Influences

My name is Diana Montano, and I'm a sophomore art education major. I've been working with Macs for pretty much all of my life, and I love them. I have some (okay, very minimal) experience with Photoshop and Illustrator, though I did take a class my senior year of high school called Graphic Communication, where I dabbled in both programs. I'm taking this class 1) because I have to and 2) I'm actually interested in these programs because I have a minor in Graphic Design and would like to familiarize myself with the programs as much as possible.

I do a lot of things everyday. Well, maybe "a lot" is an overstatement. I do a decent amount of things everyday. But without even really noticing it, I'm influenced by all the things happening around me: the music I hear, the sounds around me, the books I read, the people I talk to, the things I see. Then comes the part where I process those things, recognize them for what they are or what they can represent, and use those influences to shape my own art. Just a few of the biggest influences on my life and my art:

ONE: MY FATHER


First and foremost, my father has had a huge influence on my art. I grew up knowing that the only computer that mattered was a Macintosh, and went to public school not understand how a Windows worked. He taught me about websites, graphics, Photoshop, and how to force quit applications when I ran too many of them at once. He brought me to museums; all kinds - art museums, history museums, museums filled with stuffed animals and dinosaur bones. Both he and my mother instilled in me a great want to learn. But it was my father that really made me understand how I could really take all this knowledge and turn it into an art all my own style.

TWO: REALIST PAINTERS


When it comes to any kind of art - photography, drawing, painting, etc. - I'm a big fan when artists depict people just being people. During the Realism movement, some artists got sick of others showing the world as they thought it ought to look, so they moved on to illustrate people and scenes as you would actually see them, no flair added - tired women ironing, poor people squashed into a single train car, dirty men working in a field, a destroyed building or room. While in museums, these works really catch my attention.

THREE: BOOK ART


When reading books, I take care to pay attention to the cover art and any sketches or pictures inside the book. One particular illustrator for children's books and comic books is Dave McKean, a man I hold in great esteem. His illustrations are freeform and yet have specific shapes. McKean works with many authors, although he is most well-known for his work done with Neil Gaiman, the author of many best-selling books like Coraline and The Graveyard Book. He is a wonderful artist who I aspire to be like someday.