Well, growing up I got into art at a very young age. I think I was around 6 or 10 my parents would buy me those lined paper note pads to draw with(I still have most of them). What I would do is make comic boxes and draw inside them, they wouldn't really make sense but I would just imagine a story along with it in my head. Like, when you're young your parents can't afford to buy you every single toy on the planet! So I found it was just as fun to draw them on paper and make them do things instead. So most of my little art doodles revolved around 80's toys like Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, GI Joe, stuff like that.

Stuff like that influenced me a lot when I was young. People have commented that I draw a lot
of Zombies and Robots. Well, when I was young I couldn't get enough of Transformers stuff. So
I would draw them almost constantly doing crazy things or TMNT/Transformers crossovers.
Then Mega Man was introduced on the NES so Transformers took a back seat and then EVERYTHING was Mega Man stuff.

As far as Zombies are concerned, I think after watching Bruce Campell, in Army of Darkness and some really old Clash of the Titans movie where this guy had to fight all these skeleton zombie things so I thought that is super cool and I would start drawing Zombies and Skeletons. Just like MegaMan, Castlevania shortly came out and pretty much enhanced my interest in them. So, I don't draw them because I'm morbid, because I'm the opposite of that, but I just find them interesting because you can do a bunch of goofy things with them.

So I have stuck with those two things as my primary sources of inspiration ever since I was super young. So in a way I think those two things are kind of my "thing". I've expanded my
art in other areas over the years but those two are always the primary things I draw. That's why you see a lot of undead and robots in my games. Not because I like scary or Cyberpunk games.

As far as other artists who have inspired me, I've taken a few styles and worked them into my own. YoshitakaAmano is one who has inspired me greatly. He creates beautiful pieces, that I first got to experience in the Final Fantasy games. I can't get enough of his sketchy abstract work. Yoji Shinkawa has a similar sketchy style that is just simply incredible. I love the pieces he's done for the Metal Gear series. I am a big-big-big fan. That's probably why I always put some
kind of military equipment on my characters. When I am casually drawing I'll usually use black
ink pens or sharpies(markers). I feel markers are as close to a paintbrush as possible, and I get
the best control and results from using them. It's like when you go in the shower and you have a sliding glass door and you start to sketch things out with your finger on the glass.

I use normal pens to sketch conceptual art and I avoid using pencils as much as possible. I don't like the feel of pencils at all. And I think finding what tool works best in your hand takes priority over anything.
I must admit, I don't really like to color much unless it's with sharpies. I adore bright and abstract colors vs standard darker colors. I hate coloring with Photoshop, but it's cost effective
and practical, so I deal with it. Sharpies are by far the ideal coloring tool for me. I'm still a big
fan of traditional cheap coloring tools like Markers or Crayons.

A lot of people think you're born with the art talent. I used to think this too when I was very young. After reflecting off everything I have experienced, I have just got decent at art simply because I spent a lot of time doing it, not because I was naturally good at it. Having fun putting something to paper isn't a gift. When I first started I was terrible at it up until Highschool where I started to refine my style, and I am still learning how to make it better on my own, and I will probably continue to learn how to improve it up until I just stop drawing. It's just something that comes with time, not tips from other other people, not art classes, just time. Infact, in High school I failed every single art class and I had to make up for them in Summer school. I didn't agree with the methods used, and I felt it was a cookie cutter class. Art is something you produce with your imagination and creativity. I don't think you can be a good artist without a big imagination.

I highly respect anyone who decides to pick up a pen or pencil and expresses themselves. In fact, I have noticed a surge of artists now then what I saw from when I was growing up. I think it has a lot to do with mainstream anime being apart of peoples daily lives. That's the difference I've noticed between my art and younger people. When you grow up surrounded by anime naturally that is what you'll want to draw and get inspiration from. When I was growing up it was from 80's American cartoons.

Finally, my advice to artists is, no matter what style or skill level you have if you enjoy it keep doing it, f-u-c-k what anyone else says. Even if it is some art celebrity art snob telling you your work is bad. Just tell him to go SUCK A DICK, because anyone can tell you what is bad about something. No matter what it comes down to art is subjective, what one person sees another person won't. I think that is the only useful thing I have learned from my art teachers.