Influence Map

The other day my friend Amelia, told me about this little excercise called an 'Influence Map' she'd found online and done herself and during the past few weeks, whenever I've seen her, she's been encouraging me to do one too. The idea is that you put artists, films, people etc...whose work you like and have inspired your own on this map. The more influence they have had the more squares they take up. So now I've done mine and I have to say it's a really good idea!

It's really made me remember who has inspired me over the years and why I do what I do. But also I think its also helped to clarify who my influences are. For example I didn't realise just how much infulence writers, like Roald Dahl, had over my work which was surprising. Plus there were alot of other influences that I'd completely forgotten about who've infulenced me. As a result my 'Influence Map' looks more like an Influence Atlas' and though I've tried my best to keep it down theres still more than I thought. So here's my (edited) Influence Map! (click on the image to enlarge)

I recommend this to any artist who has an evening free to do this because it's good to stop and acknowledge those talented people who have helped you get where you are today! To make your own 'Influence Map' follow this link to download the blank map:

Blank Influence Map

Now if you can be bothered; below are brief descriptions in where I've tried to explain why these artists are my influences and how they have inspired me. But be warned! You WILL be here a while...

Panel 01:
ROALD DALH: This man is amazing! I grew up with his stories and because they were always slightly dark and nasty as well as fun, I think that's why I tend to steer towards films and stories that have that darker side to them. He's definately a huge part of my childhood and most definately influenced the games my brother and I dreamt up, which usually seemed to involve setting booby traps for our parents or hunting monsters in the attic...

WES ANDERSON: He's a recent influence and the director of the Fantastic Mr Fox film. I have to put him here because I love his style(Its crappy but it works!) and the colours he uses in his films. plus the fact I find his adaptation of this Roald Dalh story hilarious and the way everytime I watch it there's something new I missed before.

J.K. ROWLING: I'm not talking about the films; some of which are amzing, some of which are dreadful! I'm talking about the books! The books are amazing and I love the way J.K.Rowling's mind works and the world she creates. She was the only writer for a very long time who's books could completely silence me and keep me in one place for hours - transfixed. Whenever I have to write stories or come up with ideas for animations she and Dahl are definately the ones I refer back to for inspiration when I get stuck. My favourite book is the Prisoner of Azkerban as I liked the way she managed to turn a magical children's story into a thrilling suspense story full of horrible twists! Plus who out there doesn't want to play quidditch?!?

STAR WARS: I'm not too sure how much influence this has on me now but as a child, after I'd watched Star Wars every game was set in a universe far far away... I think it was more the set and costume design that got me really interested in possibly studying Theatre Design later when I arrived at St Martins. And for the longest time because of films like StarWars (I'm talking the old school StarWars not those new films that money grabber Lucas churned out later) I wanted to work in film designing fantasy worlds.



Panel 02
STUDIO GHIBLI: I think I was 18 and doing my foundation at uni when a girl in my class called Billie told me about 'Spirited Away'. I'd seen the posters for the film all over the underground but me being me, I'd never got around to seeing it. that is until Billie told me about it. All she said was 'you'd love it!' and left it at that. So later that year when my mum asked my brother and I what we wanted for christmas (we find it saves time and energy having to return things if you just ask) I said I wanted the DVD of 'Spirited Away' and that it was a Japanese animation. so christmas day rolled on I got my DVD, watched it and it blew my mind. I'd never seen anything like it and was hooked! I just couldn't believe that there were people out there making animated films this beautiful! and not just that one but all of them were amazing! It was the beginning of the end as they say...




Panel 03
DISNEY: Well it's only to be expected that Disney is on my map. If I'd been born in Japan I'd have grown up with Miyazaki's films but I'm from London so it was Disney which I grew up with and which sparked my love for animation. my mum's house is full of Disney films and I think we might possibly have seen them all because at one point it was all my brother and I wanted to watch. later on when I did my dissertation I chose to write about animation (much to my tutor's annoyance as they didn't consider it cultured enough!) but I stood my ground and ended up learning about the early beginnings of animation and of course the early days of Disney. But for me reading wasn't enough. I had to see it! So I hunted down DVDs and videos of the early pioneers of animation, the silly symphonies and early mickey mouse films. This was happening at the time when I was starting to seriously think about training to become an animator as by this time I was starting to realise the world of theatre wasn't for me (probably due to my undying hatred of the course and the fact I never went to see any shows unless it was really amazing - like the Lion King!

PIXAR: I saw Toy Story when I was 11 at Leicester Square Odean for my Birthday and along with the Lion King and the Little Mermaid it is definately one of the films which left a lasting impression on me. I remember going home and telling my dad he had to see this film and demanding he take me again too, it was amazing! Finally when I coming to the end of my degree and toying with the idea whether or not I should take the plunge and train to be an animator; my friend Mary told me about a Pixar exhibition that was on at the Science Museum and said I should go as it might help me make a descision. So off we went and within mintues of stepping through the door I came face to face with the concept art behind Toy Story and I fell hook line and sinker. It took Mary only five minutes to go around the enitre exhibition and when she came back I was still staring (like an idiot) at the first few drawings one of which is the sketch of Buzz Lightyear above...

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON: Another writer I grew up with here. my parents would read his or tales by the Borthers Grimm to get us to sleep. So these stories have always been around and are just part of my imagination now as I think they are for most people who grew up with fairytales and bedtime stories. And I think the fairytales are just part of the deal if you're an animator because part of your imagination has never really grown up...




Panel 04
MUCHA & AUDREY KAWAZAKI: two very different artists here but two whose work I just find really beautiful. As an animator I'm always trying to make my drawings resemble the Disney style but I don't think its wise to just copycat a style so I look to these two artists for extra inspiration, whether it be in terms or colour scheme or atmosphere, or simply trying to create the little details or paint style.

AI YAZAWA: My friend Amelia introduced me to 'Nana' the anime series which is based on the manga of the same name. I don't really know what it is about the Nana stories but I like the way Ai Yazawa brings pictures and great story telling together. Her style of drawing is amazing and the way she frames and tells the story from panel to panel I think has probably started to influence me when I'm drawing illustrations or storyboards. theres something powerful about her drawings but I also love the story which is about the friendship between the two girls named 'Nana' and their dreams, problems and romances they encounter together. It's just a beautiful story and whenever I'm down or heartbroken I always seem to find myself reading the manga and I think it definately made me think more about the emotional impact drawings and animation can have...

Panel 05
AARDMAN & NICK PARK: Another studio I become very aware of as a child. we'd always sit down and watch the Wallace and Gromit films as a family at Christmas and everytime I watch them I'm always amazed by the amount of detail and charm these films have. Also how British they are, I know its a werid thing to like but when you sit down and watch them it's nice to see something that has so much of its creator and their culture in it (like the Miyazaki films) rather than trying to emulate the American films. Plus I really like the way really silly Murder Mystery or Crime Thriller plots which run through out Nick Park's films. plus who doesn't love plastercine?

ASTERIX & OBERLIX: there were always one of the comic by Goscinny and Uderzo laying about our house (we had a lot of books!) and even though these stories where later animated I always perfer the comics. I don't know if its the jokes (theres a Roman General called Christmas Bonus!), the adventures, the senseless cartoon violence or the way these comics are drawn but whenever I drew something as a child I'd always refer to these comics or the Tintin ones on how to draw facial expressions, hands or action poses. So I think it influenced my drawing more than anything...

SATOSHI KON: This man is an amazing story teller; his films are amazing and always slightly trippy. In fact I think the first film of his I come across was Perfect Blue which is like an alfred Hitchcock style suspense thriller. It's also the only animation I had to turn off because it disturbed and sicked me so much. There's a rape scene in this film and to this day I can't bring myself to watch it, which sturck a cord as I didn't realise that drawings and animation could affect someone the way live action could. I also love his film Toyko Godfathers as its completely driven by the characters and the secrets they're trying to run from. also even though its really gritty and violent in some parts (its about three homeless people) it still manages to be funny, poinent, magical and very touching. I really like it, plus the style isn't conventional for anime.

THE MOOMINS: Strange creepy Japanese adaptation of a Finnish children's story by Tove Jansson. This cartoon was so strange, but my brother and I loved it. I loved the Moomin family and how their home was always welcome to strangers who they'd try and help. The Moomin stories always had a very humane message but they could be so dark and surreal at times, not to mention some of the characters, such as the Gorke, were really sinister. Not the stuff I do for work or the stuff I post up on my blog but I've been told by close friends that when I draw for me, my drawings and stories are really sinsiter so I think this cartoon may have been the influence behind this...

JAPAN!!!: The picture of the wave is very simple, JAPAN!! And everything creative that has come from this country; from its beautiful traditional paintings to the additive manga and it's violently imaginative anime! I love it all and am completely obessed with Japan. So yes! I am puting an entire country on my list of influences!




Panel 06
JAN SVANKMAJER: Have any of you seen the film Alice? I don't mean the cutesy Disney version I mean the alive action meets stop-motion horror fantasy created by the mind of this Cechz animator! This film terrified me as a child. The taxidery white rabbit and his little minions might been the reason I have an unhealthy fanscination for taxidery and places like the Hunterian Museum in Holborn or would much rather go to see a Body Works Exhibition (the one by Prof. Gunther Von Hagen) and look at dead people than do something 'normal' in my spare time... Anyway my love of Svankmajer and his use of film, animation and taxidery all fell into place when I started the animation course, where my fascination with dead things and atonomy came in useful... Svankmajer has a part to play in that I think. I'm sure rather than 'influencing' me he's more scarred me for life...


Panel 07
JILL BARKLEM: Not everyone will know who this is but this was another children's writer I grew up with, who wrote stories about the Mice of Bramble Hedge and their adventures throughout the year. What I liked about these books was that the authour illustrated her own stories so you saw the world she'd created exactly the way she wanted you too. I always loved how packed with detail these drawings were too. you could sit for ages just looking at the watercolour drawings and the all the objects and clutter that lay about the mice's homes for hours after you'd finished the story. I've always tried to create a lot of detail within my own drawings and I think Barklem may have been the reason why...

JAN PEINKOWSKI: Maybe another not so well known illuustrator I used to like as a child. We used to have these books my mum would only let us read at Christmas called the 'First Christmas' and the 'Night Before Christmas' (we also had Abarian Nights) all of which were iluustrated by this guy. I don't know what it was about these drawings with the colouful skies and the main foucs of the drawing in silhouette but its always stuck in my mind, especially when I have to draw something wintery or that has to have a dramatic effect. Which is why I'm adding it here...

TINTIN: like Asterix and Oberlix, the tintin comics were always laying around our house at home and when my brother and I weren't trying to destroy the place with our Star Wars games, hunting my parents or trying the staircase into a massive snow sleding wonderland we were making comics. Tintin and the Asterix comics were always the things we referred to when we got stuck for a story and I always love the way Herge drew Tintin and Snowy. Also my faveourite story was always 'Tintin in Tibet' because it was the most haunting and in my mind the best out of all the Tintin stories...



Panel 08
TOMM MOORE & THE SECRET OF KELLS: Anyone who knows me knows I love this guy's work and his style which I've probably completely stolen by now. Apparently the design for his film was based on monastary stain-glass windows and the film is just lovely and the story magical which is why I've put it here. Whenever I'm feeling disillusuioned with animation this is one of the films I put on and watch to remind myself why I love what I do so much and also where I'd like to end up some day...

PICASSO: Maybe it seems a bit odd to have a painter here since I'm an animator, but for the longest time I didn't know what I liked or wanted to do. I just liked to draw and paint and so painters like Picasso and later Frida Kahlo were big influences on me as I used to visit galleries quite alot with my dad or go to art class and try and paint and draw like they did...

Panel 09
LADY VENGENCE & SAKURAN: These two panels represent not just these two films ( a Korean film by Park Chan-Wook and a Japanese film by Mika Ninagawa) which I love for their visual storytelling but also foreign films in general which I tend to watch a lot of. This might be down to me being introduced to foreign films through friends I met while at art college or by readint about them and simply seeking them out for myself but I think it's always a good to look to other ways of film making as it helps later with storyboards and simply ideas for drawings or animation... plus the colours, art direction and patterns used in these films are just amazing!

NEIL GAIMAN: Another story teller on my list which is why I think its good I've done this map as it's making me realise what it is that really drives me and keeps me inspired and its not what I thought! Anyway I came across the Neil Gaiman books when a girl on my Theatre course leant them to me as they were 'freaking her out!' as she put it. Intrigued I took the books home as I'd really liked the illustrations and later realised what she'd meant. I was reading Gaiman's Sandman but rather than being freaked out by it I loved it and his character Morpheus and his family. I'd never read anything like it and loved the way the magical, epic, normal and mundane were blended together in such a fluid way. I've read his other books which are just as amazing as he deals with myths and ancient gods quite a lot in his stories (plus did you know he helped write the script for the english version of Princess Mononoke?) But out of his Sandman series I liked 'Endless Nights' and 'The Doll's House' which is terrifying! So Gaiman makes my map!

HENRY SELICK: the guy who directed Coraline and co directed on a few Burton films too. I really love what Henry Selick has done with 'Coraline'. I like the style and I love the detail I love the jumping mice! I don't know what it is about this film, maybe because its a Neil Gaiman story and my two heroes worked together on this film which is just amazing when two create minds like them get together...anyway people like Henry Selick are where I hope to be some day, which is why he's last but not least on my list.




Oh still here are you? If so Well Done! You must either really love me or probably completely hate me by now. I hope it's not the last one (I did warn you!!) Either way thankyou for taking the time to read this post and I encourage you to make your own 'Infulence Map' too... it might surprise you, mine did! :)

Maria X