I was learning to draw, I followed the very structured path behind Lee, Silvestri and Portacio. McFarlane along with Obari (see above) taught me how to think differently and stretch the boundaries.

I think I got them all. There are a lot of newer artists who have definitely influenced me, but these are the ones who brought me where I am now.

Description
First off, thanks to fox-orian for the PSD file and J. Scott Campbell for the inspiration to make one of these.

My work is constantly evolving as should every artist's, but without these people, I wouldn't be able to call myself an artist. The images chosen best represent the point in time where the artist greatest influence on me.

Jim Lee - By far my biggest influence. I learned to draw by copying and studying the way he rendered anatomy, proportion, lighting, composition; I could go on and on. When I was twelve years old, I went to my first comic book store and the first comic I picked up was X-Men #1. For many years I drew in the Jim Lee-vein of American Comic style. Depending on the subject and tone, you'll probably see more of his influence on my work.

Rumiko Takahashi & Atsuko Nakajima - My sister introduced me to Ranma 1/2 during one of our first San Diego Comic-Cons. She dragged me into an anime screening room where they had a Japanese language episodes showing without subtitles. We saw the ice skating episodes from the first season which were new at the time. Years later after being licensed through VIZ, my sister bought every Ranma tape (yes, VHS) that came out including the OVAs where Nakajima served as character designer and animation director. I would pause a frame I liked and trace the image on cellophane (because I didn't have tracing paper and it clung to the tv because of the static) using a Pilot Pen. Keep in mind VHS players only paused for 5 minutes at a time. Then I would use carbon paper (or a sheet I rubbed with soft lead) to trace the image on to paper. After that, I would ink the drawing and color with Crayola colored pencils. And that's how I started drawing in the anime/manga style.

Akira "Akiman" Yasuda - I love Capcom fighting games. I was blown away when X-Men vs. Streetfighter came out. The action was fast, the moves were big and the character select and versus screens had art that was amazing. Out of all the Capcom Versus games, I think Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter was the best visually especially in the character design. Marvel vs. Capcom comes a close second. Akiman's take on Marvel characters continues to push me when interpreting someone else's character while still staying true to the design.

Whilce Portacio - Like Jim Lee, Whilce taught me a lot about anatomy and cross-hatching. You can see a lot of his muscle structure influence especially when I draw the arms and upper body.

Joe "Mad!" Madeira - Joe did what I wanted to do years before I could even think about it. He found a balance between Japanese and American comic styles that was successful in the US mainstream market. His pencils are incredibly rendered if you've ever seen his work before it gets inked and colored.

Travis Charest - I remember trying out watercolor pencils (unsuccessfully) after I found out that Charest used them in some of his early Wildcats work. He uses negative space very well and always has interesting panel composition.

Masami Obari - Fatal Fury: The Movie is excellent. But when I first saw it, I thought the character designs were weird and awkward. Back then, I had a narrow view of what anime was and in the world in general. Obari's movies lke Fatal Fury and Gowcaizer are very stylized and have a certain fluidity in especially in the action sequences, not to mention dynamic angles.

J. Scott Campbell - If you can find it, get the J. Scott Campbell Danger Girl sketchbook. I has a bunch of great Campbell pieces and shows a lot of his process. Excellent resource. His style is consistent and always polished. His Spider-Man piece with Spidey on top of the web-ball with the robbers is my absolute favorite Spider-Man image. His skills in typography and design are also very unappreciated.

Marc Silvestri - Cyberforce #1 was my first Image comic book. And there was a time where I didn't follow comics for awhile and the Darkness #1 brought me back. Silvestri brought up great talents like David Finch and the late Michael Turner.

Kosuke Fujishima - Have you seen this guy draw hair? And clothes? And wings?!!! A fantastic artist with a lot of personality in each of his characters. Very distinct and all interesting even with a larger cast as in Ah! My Goddess.

Todd McFarlane - You won't see much of his influence in my style, but when I was learning to draw, I followed the very structured path behind Lee, Silvestri and Portacio. McFarlane along with Obari (see above) taught me how to think differently and stretch the boundaries.

I think I got them all. There are a lot of newer artists who have definitely influenced me, but these are the ones who brought me where I am now.