My Influences: Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli

There are times when I get so enthralled with something, that I usually forget everything else about that day. One such instance was with "Spirited Away" by Studio Ghibli, directed by Hiyao Miyazaki. I don't remember what I was doing, or why i had been watching it, or even if anyone had taken me to go see it.

I was completely and utterly captivated by this film. The story itself was phenomenal, yet it was the animation that really drew me in. All the detail and little things that made this movie what it was blew me away. The fact that the main character was the least detailed figure in the whole movie but possibly the most expressive made me so excited  that went home immediately to draw her. I would spend countless hours trying to recreate just how absolutely breathtaking all the scenery was with water colors and markers and oil pastels or whatever I thought at the moment was what made those backdrops. To say I became obsessed was an understatement.
Yet it didn't stop there. Once I figured out who created the movie there was no stopping me viewing everything he had done. This not only applied to his movies, but his concept art as well.

Concept art for Kiki's Delivery Service

I've tried to take the same approach that is done in his movies as well. Though, I find it hard for myself to actually make a character so...not detailed. His characters are usually plain looking but when you're watching them within a story, they aren't so plain. Though, I do think his work has inspired me into making my stories and comics more animated and less dependent on detail, I don't think I quite got the hang of it yet.