#ghibli has always been a big influence to my art so this was a blast to draw ehe

[biruesque]

the spirited away thing but with kid utena and anthy

[oddeum]

Your art is incredibly beautiful, detailed and whimsical. I'm curious- Who or what is your biggest inspiration?

Thank you so much!

I was always inspired by Beatrix Potter, ever since I was a child. Her attention to detail, love of anatomically correct animals, and sometimes quite dark humor, has influenced my art since forever.

She’s what made me want to learn art in the first place

Then there’s Mr. Bill Waterson.

My parents owned the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes; I used to get a piece of paper and trace over Hobbes to learn how to draw him!

His sense of motion and very natural style of inking are still a big influence to me. Oh to be as loose with my ink as he is!

And of course, like all young modern day artists, Studio Ghibli.

My Neighbor Totoro was the first thing I ever saw by them; my brothers rented it for me on a VHS when I was 6. Its vivid colors and love of nature permanently impacted me and my art.

As I got older, I noticed most of my favorite artists had something in common: Watercolors with ink lines, and every painting told a story. 

I wasn’t content to draw a pretty girl sitting in front of a window; I had to know why she was sitting in front of a window, what type of window was it? Where did she live? Was she pretty because she was born that way or did she steal it from her sister who’s trapped beneath a lake?

What changed the direction of my art (For a while I thought I wanted to be a cartoonist like Bill Waterson) was when I discovered Edmund Dulac. I loved his fine inking, composition, and the faded brown antique look. I’m still trying to find a balance between that sepia tone, and my love of vivid colors.

Also, for sheer strangeness, Peter Sis. His fishes with faces have permeated my art forever.

As for WHAT inspires me...I would have to say my environment and my family.

I live in the countryside, on the Jacobson Family Farm, and it is beautiful here; chickens, turkeys, cows, sheep, a still young orchard, and a lake a mile up. Hundreds of tiny black toads seem to rise from the ground when it rains, and a cougar who lives in an old dug-out by the lake.

My family really is my biggest blessing. My parents and siblings love my art and support me 100%. When I was young, I would tell me little sister Alice stories as we fell asleep at night; now that I’m older, I can tell me nieces and nephews stories as we camp five feet from the house in pop-up tents. These stories always end up becoming illustrations later!

There are other things that inspire me; documentaries about history, cultures, nature, sea life, or anything really. My uncle makes prosthetic limbs for a living, so I’ve always been fascinated by that, and include them in my art and stories quite frequently.

I’m highly susceptible to inspiration; I’ve been inspired by the pattern on curtains and the shape of my blanket.

Thank you for such an interesting question! I had a blast thinking about what and who inspires me, so this answer probably ran a little too long. I don’t know how to end this so bye.