What makes us, creatively speaking? What influences us? This is a question that was asked in the Udemy course “Design & Criação de Personagens” (translated to “Character Design and Creation” – available only in Portuguese).
Dado, the instructor, shows a “Influence Map” grid, where he placed images from things that inspires and influences him as an artist and as a creative person. The template for the Influence Map is very popular around digital artists and was created by fox-orian on Deviantart.
I decided to create my artistic influence map placing things that influenced me creatively. This task was actually quite challenging yet fun, because you have to carefully think about whether something really influences you or if you are just affected by it due to hype or trends.
UPDATE: Check part 2, with extra items.
Artistic Influences versus Other Influences
As I said, this Influence Map contains only things that influenced me creatively and artistically, since we have influences from all kinds of sources for different subjects. It’s too reductionist or even fatalist to consider a small grid with just a few items as the only source of inspiration and influences for what you are.
For example, I’m not a professional artist, I’m a professional software developer, so my influences for my main area of expertise are different from my artistic influences. For many yeas I was involved with entrepreneurship and business in general, naturally I have many other different influences and inspirations for that subject. So on and so forth.
List
List of items from the image, the order is not in any priority or preference (except for my Daddy he is first on purpose):
- My daddy Reinold Baudisch (he had a TV Fishing Show – Pesca Dinâmica – and I was in countless adventures with him)
- Dinosaurs (TV series, 1991)
- Stephane Richard Wootha (artist)
- Zelda A Link to the Past (SNES Game)
- Van Gogh: The Complete Works (book by Taschen)
- Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum (TV series)
- The Lord of the Rings (the books, not the movie)
- Zelda Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64 Game)
- Samurai Gourmet (Netflix series)
- Tomb Raider 2 (PC game, the original)
- Alex Kidd In Miracle World (Master System game)
- Game Magazines (Gamers, Gamersbook, Ação Games, Super Game Power)
- Johny Castaway (Windows 95 screensaver)
- The Incredible Machine (DOS game)
- Tibia (MMORPG)
- A Goofy Movie (“Pateta – O Filme”)
- Toy Story (the first movie)
- A Bandeira do Elefante e da Arara (book by Christopher Kastensmidt)
- Metal Gear Solid (PS1 game)
- Crash Bandicoot (PS1 game)
- Final Fantasy VII (PS1 game)
- John Muir Laws (nature artist)
- Miziziz (with his course PS1 graphics with Blender)
- World of Warcraft (especially the expansions The Burning Crusade and Mists of Pandaria)
- Styx (PC game)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360 game)
- Dinotopia (books and world by James Gurney)
- Shadow Tactics (PC game)
- Scarface (movie)
- Marilyn Manson