ASDF movie drawings were useful for attempting to capture emotion in a humorous yet simplistic way.  The caricatures of Donald Trump were quite fun to do when I was doing this research!

When I was looking for humorous facial expressions, I looked to ONEY cartoons on youtube.  I find them hilarious!  They came in handy when I was learning how to do caricatures.  Here're a few of my favourites!

David Shrigley's work came in handy for my small caricatures of Donald Trump.  His naive, childish way of illustrating was an inspiring and fun way for me to draw other people.  I looked at him last year too but he's always been an interesting artist to me.

I looked at Jean Juillien last year for the purpose of looking at how I can start commenting on how society seems to function.  I do this for politics.  He does this for everyday life.  I enjoy how upfront and honest his images are.  We can all relate to them. They're satirical which is why I looked at his work this year.  He gave me some insight into how I can incorporate a sense of humour into my work.

I looked to Laurence hyde for ideas of using line to express the emotion in my characters faces like the sadness in the refugee print, the psychopathic screaming of trump coming out of the trumpet and the sly look in the large trump cat as he sprayed stuff all over the word democracy.  I'd like to create a woodcut novel in time but for now I'll stay with large scale.  I admire how Hyde captures the waves, nuclear explosions and the emotions of his characters.  Here's some prints from his woodcut novel "Southern Cross" which is about the impact of nuclear bomb testing on the residents of the polinesian islands during the cold war.

When I was making my woodcuts, I looked to Max Ernst for ideas on detail.  His woodcuts are beyond impressive!  I love the detail he manages to bring to his images.  I enjoy how graphic and awe inspiring they are from a distance, yet upon closer examination it's just many lines carved together.  Max pushed me to bring more detail to my woodcuts as well as give me ideas on the folds in peoples clothes and light and shadows.  He has a great book in the library called "Une SemaineDe Bonte".  He incorporates animals for symbolic effect, which I also like to do.

One of the most influential artists on my practice so far is Banksy.  I love the work he does.  His spraypaintings all have such a clear message about similar topics that I work with like capitalism, politics, war, corruption, the military etc.  He sees what is wrong with the world and uses art to educate people in a fun and visual way.  His satire in my opinion is spectacular and it always makes me laugh and look at the world differently.  I also enjoy the fact that nobody really knows who he is.  He's British but that's all we have!  It's like he doesn't want recognition for all the good he does for people.  It's admirable.  If I was to talk to him, I can imagine him being humble, yet having an opinion on everything and joking about it!