I have been getting some questions regarding why I do my birthday reference sheet raffle; people asking why I don't just offer a chibi or something; why I put in so much effort to offer a full reference sheet as a prize. That requires a fairly long answer and I've been getting asked this fairly often so I figured I'd make a journal out of it instead of just trying to retype it a bunch of times.

SO.

I can't stress enough how important reference sheets are; not just any reference sheet but a proper reference sheet.
Now, what is a proper reference sheet?

I suppose that's fairly subjective but there are a few requirements that I feel every reference sheet needs and about 90% of refs I come by are sorely lacking at least one of them.

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1. A reference sheet needs to be flat coloured. this is the most common issue with references I come by. reference sheets are NOT pieces of artwork that need to look like masterpieces with shading and highlights and cool backgrounds. that isn't their purpose. The purpose of a reference sheet is to let the viewer know what your character looks like clearly as well as see their colours. If it is shaded, colour dropping for the correct colours of the character become a wild goose chase for proper hues without any form of shading on it (soft shaded refs I'm glaring at you). Regardless if you have a colour palette off to the side, shading can sometimes look like markings and then mistakes are made not due to the artist's lack of attention to detail, but simply due to an improper reference sheet creating confusion [i]when it's sole purpose is to create clarity. Shaded references are one of my biggest pet peeves.

2. A reference sheet needs to be unclothed. To reiterate my above point of that the whole point of a ref sheet is to clearly show your character; That can't happen when your character is fully covered by clothing. An unclothed reference sheet does not mean it has to be NSFW. Ken dolls and barbie dolls yo. Even if your character is rarely seen unclothed; some artists (such as myself) like to know who we're drawing looks like in case there are any markings that would be otherwise seen should an article of clothing be lifted up due to posing or whatnot. Clothed references are also on my list of annoyances.

3. A reference sheet needs to have a front and a back view. Even if your character is one solid colour, most people with one sided refs won't specify that their char is a full colour. As an artist, I can't just go around assuming everything because that is just asking for mistakes. I don't like assuming because that will get mistakes and I pride myself on getting commissions right the first time around. I can't do that very well if there is important information lacking from the reference sheet. On anyone else, If they do assume, they may make a mistake due to lacking info and then (depending on their ToS) they will have to go back to change it which is irritating and a waste of time when it could have been easily avoided in the first place.
If your character is completely one colour; at least put an indicator such as text on the reference that says "no markings on back" or something.

4. A reference sheet needs to have tongue and pawpad colours. This is the most common thing I find to be lacking on references. Some might have pawpad colour but no tongue. Others might have tongue but not pawpad. Very rarely do I come across references that have both. If you have one but not the other, you might just say "well it's the same colour as my tongue" ... how was I supposed to know? do you know how many characters have different coloured tongues from their pawpads? A shitton. That is not an assumption I should make. Also, if you have a side note that says "It's flesh coloured".... what is flesh coloured? that's very subjective. We have pink flesh, brown flesh, black flesh, spotted flesh, white (ish) flesh, piebald flesh, tortoiseshell flesh etc etc etc. Be more specific. I can't just assume tongue / pawpad colour and neither can any other artist. The amount of different tongue colours out there is so rdiculous that just assuming a characters tongue colour is pink is going to be wrong about 50% of the time especially if the character's colour palette is a little abnormal. -- that being said; it cam usually be fairly safe to assume that if a character is black and neon green that the tongue colour is probably going to be black or neon green. that being said though; it's never a sure thing and if you're like me and you like to be right the first time, you would have to ask for the colour and that would waste time during which you could have finished the commision but instead are waiting an extra X hours or a day to get a response back. OR if you're me, you could look through the commissioner's gallery to find other pictures of their character to find the info. Even with this though, shit goes awry.. Commonly when I do this, I find several DIFFERENT colours for the same aspect of the character so I have to end up messaging them anyways "I see a pic with a green tongue, a black one and a pink one...... what tf is going on?" In case you couldn't tell via the length of this point; this is one of my big pet peeves as well.

5. A reference sheet should be clear on what species your character is. I have seen countless (And been given countless) refs where the species was so.... un-obvious that it was a guessing game as to what the character was. If you're like me and you have a very distinctive way of drawing canines vs felines then this is a detail that I can't be without. This comes especially with beginner artists (generally) who have not yet grasped the differentiating details of felines vs canines vs dragons/deer/aquatics etc etc. It has happened in the past with me that I have gotten a ref that looked like a dog and so I drew it as such but then the commissioner got mad at me because the species was actually a feline but nowhere on the ref did it look or say anything about felines. So... that one is an issue as well. This isn't SO much of an issue as it doesn't happen often, but I still like to know what species I'm drawing. A bigger pet peeve of mine is when it's a "Hybrid". .... okay.. a hybrid of what? "a dog hybrid"..... A DOG HYBRID WITH WHAT? Seriously. get your shit together. "a dog hybrid with... i dunno.. just a hybrid.." .... your concept needs more work before becoming a character. Come back when you know who and what they are.

6. A reference sheet should be clear on what gender your character is. I don't mean this by like "boy or girl?" because by now we all know there are shittons of names and terms inbetween. when I say gender, I'm talking about what they identify as. If your character identifies as androgynous, then let me know because sometimes those characters are drawn looking more like males (due to the lack of feminine traits) where it could be perceived as a male with just a stylistic choice of art. I don't want to make your character look like a man if they're supposed to be agender or something (I would feel very bad if I did so). This also comes as an issue with femboys (especially ones with long hair). Because a lot of artists draw femboys to the point of anatomical impossibilities, it's really hard sometimes to differentiate between a femboy and a femable with just very small breasts (Teenie as an example who is constantly mistaken for a male and it annoys the shit out of me but that's a box of salt to be opened up another day.). I don't want to draw your femboy as a female by accident due to a lack of information. Again, I would feel bad.

7. A reference sheet should show your whole character. I don't come across this often, but when I DO come across a ref that just shows bits and pieces of the character.... I go mental. By bits and pieces I mean that the arms are in one area, the face is in another, there might be a back view to the right and maybe the legs near the bottom and a little tail near the top. this is fine and all... if they're just extra details ontop of the actual ref sheet. I put face views and tail view on my refs all the time if they aren't perfectly clear on the first view itself but to just have these little disembodied pieces scattered around as the ref itself.... no. Please no.

8. A reference sheet needs to be digital. This should be a no-brainer that reference sheets need to be digital. sure, some artists will take traditional reference sheets to go by but 95% will refuse a traditional reference sheet. If that's all you have then at least include a digital colour palette for artists to pull from.


--> A great way to achieve a good reference sheet even if you can't afford a custom made one is via free bases! there are thousands to choose from from little to no cost! colour them as needed, add the information needed and bam! a super easy low cost reference sheet placement holder until you can afford to buy one or until you feel confident enough in your own art skill to make one! <--

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With all of that said, I in NO WAY am perfect at reference sheets. I'm not saying this as in like "my refs are perfect and everyone should get one from me alskdjfalskdfjasdkf //high and mighty soap box speech about how awesome I am" nope. My refs have flaws too such as some people don't like all the writing I include on my ref; they like their refs to be clean and bare of the extra info. that's cool. I just like putting it on there so I can point out details that people might be prone to miss when drawing the character in question. Not everyone wants the likes/dislikes on their ref. that's fine too. I like putting them on there so that the person might get an idea of what the character is like / who they are based on what they like and don't like (as well as posing as I like to give characters poses that suit their personality).
What I am saying though is that my reference sheets include everything a ref should include at a minimal level. Any questions a person has about the character should be able to be answered with just the one picture. (I do this because people don't tend to read and will not generally look at the description of your reference unless directly instructed to do so (which again, I find silly as there can be a lot of good info in descriptions especially in reference sheet ones))

When I see a ref that doesn't meet the requirements I feel all refs should, it irritates me and it makes me want to edit it to include the details I feel it should. If I had the time and money to be able to afford to draw people reference sheets for free; I would. It makes me sad coming across a ref that needs an update but knowing that the person who owns it just can't afford one as most "good" reference sheets cost a lot of money.

--side note:: when I say "good", I am not talking about art skill. someone can be a beginner artist and have a really good reference sheet provided it follows the above "qualifications-of-sorts". I have seen amazing artists make very sub-par references and I have seen beginner artists make kick-ass refs. Art skill has nothing to do with the quality of a reference sheet.

So all of that being said; I offer a free reference sheet every year on my birthday to get more "higher" quality reference sheets out there to make other artists' lives easier as well as give back to my watchers every year with something more than just derps or chibis.


Another disclaimer before anyone rants at me for being a "high and mighty bitch who thinks she's better than everyone else"--
I do not mean to say that my reference sheets are the best forever and you'll never find any better ever. that's not at all what I'm getting at. The complaints and observations in this journal in regards to what refs should (or shouldn't) have are not just the opinions of myself but are also opinions of many other artists both beginner and experienced that I have witnessed through the years. Many artists will charge extra (or not even accept your commission) if you do not have a proper reference sheet for them to work with; Myself, Geekidog, Vexstacy (to name a few). that isn't to say all people will do this but a vast majority of artists will/do.

If you do not share the same opinions as myself or the others that might agree with some (or all) of the statements in this journal, that's cool. You do you. this is just an explanation of why I hold my free reference sheet raffle tied into the importance I, and many others, hold on proper reference sheets.





My guess is that not many people read that whole thing but if you did, Gold star for you lol

I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS.