Why do artists refuse to use references why why why.
It’s not a contest to see who can get by without them. It’s not cheating to look at a thing in order to know what the thing looks like.
You don’t get stronger or better by pretending. Nobody is impressed by the awkward whatever-it-is you just drew. Use references.
I don’t think a lot of people know that it’s not cheating. I recall seeing so many piece of art called out because they referenced a pose, someone recognized it, and then proceeded to shame them for it. There’s this belief, both by creators and the audience, that artists should just be able to translate the ideas from their head to paper, and if they don’t, it’s plagiarism, or not true originality (spoiler alert: there’s no such thing).
I myself didn’t start using references until very recently, because even I was under the impression that it was frowned upon. And that belief has seriously crippled and stalled my ability to improve as an artist.
As a restarting artist, I can confirm. I just never knew. I thought you were just supposed to know how to draw the body correctly and if you didn’t you had no talent.
(( I am going to say this again, loud and clear for everyone:
USING REFERENCES FOR ART IS NOT ‘CHEATING’!!!
If you can draw/paint without references, great! But if you need to use them, and feel that your art can be bettered by using references, please, use them! This is one of the biggest tips I can give to artists, is USE REFERENCES!
Anyone who would dare to attack someone for using references after ‘recognizing a pose’ is a dipshit, who doesn’t know a thing about art.
Do you know who else used references for their art?
Norman Rockwell
Alphonse Mucha
Gustav Klimt
Toulouse Lautrec
Vincent Van Gogh
Paul Gauguin
Edgar Degas
Gil Elvgren
Frida Kahlo
Pablo Picasso
Disney Studios
And thousands of others! So, artists! Go forth, and use references!!! ))
What do you think artists do when they ask someone to stand infron of them for 6 hours and then they draw this person. Do they cheat? Or when they place a still life and then paint it, cheating again? LOL
When I was in art school the first thing I learned from a teacher was to keep an “Artist Morgue”. It is a scrapbook of all the things that appeal to you; colors, shapes, people, buildings, patterns, weather … everything. Then you add in all the things you think you cannot draw so you have a reference that fits what you need, what you want to do and can take your time going over those references.
I have a morgue file too. Nobody ever learned to draw a tree without looking at a chuffing tree. That said, make sure of your copywrite in cases where it applies.
The only time it’s ‘cheating’ is if you’re stealing someone else’s work.
If you reference photographs taken by someone else, or other peoples’ artwork, there can be a copyright issue unless you get their permission. YOU CAN STILL DO IT. But it’s best to save that stuff for practice or fanart where there’s no chance of you profiting off it anyway. It’s also best to give credit to your sources if you post that art publicly.
If you are making professional art, like maybe money will be involved or you want to legitimately be able to claim you created and own it from top to bottom, it’s best to draw either from life, or to take your own photographs or use references that are in public domain or licensed under Creative Commons (make sure it matches your attribution needs!).
There are LOADS of these. Just for starters, you can dig through Wikimedia Commons and Flickr’s Creative Commons gallery, along with digital archives held by libraries and museums.
This is why people rake artists over the coals for copying Sports Illustrated covers and stuff. THEY DON’T OWN IT. THEY DIDN’T HAVE THE RIGHT. But they’re making a profit off it anyway.
