My artistic role models
Hi all! It has been waaaay too long and I have to apologize for not warning you of my vacation.
A while ago I asked twitter for questions for me to answer in a particular blog post, and one of the questions that I didn’t include in the article was this: who are my artistic role models?
So without further ado, I dedicate a full post to answering the inquiry, because of how important these role models are to me, and how important role models are in general.
One of the first inspirational artists that I found (other than my older siblings) is a deviant artist ‘Destiny Blue.’
Her deviantart page is where I go when I need an emotional boost (which for artists means making you so emotional that your heart bursts out onto a canvas and you can’t help but paint as you smudge your tears away with paint-covered fingers.)
It’s obvious that she paints as an escape, because her paintings consist mostly of extremely depressed young girls. She frees her emotions to the world, which is brave of her. Her pictures showed my twelve year old self a side of art which still resonates with me today; that of turning pain into beauty. Turning beauty into experiences. Turning experiences into stories.
Next is the YouTuber ‘MaryDoodles.’
Mary showed me how fun art can and should be to make. My favorite type of video of hers is when she plans out multiple drawings so that when she plays the time lapse backwards, it plays out a story. Absolutely amazing.
Her art style never fails to break all my concepts about what art should be. Her style is unique and simple, and unapologetic. Mary’s openness about her struggles and triumphs as an artist really made me realize that no matter how tough something gets, it’s always worth it to push yourself to finish, because you’ll come out a better artist from it.
And lastly, Stephen McCranie, a comic artist and my favorite person.
I found his webcomic, Space boy, almost a year ago when I was looking at the previous winners of a Webtoons contest I was interested in. Space boy had won the grand prize of $30,000.
Every person that I’ve shown Space boy to has become just as much of a fan as me, although probably less dramatic about it.
Even though Space boy takes place in the future, it is by far the most relatable comic I’ve read.
Webcomics are interesting to read over a long period of time, because you can see how the artist is growing and changing. This is especially true for Space boy because Stephen so obviously puts his whole heart into the comic. Comparing the first few chapters directly with the latest chapters is encouraging to me, because even though Stephen McCranie became a full time artist a while ago, there is still obvious improvement in his art within the year of making Space boy.
So, really it doesn’t matter where you are at when you start on a project as constant as a webcomic. You WILL improve, if you put your all into it. I’m planning my own webcomic, mostly for that reason. I realize that if I just jump into it and get myself out there, I will get better. And my hope is not that my art will be amazing as Space boy’s in the beginning, but that I will stick with it and improve and become a better artist for it.
Soon after I fell in love with Space boy, I fell in love with Stephen McCranie’s blog and youtube channel.
I also bought his comic-style guide on what it means to be an artist, Brick by Brick. The $5 ebook talks about how to set and accomplish goals and how to improve yourself. It’s an entertaining and insightful read for anyone, not just those interested in a career related to art.
Stephen McCranie taught me the practical side to accomplishing my dreams, as well as giving me a new Space boy episode to look forward to every Thursday. For that, I am forever indebted to him.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about my personal artistic role models. Make sure to tell me about your personal artistic role models in the comments!
