(These are ranked more by size than by number, so this list isn't in any particular order.)
1. The Chronicles of Narnia. The first novels I read that really stuck with me, I will always love Narnia :)
2. Linda Bergkvist - a contemporary fantasy artist, also known as enayla on DA and elsewhere. I like the elegantly dark twist to her style. It doesn't really show in this example, but the way she does skin tones is absolutely amazing.
3. Arthur Rackham, classic illustrator extraordinaire.
4. Edmund Dulac. Just found out about his work recently, but I absolutely love it, it's a similar storybook-type style as Rackham, but a little more delicate, and he has a way of making light almost glow off the page.
5. Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. Probably my favorite contemporary artist. Inspires me to work on my watercolor.
6. J.R.R. Tolkien. Is my hero. I feel a little bad about only giving him 2 squares, but I had to fit everything on here somehow.
7. Yoshitaka Amano Also a recent discovery, probably most widely known for the Vampire Hunter D manga. I really love his watercolor paintings in "The Dream Hunters", especially the dreamy pieces like this one, with minimal linework, a lot of open space and broad washes that really let the watercolor play, shaping the mood and landscape on its own, almost just relying on luck to have the paint settle in just right. Or making something from the way the washes of paint settle after the fact, I'm not sure which order he works in. I also like the gilded metallic look some of his work has.
8. Loreena McKennitt - celtic-fusion music, uses interesting choices of poetry for lyrics a lot of the time. Listening to her music definitely helps me work.
9. Alphonse Mucha - I know, who doesn't like Mucha? Very decorative but very beautiful, I've always loved the delicate, organic Art Nouveau-ness, but my all time favorite of his, [Siberia], actually looks nothing like the typical prints people see from him, it has a depth of feeling that really made me stop and think about it.
10. The World, nature, etc. Has the biggest chunk of the map for a reason.
11. The MYST series. I pretty much like everything about these games, visually amazing, incredibly richly detailed background story and world, and I love the actual gameplay of exploring and tinkering with things.
12. Hayao Miyazaki - Not so much a direct influence, as much as I consistently really like all of his stuff that I've seen. I like the emphasis on nature, and the detailed landscape artwork, especially in Princess Mononoke. Some of those landscapes with the forest spirit were just amazing, you could feel how ancient everything was.
13. Brian Froud - Faeries! He's probaby a little more widely known for Dark Crystal, which I only saw recently, but liked. I like how he blends natural elements like trees and plants into not-quite-human creatures, and how he can portray iridescence and light, there's something magical about it.
14. Ukiyo-e. Japanese woodblock prints, I've been drawn to the style, not exactly sure why. I like the simplicity of it with the flat shapes and patterns against bold, graceful lines. Definitely influenced a lot of artists that I like.
15. Celtic illumination and knotwork I was obsessed with learning how to make knotwork for quite a while, and some of the spirals and interweaving designs definitely stick around in my artwork. That and it's just so intricate it's fascinating to look at.
Oooh! This looks like fun. I'll make one and we'll compare! ;p
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