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Artistic Reference Recommendations!
6 years ago
Hey! So, I've had a lot of people commenting on or asking me about anatomy and posing and such, so I'd like to share a bit of my process here.
The big "secret" is that I reference my pictures a lot. A LOT. There are five major types of reference material that I use, and they are as follows:
1. Animal References. Google Image Search is decent for this, but I've found Duckduckgo to be way better for finding photos. Also, Flickr is invaluable for this purpose. Be sure to search for animals by their scientific names as well as their common ones. When it comes to animal, uh, "bits", one tactic I learned was to search the animal's name and then the word "butt", haha. Alllllso, there are a lot of veterinary websites out there that can give good looks at animal anatomy, but be warned that those often have a lot of photos of diseased or injured critters. =(
2. Artistic Human References. Specifically, Posespace. I've been using this site for years, and it's hands-down the best repository for human refs I've ever found. You can sort and search in all kinds of ways, AND you don't have to pay them anything at all if you're just looking at the low-res pics. Furthermore, they explicitly give full permission to use their photos in your artwork. Also (and this is one of the most important things to me), they avoid lens distortion in their photos, allowing for truly accurate proportions. I love them so much. Also, I'm NOT being sponsored by them in any way, just to be clear.
3. Self References/Personal References When in doubt, take your own photos! Nearly everyone has a digital camera with them at all times, and it's pretty trivial to use it to take photos of yourself or of other (consenting!) individuals/animals! I do this ALL the time for my pieces. Just remember that these images WILL be distorted, and that distortion will increase for objects close to the camera and objects at the edges of the frame.
4. Pornographic References. Yeaaaah. Porn sites can be invaluable sources of reference material, although I personally recommend sticking to either amateur porn or the "artistic" stuff like FTV Girls.
5. Maquettes/Models. Some things are impossible to find decent references of, so you gotta get creative. I have a ton of different figurines and models and toys that I can examine and pose at a moment's notice, but when it comes to something REALLY tricky, I resort to using Monster Clay and just sculpting my own maquettes. Monster Clay is freaking amazing, and you can find all kinds of videos on Youtube that demonstrate its properties and why it's great. If you go down this path, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book Fantasy Creatures in Clay. It's an incredibly handy resource of techniques and info for making critters.
Whew! So, that's about all for now - I hope this helps some people! <3
The big "secret" is that I reference my pictures a lot. A LOT. There are five major types of reference material that I use, and they are as follows:
1. Animal References. Google Image Search is decent for this, but I've found Duckduckgo to be way better for finding photos. Also, Flickr is invaluable for this purpose. Be sure to search for animals by their scientific names as well as their common ones. When it comes to animal, uh, "bits", one tactic I learned was to search the animal's name and then the word "butt", haha. Alllllso, there are a lot of veterinary websites out there that can give good looks at animal anatomy, but be warned that those often have a lot of photos of diseased or injured critters. =(
2. Artistic Human References. Specifically, Posespace. I've been using this site for years, and it's hands-down the best repository for human refs I've ever found. You can sort and search in all kinds of ways, AND you don't have to pay them anything at all if you're just looking at the low-res pics. Furthermore, they explicitly give full permission to use their photos in your artwork. Also (and this is one of the most important things to me), they avoid lens distortion in their photos, allowing for truly accurate proportions. I love them so much. Also, I'm NOT being sponsored by them in any way, just to be clear.
3. Self References/Personal References When in doubt, take your own photos! Nearly everyone has a digital camera with them at all times, and it's pretty trivial to use it to take photos of yourself or of other (consenting!) individuals/animals! I do this ALL the time for my pieces. Just remember that these images WILL be distorted, and that distortion will increase for objects close to the camera and objects at the edges of the frame.
4. Pornographic References. Yeaaaah. Porn sites can be invaluable sources of reference material, although I personally recommend sticking to either amateur porn or the "artistic" stuff like FTV Girls.
5. Maquettes/Models. Some things are impossible to find decent references of, so you gotta get creative. I have a ton of different figurines and models and toys that I can examine and pose at a moment's notice, but when it comes to something REALLY tricky, I resort to using Monster Clay and just sculpting my own maquettes. Monster Clay is freaking amazing, and you can find all kinds of videos on Youtube that demonstrate its properties and why it's great. If you go down this path, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book Fantasy Creatures in Clay. It's an incredibly handy resource of techniques and info for making critters.
Whew! So, that's about all for now - I hope this helps some people! <3
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA.....sAD_SJS9LWNdEQ