Art Influence

I have been looking at using a Cel Shaded/Paint effect for my animation. I have chosen to look at video games which have a unique Cel Shaded style, as I do not want my animation to look like the Manga art style. The game Afro Samurai is a game which I think achieves this look. 

Afro Samurai -

The Afro Samurai video game is an over the top action packed animated adventure which is based on the television series.

The game follows an afro-donning, cigarette smoking samurai who is voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, on a relentless mission to avenge the murder of his father. 

I am looking at this game in particular because of its art style. Unlike the television series which uses a manga art style, The Afro Samurai video game uses a unique Cel shaded effect which has been overlayed with dark/dirty textures giving it a distinct and original style.

This beautiful graphic style is used throughout the game engaging the player by showing the story through graphic novel style storyboarding sequences. 

I really like this image which i found whilst researching the art style of Afro Samurai. However I wasn't sure if the image below was from the game or a piece of fan art, either way I really liked the composition of the piece and also the lighting of the scene.

In particular these are some of the images which I found related more to what style I wanted to look at whilst producing this animation. Although this style is slightly Cel Shaded, I was looking at creating a similar style which was created by painting my textures do give my models a specific style.