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

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Alphonse Mucha

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Gustav Klimt

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Toulouse Lautrec

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Vincent Van Gogh

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Paul Gauguin

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Edgar Degas

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Gil Elvgren

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Frida Kahlo

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Pablo Picasso

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Disney Studios

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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

euclase

#literally one of the biggest fears I have #is for some douchefuck to dig out my reference #and point at it and say that I’m not a real artist #I don’t want you to dig out my references to prove that I didn’t make up a realistic picture out of fucking thin air #that’s not how art works #but especially on this site it happens CONSTANTLY #it’s so fucking scary #when people who’ve never touched a pen in their lives think they’re qualified to judge you #and ‘reveal’ how you’ve ‘scammed’ people

Soooo. I made this post originally on my personal blog (I’m eliciaforever), and it was nothing more than a little rant about a specific incident that I deleted after five minutes. But before I could delete it, it took the hell off on me, and now it has all these notes. And LOTS OF AMAZING INPUT.

And I just wanted to add in response to the above tags in particular, that shaming people for using references is something that happens to so many of us SO OFTEN. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are. People think art is supposed to be magical or whatever, and anything else is a crime. The reality of course is that art is a thousand times more deliberate than a lot of people think it is.

So yeah. Good info to pass along. Use references, kids. <3

Reblogging because I think it’s important especially for young artists to gain the confidence to use references.

Seriously, references are esssential! Use them!

Nintendo to cancel Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go is no longer a “Go”

“We are deeply saddened by this , but we just don’t have any other choice…”

Read the full article here ==> (SOURCE)

Honestly, I think the second paragraph of their ‘explanation’ is just a cop out. From the way it’s worded in the article, they knew all about the risks they were undertaking, and to find out that they’ve just given it up like this is poor form. Such a let down, and I think a lot of fans are gonna be pretty hurt.

I hate all of this

Looks like we’ll never get to be real like Pokemon Masters

captian-freepwood

This is horrible. :\

I’m sure a lot of us were expecting this. A lot of these ambitious projects never make it out of the conceptual stage. Reading the article, it sounds like the developers were just overly optimistic, even naive and you would hope that the PR guys wouldn’t get so easily swept up but hey, that’s how this rodeo goes down. We know the game and we’re gonna play it.

Hey I love your work (and you got me into drawing) but there's one thing that I find a bit troubling. After you posted the Oreo-roleplay piece, you took the time to clarify that she was over 18 years of age, yet, Chahiro, who is 13, is sometimes very sexualized. I know it's fiction and stuff, but I just wanted to know your thoughts on the subject.
Anonymous

While I am fine with that kind of content when it’s drawn, I gotta tread lightly on Tumblr and FA for fear of having my entire gallery deleted at a moment’s notice. Chahiro can get away with it because he can pass as a girly boi- and I could just say that any sexualized pictures of him just happen later in the story after he turned 18.

I guess it’s very appropriate that I post my new monster girl Kobold in October. I couldn’t decide on a color pallet for her so I drew up a bunch. Then I got the idea that I could make her Chameleonic. She’s a shaman after all and simple things like superficial magic wouldn’t be outside her abilities at all. But that may be a bit of a cheat so I was wondering what you folks think. Which coloration is best?

The internet is an incredible and massive place with millions of contributors and endless ideas- but I still check the same 10 websites everyday like that’s all there is to see.