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Influence Map Part the Third: Materialistic Items

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As promised, here is the third installment of my overall influences. (How far these will go by numbers is anyone’s guess quite frankly.) These down below are what I generally draw from “materialistic” things that influence my art or spark my ways of thinking that ultimately affect my art in some way. So let’s dive in!

Ads: Ok, as much as how they’re usually detestable, ads (especially those in manga) have greatly impacted what I am exposed to. My absolute favorite kinds of ads would by the fake ones that the artist of the manga I was reading had drawn for the shits and giggles within the actual book. And of course they directed me to some sweet series like Shugo Chara, Pixie POP ~Gokkun Pucho~ and of course Brigadoon: Marin to Melan. (Just to name a few—some of which I didn’t really like, and some of which I absolutely adore.)

Fun fact: I bought the Escaflowne manga adaptation solely for this ad. (Well, I wanted to get started on Escaflowne but this manga is absolutely horrendous. I totally started off wrong.) Yes, I am that obsessed in collecting whatever seizes me. Plus stuff for this anime just get harder and harder to find, so sue me.

DVDs: “You don’t get it. You’re just happy just by holding it in your hands. :meow:” –Konota Izumi [Lucky Star manga.]

And that is exactly how I feel when I obtain a box set of a dear anime series. (My Puella Magi box set arrived the day I post this, HAPPY HAPPY!) It gives me the satisfaction of never again toying with streaming websites and the woes of terrible quality all around. Plus it…I don’t feel poor. Kids, if you want to get into anime; you need tons of money.

I usually don’t buy these kinds of things unless I find a really good deal with a series I love or I get lucky. (As in, Christmas lucky—don’t you hate it when relatives give you something you don’t want but are completely generous of said items and then when you kindly request something you’d actually appreciate they look at you as if you’re a money-consuming specimen? I CAN’T BE THE ONLY ONE. ) And it's not like I have a vast collection because DVD collecting is just silly--I buy solely to fill the unavailability void. Also godammit, I want this Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san (One of the most underrated magical girl anime by the way.) boxset but it's in Cantonese! DX (You can't find episodes beyond episode 21 on the `net!!!)

Not to mention, I can seriously stare at a picture for a stretch of time without really getting bored, but I hate it when they’re at shitty quality. But when it’s actually printed, you can see so much more and gain so much information—and that really influences me. Though people might find DVD box art bullshit since who really cares, I enjoy them muchly.

Headphones: Sister to “Pop” in my second influence map where I described the feeling when you crank up epic tracks to the highest of volumes, but you simply cannot fully enjoy this without good headphones. (Because why bother with high volume--you'll only mess your hearing up without worth.) More specifically the ©Skull Candy brand because it’s just currently in with the general demographic of people around my age and their items are great. Even though I don’t actually own one, I would like to because it makes music so much more enjoyable to listen to if they weren’t already. And music is a great form of art!

Foods: Paris Baguette is the sweetest and most sophisticated bakery I have been to so far. Yes, foods and especially sweets really influence my atmospherically state and of course girly ideas. Their strawberry harmonica is to die for. You can’t forget about food art either since it’s one of the best art forms ever.

Even if you may not witness me indulging myself in looking at these kinds of things, it’s certainly one of the biggest influences. And it’s not like I tend to pig out or anything. ^ ^; We struggle everyday trying to put food on the table. Not THINKING about food—but actually affording it. Moral of my life is: Even if you can’t afford nice things, that doesn’t mean you can’t get them in other ways. (Example being that instead of frying because of health and cooking oil expenses, we BBQ since it’s healthier and cheaper to do since our home complex’s grill is for free use and uses gas. Which means BBQ until the sun doesn’t shine no more :D) And don’t forget about cooking which I don’t find myself failing at!

Journals: Rather, old-looking or really refined journals. I just really dig their look—I dunno, don’t they seem magical if not giving you a professional impression? These sorts of things can impact you in the strangest of ways. You don’t even know what the heck you’ll write in it but you just gotta have it. If I could find a really nice sketch book that look like these, what I would do for it. (And for the record, I don’t mean planners or lined diaries with stupid paper quality and a pretty cover.)

Nendoroids: Chibi figures what can I say? :XD: They’re great references aside from being totally useless and collecting dust. Seldom do I buy these things (the totally number of figures I possess would be three and they’re really tiny.) but when I do, it’s for research material for future clay figurines. (Why I didn’t put clay on this list is because I’m only realizing this now as I type but it’s a definite influence for obvious reasons. So.)

Weapons: Believe it or not, we have a small collection of weapons in various households. My grandfather has a few swords and bows (this image looking a lot like one.) and my dad bought a Hawk-Eye looking bow a few months ago because it rare, at a reasonable price, and we couldn’t help ourselves—we might be able to take archery lessons! (Opportunity looks nil now.) So, yeah—I’ve swung and shot weapons more than the next person much without consent, but it’s so much fun!

Booklets: Behold: the ghetto art books! Game manuals were essential in my childhood because we didn’t have a computer at the time and ink was a bother to use. So I had no choice but to extract reference from the game manual’s character pages. And was I ever pissed when I came to find out that the Kingdom Hearts II booklet was in monochrome.

As you can imagine, I don’t buy many games now and I have the internet at hand, so game manuals aren’t all that essential. What piques research, however, are those small extra anthology doujins that are occasionally tossed within factory-sealed books or pages in magazines. (More so the ones included with Doujin Work.) I still struggle with manga making, so it’s great when I can find a few physical examples—especially for the printing portion which I have yet to attain.

And that concludes my third influence map. My, it seems that this influence map has brought up quite a few money wanks O_o Apologies for that! But seriously, two thirds of the reason why I found myself drawing was because I wanted things that I simply could not get—and through art I was able to get them. Are there Lolo plushies available to all? No. Can a seven-year-old afford cosplay accessories? No. Can one simply find enough reason to get a poster over a meal of the same price? No. May you ever see a reasonably-sized Nessiah figure? OF COURSE NOT.

I had to make certain things entirely on my own in order to satisfy an ailment called “otakuism.” And by god is it never easy. My journey through the arts was first stimulated by selfishness, and I’m pretty sure it starts out that way for many more people. :XD: If anything, that was the main reason why I drew besides liking it and that I was pretty good for my age.

I’d also like to mention that I was a bit of a perfectionist back then. One of my pet-peeves was products accompanied by outrageous prices and the artistry was balls. Something was missing or it was in a different style. What I desired where things all in the tin—and was generally picky. So I figured that if I became good enough, I can be able to quench my desires and possibly other's that I didn’t get the chance to have with perfect artistry that I can also be proud of doing.

I’m sure it’s safe to say that this is the reason why I can virtually adapt into any style I want—because I trained myself to. And I suppose this is also the reason why when someone actually uses something I make (like say, an avatar) I don’t mind in the slightest. Hell, I wish other people can be like that. I wish YouTube can be like that. If you’re not claiming it as your own, why bother the fuss?

All in all, I suppose the third installment contains the biggest influences since it has shaped me so much and favorite artists are simply a guide directing you of what is possible of doing. But what fuels you to be good is what matters in the long run. =) If there’s no passion, there’s no way to move forward or have joy, and this concept is not limited to the arts. It’s applied to learning how to drive to making a cake to surprise your broke family on holidays. And that, ladies and gentleman, is the key to doing the “impossible.” Influences are but a peak into a person’s will.
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MarionetteVignette's avatar
"If there’s no passion, there’s no way to move forward or have joy, and this concept is not limited to the arts" amen! man i love that! i loved reading this, BAGUETTES <33333 wenever u can cme up here i am treating u to le panier! a freaking epic french patisserie! but wow nw that u mention inspiration through objects, i realize that many objects inspired how i draw! wow thank you again!! (are you gna do another one?????)