Influence Map Meme - Wazaga

I see this all the time... I think it's about time I did one myself, so here goes:

lets start with the videotapes of yesteryear... which would include "Jem & the Holograms", "My Little Pony" and "My Little Pony Tales" and of course "Carebears". mostly the two listed in image above because, as a kid, I adored bright vibrant colors. and these tapes were practically replayed until they wore out and got fuzzy. I once colored a Barbie doll's hair pink just so I could play it as Jem. what can you expect from a 7 or 8 year old? anyway, that's prolly why my colors are so bright and happy. moving on...

Disney in general, but the old Disney Channel's "Disney Afternoon" 2-hour-box was where its at as an older kid and early teen. particularly "Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers" and "Talespin", which later evolved to "Gargoyles" and "Aladdin the series" I bet this really shows in my anthro stuff mostly. but then again, too many people have said my people OCs look like "Disney crossed with Anime." BLAH!

"Majid Magazine" is the local magazine for kids. a weekly pile of awesome which had several comic strips, short graphic novels that spanned anywhere from two issues to 10 issues to complete a story, short stories, the weekly contests, general news, the science pages and of course, the fanart and artists section. I grew up collecting this magazine as my only source of "physical" comics for about 6 or 7 years before they stopped using comics by local artists who actually lived in Dubai and started simply translating English comics from America or Europe. basically, they stopped being cool in my eyes because they got lazy. if I wanted the American junk, I'd just go online to see it. moving on. regardless, this magazine gave me what little hope I had making it into a comics illustration job before they got lazy... also, reality was a brute that I didn't have the power to argue against...

"Young Robin Hood" I pretty much have two heroes I can honestly say I've lived with all my life in many different incarnations. Robin Hood and Batman. but I think Robin Hood took a bigger toll on me because, obviously, I went with the "swords and arrows" interest rather then the "guns, cars, and gizmos" route... and besides, it's freaken Robin Hood!!! why shouldn't I include the second cartoon character I ever had a crush on as a kid? (don't answer that!) fantasy and medieval goodness right here! (right next to "Gummibears" and "Dungeons & Dragons" HAH!)

"Thunder Jett" or as I knew it "Hazeem Al-Ra'ad", this is not a well known Anime. I've never found it neither in English nor in Japanese. but in Arabic, this was the hit show that EVERYONE and their OLDER BROTHER was talking about right before the dreaded "Mon" invasion (Pokemon and Digimon, in case you need clarification) this show is like, THE BEST fantasy space samurai drama story EVER!!! but anyway... not well known... but really, this might be the reason I want EH to be an epic sort of story for my webcomic... NEXT!

"Pirates of Darkwater" if you've been paying attention to my fantasy clothing, you miiiiiiiiight recognize where THAT influence might have come from. my pre-homework television hour was this amazing masterpiece from Hanna-Barbarra followed by "Conan the Adventurer"... my only regret is that this amazing cartoon was cancelled before the quest was ended, and I still rage about it to this day whenever I put on my DVD for a marathon and end up seeing the 10th Treasure of Rule in the last available episode... ALL THEY NEEDED WAS 4 MORE EPISODES TO FINISH THE STORY!!!! DAMN THEM! oh, and my creatures and monster take a big roll in designs from this... where the hell did you think I got the word "Dagrons" from, hmmm?

if you grew up with "Hook" in your childhood, then good for you! I've seen all of Robbin Williams' films, but that's not the point. my point on picking this image is that I pretty much fall in love with all fantasy acted movies. and particularly ones from my childhood. starting with "Hook" passing the "Never Ending Story" going through the "Labyrinth" skipping under a "Willow" finding "The Dark Crystal" and seeing the "Legend"..... to name but a few magical moments off the top of my head... I'm not a fantasy nerd, but I do know what I like.

"Warriors of the Wind" as I used to know it before being re-introduced to the proper "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" many years later, is by far my biggest love of ANY animated film by Studio Ghibli. all Ghibli films hold a special place in my heart, but Wind is just.... just... words fail me. really. suffice to say the cassette tape had seen far better days by the time it was finally put into a box with other tapes and sent out to be recycled at the plastic factory. I may not have grown up with the "good" version of the film. but that never stopped me from knowing it was a good film to begin with. I'd was compared to having Ghibli's style on a handful of times. but trust me when I say that I'd rather be compared to that awesome style then be labeled with the dreaded "Disney mixed with Anime" garbage... but then someone out there said that "Ghibli is actually Japan's Disney"... to which my brain broke.

now to stop with the films and cartoons and move on to books and real people:

this woman is literally my teenhood mentor. she's the one who inspired me to draw my first ever comic page. and she was also my email teacher in all things photoshop back when I was a little girl with a big program and even bigger dreams. if not for this amazing, talented, and doubly patient woman, I would never have gotten anywhere in the digital art world. hell, she's the reason I even joined the digital art world. starting out in Drunk Duck and later moving to deviantArt. Amy, I salute you with all my love, respect and thanks for all you've taught me and for inspiring me to be where I am today!

Meg... where the bloody hell do I even start with this woman? we met on Drunk Duck... we emailed each other after just commenting on each other's webcomics... and eventually chatted live after many years pen-palling on the interwebs... we've discussed art, religion, politics, dreams, goals, current life news. we've shared ideas, created many more along the way, collaborated, influenced and inspired each other, challenged and supported each other. through all these many years, you've become the sister I never had. and while not official on some stupid government paper, in my heart of hearts, I adopted you as my sister under God's eyes. this, I shout to the world! and guess what? I'm coming for you this October or heaven strike me!

Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series. if I start on this, I'll never shut up. moving on.

most illustrated "Fairy Tale" books have always left me wishing to be this amazing artist. but in particular, are two books I own that were illustrated by one Gerry Embleton. his amazingly detailed pictures are so breathtaking, it absolutely BURNS me that one page from one of the books fell out and got lost through all these years of owning them. to this day, I'll flip through the books just to gawk at his lovely work, and I'll still discover a new detail I never saw before.

welp, there's my map. enjoy!