Artistic Inspirations:

Jack Kirby - Without a doubt one of the most prolific talents ever to grace the comic book industry. When I was a kid learning how to draw I'd use his comics as a reference, mesmerized at how he could make things look so dynamic. No one could design machinery like Jack did, either.

Gene Colan - When you look at his work on Daredevil and Iron Man (my favorite) it is like viewing a movie. His shading and angles are just incredible.

John Buscema - I always liked John's illustrative approach, especially on the Avengers and Conan. His book, "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way", was a big influence and one that I highly recommend. It's still in print and can be found in most of the chain bookstores.

John Romita - I especially liked his work on Spiderman.

Steve Ditko - I was never really crazy about Steve's style - even the superheros looked more like everyday people - but looking back he had Spiderman down pat. You'll notice a lot of the "classic" Spiderman poses in the 60's animated show and elsewhere were directly taken from Steve's drawings in the comic book.

George Tuska - I liked how he illustrated Iron Man, especially the flying poses.

 

Movie Inspirations:

Star Wars: Episode 4 - Ok, who hasn't been. I think we're all pretty jaded now but back then spaceships did not move that way on the big screen. You would have this slow pan of a ship moving or just as a static object. I had seen Silent Running and parts of 2001 so I had a pretty good reference when going to see Episode 4 for the first time, and it just bowled me over. The movement and detail of the ships was just incredible but it also got me interested in the real science behind how they did it. Motion control cameras, rotoscoping, matte paintings, blue screens, optical film compositing which made me appreciate it even more.

Tron - Although it didn't do well in the theatres I enjoyed it. My first exposure to the possibilities of 3d animation and how you could incorporate it with live action. I would have to rate the visual elements right up there with Star Wars as you were seeing a new way of telling stories for the very first time even though it looks crude compared to today's standards.

Terminator 2 - Another great movie that pushed the integration of digital 3d and live action.

Jurassic Park - Raised the bar higher not only with 3d/live action compositing but also with matching the lighting. The dinosaurs looked perfectly natural.