Okay, I'm a bit embarrassed to divulge this information, but I am a huge World War 2 buff. My Grandfather was in the war fighting for the Republic of China, so I have a huge disposal of old WII era photographs at my disposal. One thing I noticed was how static and uncomfortable most of the family portraits were at this time. Maybe people were just learning how to take a good picture, but these rigid portraits were the influence for this strange illustration.