my favorite artists
Hey there! If you’re an artist who is interested in learning more from other artists, you may find this useful. If you’re not an artist, then get outta here! Just kidding. 🙂
I’ve been doing the artist thing for awhile now. Most of my favorite comic artists (Hal Foster, Wally Wood, Eric Shanower) were gone or pretty old school. I felt kind of alone in my illustration world in the sense of not having anyone to look up to. I just wanted someone who was in the business currently, knew what they were doing, and someone who would actually talk about it. Maybe even someone who could be an encouraging voice in the world of artistic angst. (That’s a lot to ask for, I know)
So I did a lot of scanning around on YouTube and the internet, it took me a little while to find some artists who I truly admire and respect, and who share the important things about life and illustration.
This is my little list of favorite artists who have inspired and helped me. I hope you can find something useful here.
(Also, I guess I should say: none of these artists have paid to be on this page. They don’t know they’re here and they certainly don’t know I exist. I hope they don’t mind me sharing, if they ever do find their names here.)
So without further adieu:
Pro artist & Youtuber
This guy is amazing. I’ve learned a lot from listening to Will Terry, he’s a great guy and mega talented. He works with the big time publishers, so it’s pretty cool that he still takes time to talk to his fans via YouTube. He interviews other artists, answers questions from fans, discusses everything from portfolios to marketing yourself to making sure you don’t get down in the dumps as an artist. His videos are pretty long which is perfect for listening to while you draw.
Pro artist & creator of Inktober
(Oh yeah! I’ve heard of Inktober! What a clever idea!)
I heard about Jake Parker from Will Terry. He did an interview with Jake and they discussed Inktober and some of Jake’s work. Jake has a very inspiring YouTube channel and his work is just phenomenal! Jake vlogs, blogs, and talks about his life as an artist, makes how-to draw videos, and is just an all around “motivate you off your butt and get you excited about making art” kind of guy.
My two favorite videos from him (so far) are:
Your Creative Bank Account
Finished Not Perfect
Watch those. You will feel better about your work after you do, I promise.
I also very much enjoy following these creative artists on Instagram:
Also, let’s never forget the Great Wally Wood’s credo & his 22 comic panels that always work: (what a great sense of humor that guy had. And that portrait tho!)
And finally; do yourself a favor and feast your eyes and hungry artist soul on the work of The Father of Comics. My first inspirer, the originator of my love for the illustration world: Hal Foster, The King.
