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HOW TO MAKE YOUR ART LOOK NICE: Reference n Style
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Published: 2014-06-08 22:37:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 147541; Favourites: 6753; Downloads: 0
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Description
To all my fellow artblocked, stumped, and confused artists, here's a kinda long guide on how to work around your stumps! And it's also basically the answer to why some artists are good/awesome and how you can work your way to become as good/awesome/even better than them!Some works used in this aren't mine and are used for reference purposes and are credited as such.
Keep practicing yo! and excuse my writing
EDIT: Holy man, thanks so much EeNii and Elandria !
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My HOW TO MAKE YOUR ART LOOK NICE Series:
Color and Harmony
Contrast
Flow and Rhythm in Lines
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Comments: 455
I'm glad you've found help in this! Thank you too and best of luck to you!
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Hahaha! This was very interesting to read! Thanks for posting <3 Will definitely keep this advice in mind!
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actually, drawing from memory is kind of a mental reference xd
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0/10, denied Demonic Summonings.
but in all seriousness, this series is great.
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what about if you become a slave to reference? Where you use reference but your visual library doesn't expand and you are stuck relying on reference for every little thing thus limiting your compositions and perspective to what you can find reference of.Β
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I think a good technique is to take a certain aspect of a reference (ie texture, pose, color scheme, elements, subject) and then draw the rest with your imagination. You don't have to actively try to replicate that aspect, just take inspiration from it.
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thank you for help us to improve our drawing Β
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Dude. I found this extremely inspiring for someone who spent so long going "NO REFERENCES," but is now realizing that is less than realistic.
This deviation is so easy to read with those cute little jokes and doodles.Β Thank you for making this available to everyone!
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Thank you for the kind comment and I'm glad you found it very useful!
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Thanks. that was a very interesting and useful post.
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For many many years I refused to use references, and wanted to draw everything from my memory. That was stupid. Progress was slow or non existent. Today I use a lot more reference and I hope to improve faster than before.
Thank you for posting this. I'm sure it will help a lot of people
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Thank you and that's really great to hear!
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Really interresting and encourages to use references, thanks
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I have so many references that every gadget I own is low on memory XDΒ
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Yeah i know what you mean LOL
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Yeah... being inspired by artist can cross the stealing bridge quickly, but referencing from nature? Seriously, why people still believe it's wrong to understand what you're drawing and see how it work? :/
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It makes me sad that so many people think that using references is cheating. There is no cheating in art (well,Β except you steal, trace and copy like an idiot lol)
Even the greatest artists use references. You can't draw everything from memory.
I could draw a horse without problems, but it would somehow not look right, so I look at a photo and know how to draw it better.
Using a reference is definitely a great way to understand how things work.Β
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amen! It's actually difficult for newer artists to tell the difference between blatant copying and referencing
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Your wealth of knowledge will not be wasted! Thank you, very much.
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You're welcome!
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These HOW TO MAKE YOUR ART LOOK NICE are so helpful! so much knowledgeΒ
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This is really helpful! I was really thinking that referencing was a bad habit to get used to. Thank you for making it
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Wow... This was really great! Thank you for posting!
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This... all of this. I've made posts myself (lil ones anyhow) encouraging people to reference because I keep seeing people apologize for using reference photos. I don't know if they don't understand the difference between that and blatant art theft...Β or if they honestly think that even though the old masters went literally WAY out of their way to learn how to correctly render human anatomy, there is now somehow shame in having to look at a pose or texture or a photo of a rock at sunset in order to know what they look like... If I have to draw from memory in order to be considered a serious artist, then I'll happily be a crummy artist who feels good about her work.
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Amen! I hope more artists do this
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This will make my life so much easier, thanks for drilling it into my head when no one else would! XD
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I believe using refs aren't empasized enough, but when it is, it is seen or even used as copying
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Well, I'm glad this little doodle cleared that up, at least for the people who read it XD
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i think a lot of ppl who said this tutorial is teaching you to be art theft is failed to see the difference between referencing vs plagiarismΒ 
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NO TROY, DEMONIC SACRIFICE IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING
Awesome tutorial. I learned a lot here. This is very helpful and well put together.Β
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I get so much shit from people I know for using references so it makes me wary to have one out when I'm drawing because they'll see the initial thing and be all OMFGGG UR COPYINFGGGGGG THATTTT even know I change it so much it's unrecognizable.
It really annoys be especially because I feel like the pressure on me is double. I'm always having to prove myself at school because last year a girl who doesn't like me got upset that I was ranked higher than her in art classes so she spread a rumor that I copied and even traced all my art, everyone believed her, so now I can't even so much as look at a reference without someone trying to say I copied it.
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Oh man, I just got to this now. That's terrible and immature of them :/ You can take my advice with a grain of salt, but you shouldn't be prove yourself to anyone. Always do it for yourself first. Peer pressure can be tough, it takes a lot of tough skin to not care about such pressures.
I hope you're doing better!
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I'm sorry but I think you should make it quite clear to people that if they publish their 'copies' that they need to credit and link - you are putting them at risk of having their work taken down or worse still - being subject to litigation by the photographer (if the photo is copyrighted or if it has a creative commons license that requires credit and a link).
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Useful advice! People out there, come and see this!
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Thank you for this post! But I don't get what Picasso meant! Hm...
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that's a good read, wish i had this when i started out lolΒ
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