if you are commissioning art of a dog, you don't want a picture of a cat, right? and i don't want to spend hours upon hours drawing something only to be told 'that isn't right, re-do it' upon completion.

going back-and-forth with clients to try and parse what a character should look like takes significant time out of artists' schedules that could be used to actually make art, and thus costs us money, on top of just being annoying. having a proper reference sheet so we don't NEED to clarify things, or so any such messages are minimal, is SO nice, and not only makes our lives as artists easier but ensures that YOU will be happy with the art you get. remember; if it isn't shown on the ref YOU provide us, then we will interpret it however we want, and are under no obligation to 'correct' our art for you.

so here are some simple suggestions for getting yourself a reference sheet that artists you commission will be happy to work with;



1. TEXT SUPPLEMENTS. it is not always clear in every style what sex or species a character is, especially toony or amateur art and with characters that don't strictly conform to stereotypes. in realistic or semi-realistic styles, and even in toony ones if the artist cares enough, these things DO change how we draw characters, and are thus important to clarify in text, since we may not be able to tell from the image alone. even if your character has markings that are typically associated with a particular species, it is still very helpful to include text confirmation of the intended species, since it is not at all uncommon for furries to have unrealistic markings, nor will every artist know about every possible animal species AND be able to recognize it at a glance. i've seen dogs with tiger stripes, and frankly, a lot of art on here there really isn't any difference between dogs and cats, so again, DO NOT assume your character's species is obvious. at minimum, you should have the character's name, age(not every character is mid-twenties and chibi styles make it IMPOSSIBLE to tell age), sex(and gender identity/pronouns if different), and species written on the ref. other text should be VERY minimal- time is money and many artists will outright ignore text if there is too much of it.

tldr; your reference should have as minimal text on it as possible, but be sure to include your character's name, age, sex (biological- if different from identity, include that too), species, and height. these are important details that may not be evident due to the art style of the images, and will have an impact on how others draw the character.


2. MULTIPLE VIEWS. unless your character is a very basic species and all one color, we need to be able to see it from multiple angles if you want us to draw them in any pose other than the one on the ref. if you don't have a back view, i can't draw the back of your character, because i have no way to know if there are markings there or what they look like. if you only have straight-on side views, and your character has a marking on their neck, there is no way for me to tell if it continues under the jaw or if it stops right on the crease there. if your character's feet are flat on the ground, i can't tell if they have paw pads, or what color they are. and yes, some characters have different colored pads on their hands versus their feet, so i DO need to see both. close-ups work great if you only need to show one other thing and don't want to spend money on an entire extra fullbody to do so, and are also very useful for detailed body parts, such as faces. realistically proportioned, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what color a character's eyes are just from a fullbody, so zoomed-in headshots are also very helpful even if you have a fullbody that shows the face already. you can also do this for inner mouth and flesh shots. DO NOT cut off a character's limb in a fullbody shot to show flesh, unless you want artists to draw them missing that limb all the time. just include a little cutaway off to the side.

tldr; anything that isn't shown can't be drawn. front, side, back, even top and bottom views of a character are absolutely necessary. you don't need very many images if the pose is right, but everything must be visible SOMEWHERE.


3. NO SHADING. on some characters, with some shading styles, for some artists, it can be okay, but in 99% of cases, shading can make it difficult to tell what is markings and what is lighting, and in some, even hide entire body parts. so no, just having swatches off to the side for color picking isn't enough. it definitely helps, but a flat-colored reference is way easier to work with in almost all instances. there are some times where shading can be useful for telling texture or shape on more detailed characters, so it can be good to ALSO have a shaded version of your ref, but if you can only have one, go with flat, and simply use text supplements to mention details that shading would have shown, such as whether seemingly smooth body parts are meant to be furred, scaled, or just skin, and things like that.

tldr; either provide both a shaded and a flat colored reference, or ONLY a flat colored one. shading makes markings and other details difficult to see.


4. CLOTHED AND NUDE. remember that if you don't show it, we can't draw it. if you give me a ref of a fully clothed character and ask me to draw them in a swimsuit, i am going to reject the commission, because i do not want to go back and forth guessing and being corrected on what the character looks like under their clothes. this also goes the other way- if you show me a nude ref but want me to draw them in a situation where they would be dressed, you need to show me the clothes you want me to put them in, or be willing to accept whatever tacky, out-of-character style i might come up with on my own for them.
additionally, for adult artwork, you need an adult reference sheet. i have seen artists misunderstand a sfw smoothed-over male crotch as the character having lady bits, and they refused to correct it because they had followed the ref they had been given. even if they had interpreted the character as male, furry bits vary WILDLY so it would be unwise to assume they would draw what you had in mind without SHOWING them.

tldr; unless you only ever want your character drawn in exactly one outfit as if it is fused with their body, their nude form and other outfit samples are necessary.


5. STYLE. you should NOT make a reference sheet in a chibi/highly simplified or especially unique art style unless that is the ONLY style you want to get art of them in. if you intend to use your ref to get art from a wide variety of artists, you need it to be in a style they can ALL interpret and easily translate into their own. remember, realistic details can be simplified in many ways and still be technically accurate, but if you provide an extremely simplified reference, there's no telling how it might be interpreted or what details artists may come up with to fill in the gaps. text supplements can help a lot with this, but no artist wants to have to read what could have just been shown visually.

tldr; unless you only want a character to ever be drawn in one particular style, don't use an especially unique/stylized or simplified/chibi art style for your ref sheet.




remember, if it isn't shown on the ref you provide us, we're in no way obligated to 'fix' our art for you. don't leave up to interpretation something that matters to you.