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PSA: Reference Sheets
11 years ago
Contact email: thexainy[at]gmail.com
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============== If you're getting a reference sheet [or artists, if you're drawing one], PLEASE consider requesting UNSHADED REFERENCES. I can't tell the number of times that I color pick from a reference and get told it's the wrong color because the artist chose to shade or fully render [lighting/shading] the character sheet, thereby making it completely impossible to tell the difference between fur/scale/feather color and the lighting.
If the colors are fairly well defined [like my character...pure white fur, blue eyes, pink skin, red hair and hooves and that's it], it's usually okay if the artist includes a color palette with a legend [i.e. this is the eye color, this is the hair color, etc.] but seriously. References just shouldn't be shaded at all, ever. It complicates things that don't need to be complicated.
TL;DR: If artists you commission consistently get your character's colors wrong or color your character entirely different every time, it might be because your reference is shaded/highlighted. Consider asking the artist for an unshaded version or commissioning a new one to make it easier on everybody!
Edit: Uhh I just opened a ref for someone's commission and it was shaded. XD I SWEAR if you're reading this and think it's ABOUT you, it's not. It's because I was looking at references on FA today that were completely unrelated to work that I have been commissioned for!
Don't get me wrong, I still stand by the fact that unshaded refs are far superior and if the artist has a shaded version, they can probably hide the shading layers and give you an unshaded version too! There's no reason not to have both. :)
BUT, I didn't make this post because I'm angry or something about anyone's commission. It's just an inconvenience that comes with the job and I know you probably didn't ask for it to be shaded...it's just the way some artists choose to do things! But I hate to see people pay for something that ends up not able to do its job well. Refs should be functional above all else. If that makes it less pretty, that's just how it is. References need to be easy to follow and that sometimes comes at the expense of beauty.
If the colors are fairly well defined [like my character...pure white fur, blue eyes, pink skin, red hair and hooves and that's it], it's usually okay if the artist includes a color palette with a legend [i.e. this is the eye color, this is the hair color, etc.] but seriously. References just shouldn't be shaded at all, ever. It complicates things that don't need to be complicated.
TL;DR: If artists you commission consistently get your character's colors wrong or color your character entirely different every time, it might be because your reference is shaded/highlighted. Consider asking the artist for an unshaded version or commissioning a new one to make it easier on everybody!
Edit: Uhh I just opened a ref for someone's commission and it was shaded. XD I SWEAR if you're reading this and think it's ABOUT you, it's not. It's because I was looking at references on FA today that were completely unrelated to work that I have been commissioned for!
Don't get me wrong, I still stand by the fact that unshaded refs are far superior and if the artist has a shaded version, they can probably hide the shading layers and give you an unshaded version too! There's no reason not to have both. :)
BUT, I didn't make this post because I'm angry or something about anyone's commission. It's just an inconvenience that comes with the job and I know you probably didn't ask for it to be shaded...it's just the way some artists choose to do things! But I hate to see people pay for something that ends up not able to do its job well. Refs should be functional above all else. If that makes it less pretty, that's just how it is. References need to be easy to follow and that sometimes comes at the expense of beauty.
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sucks that artist still have to deal with it though. probably the most annoying thing 8(
I still do politely change things like that for people if I run into the issue, but I'm never happy about it. >.>
People need to stop considering a ref sheet as a peice of art and start treating it like really important directions.
TLDR: amen, sistah!
You're gonna have a bad time... And many many mistakes in future commissions.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that artist's work and the ref looked fantastic...it just wasn't at all functional by any stretch and that's supposed to be the point.
(I'm a tetrachromat but that doesn't make my ability to distinguish which shade of mud someone wants used any better.)
I actually think a cell-shaded ref isn't quite as bad, becaaauuuuuse it can also provide you with an easy way to shade any commissioned works! But there still definitely needs to be some sort of color palette/legend included. Unshaded or no, I think they just really help to organize things! (Plus, the artist can just copy+paste the smaller & more condensed palette rather than having to work from an entire ref sheet, etc.)
But any sort of soft shaded or painted style just... shouldn't be a ref sheet in the first place. :v Commission a different artist for your ref, if they insist on painting+shading it, because at that point they obviously aren't properly versed in the ways of reference production. JUSSAYIN'~
Then again I don't ink my personal ones either.. haha
Most of those shades of blue aren't used anyway xD They're too dark and most artists won't draw them that way.
That's okay, the lighter-blue version of me is starting to grow on me and I actually like it more than my ref sheet.
Here's an example of what I mean: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12240058/
Would you find this ref hard to work with? I'm just curious if my current methods work fine or not. I include the miniatures for every kind of ref except ones that are already flat colour to begin with.