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Description
Download older version of MS Paint: [link]

Why make a Digital Reference?
-Let's face it, Traditional References often leave a lot to be desired, and it's not the artist's fault. Scanners (and worse, cameras) tend to absolutely destroy image and color quality. So instead of a subtle brown, you get a bright faded red. While I've seen some traditional references that were fine, a lot of them end up needing to include a digital pallet because the colors looked nothing like what the artist intended to once it was scanned. A digital reference is clean and tells the viewer exactly what colors they intended the character to be.

Why MS Paint?
-The reason most people use traditional references is because they don't have a fancy art program. MS Paint is widely available and easy to use. Using this method, even someone with a mouse can convert their sketch (even if it's a low scan quality) into lineart and color it.

Why no shading?
-Because a reference is supposed to tell the viewer what a character looks like. Shading is for finished pictures. A lot of times when a person is using a ref to draw someone else's character, if it has shading the artist will have trouble deciphering what is shading and what is a marking. Stick to flat color.

Additional Tips
-DO NOT use a front view image for your reference, at least not as a stand-alone image. These are horrible at telling the viewer what the character's anatomy/markings are. On that note:
-Pick a pose that is best for showing off the design of the character, generally a simple standing side view. Don't make a fancy pose of them that obscures half their markings.
-If your character has asymmetrical markings, show both sides.

I meant to make this several months ago, spontaneously remembered about three hours ago, and here we are now. Here we have a completely random dog-thing I sketched in about three minutes. I've been using MS Paint for years and I think it's a great basic program that you can make work if you give it the time. I'm also a Mouse user since tablets and I don't get along.

The entire process of sketching, lining, and coloring for me was about 20-35 minutes. If this is your first time using MS Paint+Mouse, it may take over an hour.

Description
Download older version of MS Paint: [link]

Why make a Digital Reference?
-Let's face it, Traditional References often leave a lot to be desired, and it's not the artist's fault. Scanners (and worse, cameras) tend to absolutely destroy image and color quality. So instead of a subtle brown, you get a bright faded red. While I've seen some traditional references that were fine, a lot of them end up needing to include a digital pallet because the colors looked nothing like what the artist intended to once it was scanned. A digital reference is clean and tells the viewer exactly what colors they intended the character to be.

Why MS Paint?
-The reason most people use traditional references is because they don't have a fancy art program. MS Paint is widely available and easy to use. Using this method, even someone with a mouse can convert their sketch (even if it's a low scan quality) into lineart and color it.

Why no shading?
-Because a reference is supposed to tell the viewer what a character looks like. Shading is for finished pictures. A lot of times when a person is using a ref to draw someone else's character, if it has shading the artist will have trouble deciphering what is shading and what is a marking. Stick to flat color.

Additional Tips
-DO NOT use a front view image for your reference, at least not as a stand-alone image. These are horrible at telling the viewer what the character's anatomy/markings are. On that note:
-Pick a pose that is best for showing off the design of the character, generally a simple standing side view. Don't make a fancy pose of them that obscures half their markings.
-If your character has asymmetrical markings, show both sides.

I meant to make this several months ago, spontaneously remembered about three hours ago, and here we are now. Here we have a completely random dog-thing I sketched in about three minutes. I've been using MS Paint for years and I think it's a great basic program that you can make work if you give it the time. I'm also a Mouse user since tablets and I don't get along.

The entire process of sketching, lining, and coloring for me was about 20-35 minutes. If this is your first time using MS Paint+Mouse, it may take over an hour.