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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: 147559; Favourites: 6752; 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
Thank you so much for this tutorial ! ;v;
Helped me a lot more than you can imagine <3
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so true 
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Man, I don't have a mirror in my room so I have to switch rooms whenever I need to get this pose rightΒ
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oh D: take a photo then?
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I do use references (I always show the original one!) but I felt a little ashamed that I've been doing so...Now I'm not!Β
Thank you so much for this great tutorial !
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The trick here is to mix and combine different references while adding your own flavor!
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I see a lot of experienced artists here on DA making a point that they used "no refs, made without reference, reference: my own imagination" etc. With their perfect anatomy, lighting and colours, I sometimes find that hard to believe. I'd imagine that this would intimidate the novice artist and make them feel very inferior. The likelihood is, a person will always need to use references unless they are an absolute genius, like, one of a kind. Also, the person claiming to use "no refs" probably was inspired and utilised many different sources here and there. Even the masters used a model to draw from. There's nothing to be embarrassed about if you use a reference; just try to make it from life as much as possible.
Nevertheless, great tutorial. Very inspiring.
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I believe that when referencing enough (or staying within your comfort zone) there definitely will be artists out there who rarely use references because they already know whatever their drawing looks like.
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THIS TUTORIAL I really need to print and stick to the wall and look at whenever I wake up! That's so true and difficult to do at the same time for some people (and for me too). The problem people have is that they fear of copying other people, you know, somebody just dropes in and tells you "isn't that similar?!?!?!!?Β [link]" but then one has to remember that you can always just stitch a few parts together and add something from your soul and there you go.
I promise to be good and to use and analyze a lot of references now!
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Yes
shared it on Facebook ^^
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Ah wow, thank you so much!
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lolz feel much better!^^ troy is great! XD 
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YES THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Merci Dear, you put very well the thing I tell many people, also to help them.
I call it as taking an inspiration, I also happen to get an idea for speedpaint by having a drawing of someone that stuck in my mind.
or like mix of....or just a thing, a little thing from the photo.
Just thank you, it's humorous, but also serious at the same time.
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That's another term for it actually! Or "was inspired by..."
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Congrats on your well deserved DD!Β Β
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Very well written and I myself have been struggling with it for years, for not using references and tutorials thinking I'm keeping it original
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I find pinterest is handy for gathering references, that was you can always find the link to the original source and all those images are nicely laid out on screen
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I've got a Glen Keane folder too :-D
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I wish he posted more art though
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Ain't that the truth. He's a wonderful artist. Well hey, on the off chance you haven't seen this, here is a link to the short film he directed and self-animated recently:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjbK9Rβ¦
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Ah yeah I love that short to death. I believe he also had help animating it of course but the key frames were definitely his
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You are probably right. Sometimes though I am afraid to use references because then it will look too much like what am I referencing, especially if I reference from other artists. Oh well, either way I should probably use references just am too lazy, and it's a pain to look through all the favs I have, even tho I have managed to organize them a bit.Β
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Don't do it because you're lazy! I'd like to say that every time you reference, you learn a small trick that you can use in the future so that you don't have to reference anymore!
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I'll be honest here and admit that I had some doubts about whether using reference is really that important.. until I used some for the background of my latest painting and realized that the outcome was lightyears better than what I initially meant to paint. So this little tut comes like a great reminder and kind of reinforces what I actually discovered for myself. Thanks for the fun lecture!
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i say using a small reference can go a long way
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Damn my folder looks exactly the same. And I was feeling like a genius when I figured it out for myself 5 years ago. *Vader NO*
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This is something I've instinctively known but not to this level of thinking, that being said I have 20,000+ reference photos separated based on particular subject types and studies I wish to engage in. It took quite a while to build, as well as sort! But in the end it will pay off greatly because using all of these, even if I don't use 100% of the material, will eventually get me to the goal I desire.
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Wow that's a ton and amazing! I wish I had a library that diverse!
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Lol thanks, the problem is I find too much cool stuff on the net and want to keep a copy of it all!
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Perhaps what's stopping me is that I have all my refs on a cloud haha. I'm afraid I might lose all of themΒ
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I keep all of mine on an internal HDD on my desktop, but they're easily transferable with an external drive like the WD Passport, perhaps you could look into that and start building a massive library?
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Last time I did that, my WD passport died :C Good thing I had it on cloud though
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That is tragic, if my drives just up and died...well I'd probably cry lol, but yeah it's a good thing you had it on a cloud then
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Thank you so much for making this clear!
I'm using references as you explained it in here myself, but my issue is the people who believe that doing art this way is "stealing" or "plain copying". There is still a LOT of brainwork demanded from the individual, as a reference is but a mere guidance of how a face, an object, a night-scene or day-scene or whatever you wish to illustrate might look at a specific angle, environment and light situation. When using a reference, one's mostly busy with studying and observing "what's going on in real life" (colours, light, value ...) so you (your brain) understands a certain complexity one seems to be stuck at (at the moment).Β
Thank you very much for pointing out how important practice as well as references go hand in hand.
This is beyond awesome and a more than well-deserved DD! ^___^
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Definitely well said! I feel it's impossible to practice, learn, and improve without a reference.
Thanks for your words
and I did not see this DD coming
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That is so true. I don't know where I'd be without my collection of references. It's so darned useful to have.
Aside from keeping a small digital library of various pics and photos on my laptop I also have a huge ring binder bursting with stuff - bits and pieces of articles, cut out photos from papers and magazines, various printouts or photographs, all categorized into suitable topics/themes. No picture is too small or too big, if it's just interesting enough it goes into the collection.Β
(As a traditional artist a ring binder with physical references is much more useful to me than the digital ditto.)
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i actually need more physical copies! If I had the opportunity, I'd keep different kinds of magazines like fashion and photography ones. I do have comics though but I feel it's not enough :c
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Thanks for making this-- I struggled forever to overcome the feeling of guilt associated with "stealing". Β References have really helped me so far
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Well if you want to lessen your guilt, you can make your own references! (taking photos wherever you go, for example)
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This advice is gold
I suddenly feel my artblock flying away
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