Saturday, August 29, 2015

Trying to remember influences


 I feel like I have to keep reminding myself of a lot of the influences that seem ingrained in me but don’t have a constant and obvious presence at the forefront. There’s a lot of passions that have always been there but somehow it’s easy to forget about them, possibly because I just don’t see them enough in daily life.

 I usually remember to keep up the detail and complexity but occasionally I’ll see something that reminds me I need to keep taking it to the next level if I can. It’s easier to forget about the colour combinations, delicacy and textures that excite me.

 I’m always seeing images that remind me of things I need to do more and I’m starting to become more conscious of the idea that maybe I can’t do some of those things, or at least the same way that other artists do them.

  The most obvious non-ingrained influence that I have to keep reminding myself of is the lovely and elegant but seemingly effortless linework of artists like Carlos Nine, Lorenzo Mattotti and Christophe Blain or sculpting of Bernini and Dino Cunsolo. It was age 12 or 13 I started to want less sharp, unvaryingly thin and angular lines, in favour of something more wavy and curvy like the way the wind blows around things.

 This style has grown a bit more popular and I’m glad about that. Even artists a bit further removed like Blutch and Sergio Toppi have that full and free flowing quality.

 There’s a fairly new artist called Loic Locatelli that also really impresses me but he and a lot of the aforementioned drawers are far more sketchy and loose than I want to be. I really like the sculptural solidity of my best work but I want more of a free flowing feel to go along with it.

  One thing that seems like it should have been an ingrained influence by now but I have to keep reminding myself of is the whole dreampop/shoegazing look with all the blurring, faded, hazy shapes, colors and overlapping semi-transparent images. It’s probably just because I’ve been using linear tools all the time that I don’t remember these approaches often enough.

 I’ve also been reminding myself of colourful monsters more that used to thrill me as a child. All those toys and Halloween masks with very varied designs and colors. Also been thinking about the gardens and buildings I dimly remember long ago that have a large place in my subconscious but don’t get drawn enough. Just remembering all the things I want to see more of. The solution to all this is usually as simple as drawing more.

5 comments:

Ibrahim R. Ineke said...

Interesting isn't it, how we tend to conflate the music with its presentation? The shoegaze influence, one would never have guessed from your work, especially not the heavily inked stuff. Would love to see that reference emerge in your work somehow, that would really make it unique, totally change the slightly 'metal' vibe it can have at first glance. Nice post.

Robert Adam Gilmour said...

I think some of my older ink wash work has a bit of that influence.

For shoegazing/dreampop the sound and visual presentation seemed like a perfect match that people seem to understand instantly, it came together pretty much as soon as those genres arrived. It's similar but obviously different from the imagery of early ambient and psychedelic music.
And of course metal music has embraced shoegazing and dreamy ambient extensively over the last decade but there hasn't been much in the way of monsters and hellscapes mixed with shoegazing imagery.
Alison Scarpulla has some horror and pagan imagery but it's mostly focused on the mystical countryside thing. There is a wolfman in one of her Wolves In The Throne Room images.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aliscarpulla/

Paleo said...

I'm influenced by you.

Robert Adam Gilmour said...

Thanks.

Marcel Ruijters said...

I don't think i ever have been directly influenced by the music i like to listen to, nor do i think a painting or drawing convincingly translated a piece of music. Having some inspiring music while at work definitely helps you to keep going, but they're entirely different dimensions, IMO.