A Necessarily Incomplete List of Artistic Influences

 

Ink drawing by Frank Frazetta

Art students sometimes ask me about my artistic influences (i.e.: which artists have most influenced me), and also which artists I would recommend for aspiring artists to study (or look to for inspiration). It’s very difficult to even put together such lists, because there are just too many names. The list below is doomed to incompletion, and the omission of any artist should not be taken as a sign that I don’t hold said artist in high esteem. At very least, this list may serve as a starting point for anyone looking for inspiration. Also, these names are not in any particular order, but it's safe to say these are my biggest artistic influences. 

Early Illustrators (or "Golden Age Illustrators", 19th Century through mid 20th Century)

• Franklin Booth
• Charles Dana Gibson
• Alphonse Mucha
• J.C. Leyendecker
• Dean Cornwell
• Robert McGinnis
• Albert Dorne
• James Bama
• Normal Rockwell

More Recent Illustrators (mid to late 20th Century forward)

• Syd Mead
• Frank Frazetta
• Drew Struzan
• Iain Mccaig
• Thomas Blackshear

Illustrators who wrote influential books/materials on drawing:

• Andrew Loomis
• Arthur Guptill
• Robert Fawcett
• James Gurney
• Jeff Watts (not so much his books, but his online atelier program and video lectures)

Comic Book/Comic Strip Artists (some of these were illustrators but I place them in this category because their comic work/inking technique influenced me more than their illustration work)

• Alex Raymond
• Hal Foster
• John Buscema
• Wally Wood
• Bernie Wrightson
• Al Williamson
• Alex Toth
• Alex Nino

Artists/Painters (this list is woefully incomplete, but these names first come to mind as having had the biggest impact on me over the years).

• William-Adolphe Bouguereau
• Nicolia Fechin
• Ilya Repin
• Jean-Baptiste Greuze
• Diego Velasquez
• John Singer Sargent
• Michelangelo
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Again, this list is very incomplete, and very likely, I will revise it at some point, but for now (off the top of my head) these names have been the biggest influences on how I draw, and how I think about art.