Meme - 100 Percent Anime Free

A fun meme for uncovering artistic influences belonging to

Man, I feel so out of place not filling this thing up with anime and comic art and Disney. Not sure if it was even meant for writers, but I decided to include some of my writing influences anyway.

1. My understanding of how to draw humans would be so behind if it wasn’t for ’s wonderful tutorials. They have definitely shaped the look of my humans since I haven’t tried much with more exaggerated cartoony styles yet.

2. I didn’t pass through an “anime phase” or a “Disney phase” as a kid. I preferred drawing gore and animals killing each other. I’m guessing this came from watching real animal-on-animal violence in nature documentaries. I still think a hunting carnivore is a beautiful thing to watch.

3. I bought Jamie Hall’s book Half Human, Half Animal many years ago. As well as some awesome werewolf stories it showed me the cultural diversity of shapeshifter stories and gave me some variety to work with when designing characters.

4. I like using what I learned about anatomy and medicine in my work, especially if it is horror or sci-fi related.

5. Michael Crichton is probably my favorite writer, and his books showed me just how exciting sci-fi can be without having to set it in space or the distant future.

6. Old black and white horror/suspense movies are great for getting a sense of atmosphere when thinking of what to write.

7. Red and black are my favorite colors to work with. Before I learned how to use Photoshop I messed around with traditional media a lot. My teacher gave me that big red colored pencil thing back in high school when she saw how much I liked drawing blood with it.

8. Even though I’ve only read two of his books (The Hyde Effect and the sequel Shapes), Steve Vance was a huge influence on my horror writing style. The Hyde Effect was the scariest werewolf story I ever read. I named a character after him.

9. If I could point out my favorite writing style, it would have to be Richard Matheson’s. I Am Legend is a masterpiece of psychological character development in the horror genre.

10. [link] I am a perfectionist and hate it when the anatomy on stuff I draw comes out wonky, so I own several animal books for references.

11. I read tons of collections of mythology and folklore as a kid, especially stuff from African and Native American tribes and Norse mythology. It is humbling because it shows you that there is pretty much no theme that has gone untouched when it comes to storytelling, so you might as well enjoy your own creations for what they are and not worry too much about being “original.”

12. Studying traditional art styles from different cultures is fun. I bought this cat on my vacation to Mexico in 2008. It was carved and painted in Oaxaca, a region known for unique art.

13. [link] One of my most morbid hobbies is studying serial killers and psychology as it applies to criminal behavior. I don’t want to create villains that seem flat and stereotypical, so I pay attention to the behaviors and motivations of real people, both good and bad, in history. Will Hare, one of the West Port serial killers, is a particularly interesting example (and another character name inspiration ).