i don't know if this is a weird ask, but how did you develop your style? it's so beautiful and very well suited to illustration so i'm excited to hear you're designing a copy of dracula. it's a style that inspires me so i was wondering how you arrived at it? thanks for taking the time to answer if u do and have a good day :)
Oh my goodness hi! Thank you so much it means a lot to hear you like my illustrations! Thank you for being so sweet, I dont think its a weird question at all! It will be a long answer though!
So just to preface I want to say that I dont Feel like I have a super distinctive style myself but that might be because I can see behind the curtain to where I pulled my inspiration from, I still feel I have a long way to go development wise.
With that said, a lot of my inspiration comes from books i read growing up, especially the illuatrations from A Series Of Unfortunate Events, and mid century books like The Wind On The Moon. The hatching and pencil lines of ASOUE, especially.
Like most little goth baby bats, I was a big fan of Tim Burton (not so much now but definitely his earlier stuff) and I actually have a copy of his poetry book The Melancholy Tales of Oyster Boy, which is all illustrated by Burton himself. Not to mention his stop motion films. I think the way I draw hands especially is bourne from his thin lines and the kind of hesitant energy I always felt in his work (stupid art student thing to say I know but true none the less). And the amount of time I spent as a teen emulating his style had to have rubbed off somewhere!
Speaking of styles I loved as a teen, la chapeliere folle on deviantart was a MAJOR point of reference, and the hatching I still use in dark areas is directly pulled from their work. I adored it.
Recently the illustrations of Abigail Larson have been a big source of inspiration. And Eliot Baum (both of whom are on tumblr! Go check them out!!)
Other than that I love set design, and Wes Anderson films, art nouveau posters, puppetry (yes the muppets but also stage puppets especially the death puppet from a christmas carol -yell if you want images included) and that usually informs my composition choices. That and my deep love of parallels and symmetry!
Inspiration comes from so many mediums its just a matter of finding how you want to apply it. I'm currently struggling to draw sheer fabric and am looking at black and white photography of plants to help me!
Developing my style to its current look has been constantly drawing from and practicing details and studies from all of these points and more (but I'll cut myself off here so I don't ramble any further lol). Studies especially, particularly from life are very good for finding personal style and flair.
If you want any photo references just let me know, I'm always up for talking about art I find interesting!
Again thank you so much for the ask, and enjoy the rest of the week! :)
