Influences through the years

Early Saturday morning, I got up and was doing my normal social network surfing and saw something on Deviant Art that got me thinking, “Who are the artists that made me who I am today?” Wow, that’s a pretty deep question for 6:30 in the morning. What could get me thinking about something like that so early? What I saw was something called an “Influence Map”. The “Influence Map” instructions wanted me to fill a template with things that have inspired me. I really liked that idea but wanted to do something a little different so I decided to go year by year throughout my life as an artist and pick people that influenced me over the last 25 years. I can’t think of what influenced me from ages one to four, so I started at age five. I had no idea who most of the people on my list were until I went back and did some research. These are the things I can remember as a kid always going back to, trying to draw over and over. Here is my list of artists that have inspired me over my first 30 years.
1985 – Maurice Sendak (writer and artist of Where the wild things are)
1986 – John Byrne (Artist on The Man of Steel)
1987 – Keiji Inafune (Creator of MegaMan)
1988 – Tad Stones – (Creator of Darkwing Duck and Chip’n Dale Rescue Rangers)
1989 – Erik Larsen (Artist on Spider-man Revenge of The Sinister Six)
1990 – Arthur Adams (Artist on Uncanny X-Men Annual 14)
1991 – Ken Mitchroney (Artist on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures)
1992 – Shotaro Ishinomori (Artist on Legend of Zelda-A Link to the Past Comic)
1993 – Jim Lee (Artist on X-Men #1)
1994 – Bruce Timm (Batman The Animated Series)
1995 – J Scott Campbell (Artist on Gen 13)
1996 – Akira Toriyama (Character designer Chrono Trigger)
1997 – Akihiko Yoshida (Character designer Final Fantasy Tactics & Vagrant Story)
1998 – Long Vo (My first online art site I would frequent)
1999 – Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Character designer Neon Genesis Evangelion)
2000 – Shukou Murase (Character designer Final Fantasy IX)
2001 – Ryuji Higurashi (Character designer MegaMan PS)
2002 – Mike Wieringo (Artist on Fantastic four)
2003 – Sam “Samwise” Didier (WOW Concept art)
2004 – Haruki Suetsugu (Artist on The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap)
2005 – Shinsuke Komaki (Character designer MegaMan Battle Network)
2006 – Bryan Konietzko (Character designer Avatar: The Last Airbender)
2007 – Sean “Cheeks” Galloway (Concept art)
2008 – Dani Jones (Amazing artist and great tutorial for artist)
2009 – Gurihiru (Artist on PowerPack)
2010 – David Lafuente (Artist on Ultimate Spider-Man)

I never thought doing an exercise like this could bring such emotion. Now just looking back at this completed peace of 25 years of inspiration I can’t help but smile every time I see it.

Growing up on the shores of Maui, Hawaii, Norm has always loved drawing. Since leaving the islands’ beautiful beaches and landing in Oregon, he went to college and received a degree in graphic design as well as an additional degree in digital prepress technology. After graduating, he worked for an interactive media firm in Corvallis, Oregon. While there, he was the company’s lead illustrator/designer and was responsible for creating illustrations, animations, and interactive products like video games. Now living in Beaverton, Oregon, Norm worked as an in-house illustrator for 10 years at a large education company in downtown Portland, Oregon. While at this position, he was the creative mind behind nationally marketed campaigns, numerous brand identities, toy and product designs, children’s books, as well as Web and interactive designs for the company’s design team. After leaving this position to raise his son, he now spends countless hours perfecting his craft as a freelance illustrator. He has worked with companies like Highlights Magazine, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Reading A to Z, Kaiser Permanente, KinderCare, and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). He has created projects such as marketing illustrations, children’s books, coloring and activity books, video games, and educational products for these companies and others. Norm’s ability to draw has given him the chance to do the thing he truly loves: Create.

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