There are artists that I call "Direct Influences", those whom have given me help or advice over the years. The weird part is, the 3 artists I think of as my biggest direct influences, I don't know on a personal level. One, I've only met once and the other 2, I've never met in person.
I met Butch Guice at a small comic convention in Norfolk, VA back in the early 1980s. We were both TERRIBLY young and he was just starting to make a name for himself at Marvel. I showed him some of my drawings, he was very complimentary and invited me to sit at his table. He gave me drawing pointers and introduced me to proper comics drawing materials AND sho