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Description
I want to start of by saying, using references is one of the best things to do as an artist
Recently, I've been using them a lot, even when coming up with my own ideas and ending up not using the reference image at all in the end! Even when tracing or copying reference images, you can use it to your advantage to make original art.

DISCLAIMER: I think you should only use reference images taken from REAL LIFE as copying or tracing from other artwork can lead to flaws in anatomical correctness and just straight up plagiarism

Good strong reference image techniques, for example, is the way artist Ross Draws takes real life pictures and modifies them to make his original art [ Find his youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/channel/UCLEVr… ]

I thought I'd whip this up since I'm using the reference above right now for some drawings. I'll link the finished drawings later as well!
< finished product of tracing and modifying

TRACING AND MODIFYING: "Tracing" like I have above, isn't the worst thing in the world. If you are directly tracing another artist's work and claiming it all as your own, that's the bad kind of tracing. Good tracing is using a real life picture to your advantage. As a cartoonist, you can further modify it to fit your style OR you can only take a piece of the original image and add onto it (as I did). In the end I only used the paw and rib cage positioning of the dog and added onto it by creating his back end and his head in a different position. I used 1/3 of the reference image and the end product is quite different to the original picture.

COPYING: This can be a more preferred method as you aren't tracing over the original image, and instead copying the pose. Personally, I do this a lot when doing anatomy studies to keep my understanding of animal and the human body sharp. I rarely do it for finished refined work but that's just my preference! Copying allows you to keep it real with your style and it is especially useful if you want to use the pose but it doesn't fit your character's body type (for example, my character's body type is thinner and longer and if I traced, I most likely would have to modify it quite a bit to fit properly!)

Also just for fun, here's my other tutorials I've done (one of which i unstored just for this):

Description
I want to start of by saying, using references is one of the best things to do as an artist
Recently, I've been using them a lot, even when coming up with my own ideas and ending up not using the reference image at all in the end! Even when tracing or copying reference images, you can use it to your advantage to make original art.

DISCLAIMER: I think you should only use reference images taken from REAL LIFE as copying or tracing from other artwork can lead to flaws in anatomical correctness and just straight up plagiarism

Good strong reference image techniques, for example, is the way artist Ross Draws takes real life pictures and modifies them to make his original art [ Find his youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/channel/UCLEVr… ]

I thought I'd whip this up since I'm using the reference above right now for some drawings. I'll link the finished drawings later as well!
< finished product of tracing and modifying

TRACING AND MODIFYING: "Tracing" like I have above, isn't the worst thing in the world. If you are directly tracing another artist's work and claiming it all as your own, that's the bad kind of tracing. Good tracing is using a real life picture to your advantage. As a cartoonist, you can further modify it to fit your style OR you can only take a piece of the original image and add onto it (as I did). In the end I only used the paw and rib cage positioning of the dog and added onto it by creating his back end and his head in a different position. I used 1/3 of the reference image and the end product is quite different to the original picture.

COPYING: This can be a more preferred method as you aren't tracing over the original image, and instead copying the pose. Personally, I do this a lot when doing anatomy studies to keep my understanding of animal and the human body sharp. I rarely do it for finished refined work but that's just my preference! Copying allows you to keep it real with your style and it is especially useful if you want to use the pose but it doesn't fit your character's body type (for example, my character's body type is thinner and longer and if I traced, I most likely would have to modify it quite a bit to fit properly!)

Also just for fun, here's my other tutorials I've done (one of which i unstored just for this):