Updated: Mar 24, 2021
Reference collecting is my favourite part of the creative process. I'm the Smaug of references, and my treasure pile has been getting far too big and overwhelming for my own good. For every hour I spend drawing or painting, I spend at least two hours looking for references, plummeting down a pinterest rabbit hole until I can't remember what I was searching for in the first place.
It's nice to appreciate other people's photography and art, but inspiration isn't creation until it's on the paper. It's time to try a fresh approach to references.
Start by changing the way you look at references
References are not:
the standard by which you should hold yourself
magical sparks of inspiration
tracing templates (although if you're just practicing then go ahead and trace!)
the finished product
But references are:
Ingredients
I'll put it this way: if you wanted a muffin recipe, you wouldn't search for it in google images. You'd look for the written recipe and method, right? References aren't meant to be the google image results of a muffin recipe: they're meant to be ingredients. So, try to teach yourself to stop treating reference pictures like photos of the muffins you're baking, and try instead to treat them as ingredients. The method, as we covered in my last blog, will be yours to compose as you go along.
Okay kids let's bake some muffins.
Organising your ingredients
Step 1.) Create a master file "Art Reference"
Or, if you're on Pinterest, create a new board. This folder is going to house more folders, rather than stray images. You're going to want all the images that enter this folder to be organised into secondary files of various helpful categories.
Step 2.) Create secondary files and name them like so
Note, this system is tailored to 'people' as the subject matter, but if you'd like me to put together a similar blog for objects or places, let me know (dm me on IG)!
Say hello to your new reference organisation system!
Portrait
Faces. Shoulder-up poses. Hairstyles. Expressions. Challenge yourself to draw all sorts of faces, old and young, soft and sharp, dark and light.
Pose
Full body poses. Dynamic poses. Movement. Hands. Feet. Couples. Holding props. Relaxing. Challenge yourself to find poses that twist and wrinkle skin or clothes in interesting ways. I really like pictures where you can 'feel' the balancing act happening, those are the most fun to try and figure out.
Art Style
Realistic. Cartoonish. Textured. Flat. Minimalistic. Detailed. With or without an environment. Full body and portrait. Practice as many of these styles as you like and don't feel bad because you're just learning!
Composition
Layouts. Interesting relationships between subjects and backgrounds. Simple or highly detailed. Movie stills. Shapes. Text in relation to art. Values (what's the most colourful and eye catching part of the picture, and the most blurry and subdued part by comparison?). If you look at a picture and it feels really well balanced and satisfying, save it to this folder!
Costume
My favourite folder!! This folder can be filled with modern fashionable clothes, or interesting pieces that look like they belong in a film. I like to keep my costume folder strictly fantasy/scifi while saving my modern casual clothes in a seperate folder. Don't forget to include accessories like masks, gloves, belts and shoes.
Light and shadow
Contrast. Sharp and soft light or shadow. Shapes. Various ratios of light to dark. Elements (fire, sunlight, rain, artificial light, moonlight, ethereal glow). Various light directions. Various light colours beyond white or yellow.
Skin
Can be realistic or exaggerated depending on the type of art you're creating. For realism, look for unedited high resolution photos of people. I prefer exaggerated reference pictures with coloured shadows and glossy highlights. Look for texture, colour (light to dark), highlights and contours, freckles, moles, scars, hair and examples of skin crosshatching.
Palette
Inspiring uses of colour in an overall composition. Colour palettes that compliment each other, or contrast. Examples of monochrome art/photography. Examples of minimalistic colour use. Literal paint swatches. Nicely edited photos. Use these pictures to swatch colours if you're drawing digitally, or try to mix the colours with your traditional paints (be sure to test on scrap paper before applying the experimental colours to your art!).
Expressions (animated)
Head to this site and just save as many stills as you can of a range of emotions. Animated expressions are beautifully exaggerated to translate the character's feelings instantly. Practice quick sketching these to get a feel for how happiness, shock, sadness, anger, jealousy etc are most simply conveyed through a face.
Watercolours (or acrylics, or guach, or procreate)
Tips for using your medium. Examples of different ways artists are using your medium. Tools you might need (inks, stencils, markers). Textures (paper - grainy or smooth). Values (light or opaque).
Optional folder ideas
fanart references
challenges (draw this in your style, inktober)
youtube tutorials (can be pinned to boards on pinterest)
craft (collage, glitter, stencils, stickers)
graphic design (fonts, additional compositions that marry art to a body of text)
art books or tools wishlist
Step 3.) "Art that makes me feel something"
Create a brand new folder. It can be it's own master folder if you like. This one will come in handy. Often. Surprisingly often. In this board, you should only save art, photography or film stills that you appreciate but can't immediately understand why. Don't try to understand it. Don't overthink it. Just quickly and intuitively add the image to this folder.
Be it a day where you've hit the creative wall, or a day when you're in a mood to appreciate rather than create, this folder will be waiting for you like a treat you forgot about at the top of the pantry. Treat yourself to this board as often as you need to, and try to respect the art you've collected there as 'look, don't touch or try' pieces only.
This one's a little personal to me so I'll share just a few pictures, but I'll leave you to discover your own.
Thanks for reading!
If you're finding this series helpful you can thank me here or screenshot + share your favourite part to your social of choice. If you have any requests or feedback you can find me and message me on IG @cinnamonspacedust
