Your JC Artist role model

This is a question asked on the old board several years ago, but figured it was worthing bringing up again.

Quite simple, which 3-4 JoeCustoms artists influence and inspire you, and why?

Personally I'm a big fan of the Chad & Matthew team. I like the eye for detail and the production quality of thier work.

I'm also a huge fan of SGartz and Wowboy. I think the camoflauge work they do is among the greatest out there.

Also, I love the workd of LIVEVIL. I don't know how he does the mod work that he does, but damn, its inspiring to me.

Chad and Matthew- Their paintwork is astounding and I loved all of their new sculpt work but now they've gone back to the RAH stuff. Still amazing jobs but not my preference of base figures.

DavAnthony- Amazing paint and modifications. Really shows what can be done with new sculpt updates of old characters.

Spin Doctor--Very imaginative uses of new sculpt parts and he manages to do so with very little paint so his stuff is still very playable.

Some of the newer members who impress me:

theunknown- very creative and the detail on his figures is astounding. Sometimes takes it a little far with painting boot laces and uniform trim but they are all consistent. The detail painting is tight and looks better than Hasbro can do.

carnage717- His customs fit with my view on GI Joe so its easy to get behind his stuff. Good solid work there.

-- DavAnthony definitely - I found his site and fell in love with his work before I even discovered JoeCustoms.
-- Chad & Matthew - again, I think I saw their stuff over at Loserville before I ever came here.
-- Invisible Wraith (iwbeta) - like DavAnthony, he makes the figs look so damn lifelike it's kinda creepy
-- Spin Doctor - the guy makes everything look like it came right out of the package. Too cool.
-- GI Joey - my personal tech advisor on matters of customization. Everything he does is production-quality, and having a couple of his customs now in my collection, I can appreciate even more all the hard work he puts into everything.
-- And I gotta agree with you on LIVEVIL, John - all that work he did on his original 13 and his Maj Bludd really blew me away (and made me start liking old-sculpt customs )

Hmm, lets see:

As far as painting style and work ethic, I gotta say Hawkeye/Dover Pro, the guy puts so much detail into all his guys and he is a factory unto himself.

Dave Anthony/Wonder twins, I really just like seeing their stuff, its pretty far beyond my skill level for now, but its fun to see how far they can take it.

But as far as getting me to customize, its been Jestyr, I can watch him paint up close and try to steal his ideas first hand, lol, and having a buddy to keep up the motivation is good, too.

Some of the artists that keep me coming back here every day:

AdrienVeidt- To me, AV is THE guy fighting the good fight for 1:18 superheroes/sci-fi/fantasy. I always check out his new pieces and am floored by his choice of bases and innovative use of odds & ends.

DavAnthony & Teknokyo- Are there any other artists that do straight-up, hyper-real Joe customs better than these two cats? Seriously. DA's customs show what would happen if Hasbro used paint applications and actually, y'know, tried.

Pros From Dover- That SEAL team, man. I'm blown away every single time I see those pics.

Alyosha- Better. Than. Factory. 'Nuff said.

[pluv]

If I were running a toyline Livevil would be the first person I call. I can't copy him, I can only admire him.

Seeing a new Chad or Matthew custom is always cool. Sure their work is near perfect, but they have a very keen eye for parts. They have an original way of looking at things that makes me say, "Wow, I would never have tought of that."

Sgartz, Kamakura, Grand Slam - Those guys took Joe Customizing in a realistic but fun direction that I really do enojoy doign myself.

TechnoKyo and McGhyver changed the way I look at customs. They really turned it into an art form.

Wowboy and Beav. Nothing really comparable to their styles, but I have been heavily influenced by their customs. I used ideas of theirs for stuff of mine.

Alyosha is a very skilled customizer with all around skills from paint to sculpting part selection.

Ok so I did 11 instead 3-4, but each of those guys has influenced me.

#1 has to be Evilface (even though he is not on JC)

When I was doing more new sculpt stuff, JFAK and Spin Doctor always did stuff I liked.

beav, chad_ghost, grandslam, sgartz, kamakura, pluv all do production looking stuff which is what I try to achieve as well.

also, mercer from a while back, hynohustler, KrymsynGard666's vehicles, singsingjohnny, and of course livevil.

Evilface, Karmakura, the Wonder Twins, and Carn.

I like Doc Rob's use of the hard parts, as well as using industry grade putties and appliances. When I remember that Minigun Horror, and the later works he is doing now, it makes me wish I had the funds to start a development and prototype pool.

JFAK075's sculpting and miniaturization I can't say enough great things about. The pieces alone have made me put my other toy interests on hold due to the creativity.

I have voted for DavAnthony's pieces for many years ongoing. The attention to details and very crisp painting has always impressed me.

McGhiever, who rarely is seen nowadays is another painter, and builder, that I find I would add to the pool.

Mercer, who also is rarely seen was another one. He kicked my ass on a Blade custom and it hasn't healed yet.

Haven't seen the other Eric, ViolentFix in a very long while, and he is another builder I admire.

Phil(Wowboy) blew me away with the new range of faces in his universe, and I still stand by the opinion that the heel spike is very stealworthy.

I'd have to check my list(yes, I have a list) of you guys who are constantly amazing me.

Well AV is the man to talk to if your planning to create a new 'Verse' to put your figures in. His take on creating new and unusal ways of adding things really bring his work to life.

Pros from Dover / DavAnthony - well these 2 gents are great when it comes to painting reallistic military action figures.

I love Dark Horse / Chief ? GI Joey - These guys are great at creating new looks for Superheros. I so would like to be able to copy the look and feel they portray. They constantly improve and help othes.

JFAK is my dealer. Whenever I need good shrinkage, I holler at John.

Too many more to keep going.

My customizing role models would have to to start with Evilface. His site was what inspired me to really start doing joe customs. His work is just amazing.

Once I discovered Joecustoms, I became a huge fan of both Grandslam and Sgartz (who I am proud to say is now a good friend of mine). I found myself checking the board daily to see if these guys had posted anything new. I tried to emulate their styles which I think morphed into my own current style of how I do my customs.

Then there is the Wonder Twins...These guys both are always amazing me with the production quality of their figures but even more so with the great parts choices and original ideas.


Kamakura

It's hard to say names that haven't been said before. Like Matt and Kama, Evilface was the first for me.

Others that really stick out to me are Matthew, Beav, Brandslam, sgartz, Kamakura, Pluv all do production looking stuff which is what I try to achieve as well.

I also enjoy the guys that I have added to my site, DaveAnthony, Invisible Wraith, and Gunslinger.

There are others, but these stick out to me the most.

Ok, now you guys got me wanting to go to the gallery.

I really want to see customs from these guys, especially Beav,

I'd have to put Teknokyo at the top of my list. His ability to do skin tones, highlighting and shading to his figures just wows me, and I've strived for a long time to come to close to capturing even 1/10th of what he can do.

Theunknown's stuff blows me out of the water every time I see them--he knows how to use all the right colors in the right places, and applies them so flawlessly it's like looking at production models I WISH had been.

Sgartz...I think everyone pretty well covered him.

Beav's stuff always impressed me, but especially his work with desert camouflage.

DavAnthony/Iwbeta--I call them The Masters, and could never hope to come close to the work they've done, but it's still admirable to look at.

This is an interesting one. There are so many talented people. And I enjoy everyone's work for one reason or another.
People that stand out to me . . .
Dark Horse: I think he's the most under appreciated customizer around. He can easily hold his own with the best of them- IMO.

Bekker: For having the patience and courage and buisness sense to make his dream, GTG, come to life. I've always looked up to him for this. Also a true friend of mine, he's a real class act.

DavAnthony: One of the reasons I got into customizing. Thanks, man!

Iwbeta: I purchased a few of his customs just so I could learn to be a better painter.

Adrien: Probably the guy I copy the most (though I can't get past his frequent use of paper on customs )

Cap: Hot damn, there's no one better at making Dios.

Steel bonnet: Always has cleaver ways of creating 1:18th figures (using Joe and non-Joe parts). What's become of him??

Spin: Some of the best LBCs period.

New talent that I'm appreciating more and more: GIJoey and Chief.

And those who I've personally watched grow as customizers- Xhairs, Mr. Me, Doc Rob and Viper.

Also, Hulk Hogan for what he's done with the JCW.
And Hawk for his Dios.

But again, everyone here offers something, as far as I'm concerned. I love seeing new and creative customs. SO, thanks to all of you for keeping this hobby going.