The Dark Queen, statue probably depicting the Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra III (ruled 142–101 BC). Discovered in the lost, sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion
Rohan Sharad Dahotre is a designer and illustrator from India and a nature and wildlife enthusiast. He is a keen observer who loves exploring the wilderness, and illustrating animals, birds and all things wild. In the near future, Rohan would like to work towards the cause of wildlife awareness, conservation and welfare through his illustrations.
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
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. ❤
Reblogging because I think it’s important especially for young artists to gain the confidence to use references.
Late because of sick baby and sick self, but at least made it in before Wednesday! And I kinda cheated a bit, because I plan to have more missing-a-person stuff next week anyway. But, um… think of it as WS missing Bucky so much that he’s ready to erase himself? (Well, also, from his perspective, he’s spent the last x months systematically wiping out HYDRA and making whatever amends that he could as WS. And there’s nothing left for him to do, except to return Bucky to Steve…)
I really feel like Grandpa would have a lot to say about what’s going on right now. And it really bothers me that Marvel’s not giving him a voice regarding national issues.
On account of them having made him a brainwashed Nazi.
Steve Rogers belongs to Marvel . Artwork by Meredith McClaren
Steel Phoenix Studios 