TRSE: How To Draw Tutorials:
Reference for Reference
How to use other people’s art to improve your own
© 2009 Kitty Ocean
studiotsunami.keep-in-mind.nl  & kittyocean.deviantart.com

        First of all, I don’t encourage stealing or copying someone else’s work. People spend a lot of time on their work and that should be respected. Don’t copy someone else’s work and claim full credit. Give credit where credit is due and remember, if you don’t want something to happen to yourself, don’t do it to another! When in doubt: ask the original artist; they appreciate that and they will be (most of the time anyway) most willing to help wherever they can!
 
1. You just started out drawing…

You read an awesome manga/comic/whatever and decided to draw something just as cool. Maybe even some fanart! But where to start? You have a blank piece of paper, you have a pencil (maybe even two!) and an eraser. What more do you need?

How about some inspiration?

Not everyone is blessed with an automatic character-creator inside their brains. And even if you do, then what? Let’s say, you like Sailor Moon so much, that you want to create your own Sailor Senshi. She’s is the daughter of ChibiUsa and Helios and instead of pink hair, she has purple hair. Her odango (= those buns) are star-shaped and her fuku (= uniform) colours are blue and green (why not?).

You then have a few options:

    * You take a Sailor Moon drawing (let’s say, an anime screenshot) and you trace it; editing where it is needed.
          o Pro: Easy and fast. You get a nice result within a few minutes and you know how things will look; combined. Effort needed: not much. Eventually you will be able to draw on your own in this style, but mistakes will be made a lot, because you don’t learn about anatomy.
          o Con: You don’t really draw yourself. You don’t know where the eyes need to go, how long arms need to be. You don’t learn much from it.
          o Other people’s views: People know it when you trace. It’s quite easily identifiable and you’ll get little respect. I don’t recommend posting this work online. If you do want to post it online, do give credit to the original artist. This is a must do! If you can contact the artist, ask him or her before posting this online. Most artists don’t appreciate their work being traced; after all, you are editing their work without their permission.
          o My recommendations: If you do this, don’t post it online. Also, don’t make this your only way of drawing. Learn it for yourself. People will like you, way more if you draw yourself ^_^

    * You take a Sailor Moon drawing (again, a screenshot) and draw a stick-figure over it. This way you know where the arm goes, how long the legs need to be… aka: reference material!
          o Pro: You actually draw the image yourself, so it will always be different. People often recognise poses though and some people think copying poses is just as bad as tracing. However, if you don’t have a model living with you, this is a great way to understand the basics of the human body! Effort needed: not that much.
          o Con: You don’t learn much about anatomy, because some artists have odd proportions (for example: CLAMP).
          o Other people’s view: Some people say copying a pose is just as bad as tracing. However: what pose has yet to be drawn? Not only that: especially beginning artists don’t always have an idea for a pose. Using a reference helps a lot.
          o My recommendations: Personally, I don’t see the problem with taking a pose for reference. I don’t copy the pose exactly, but it helps me find out how far a leg should be able to bend etc. In the past, I used pose-references a lot, but nowadays I make up my own poses more and more.

    * You take a Sailor Moon drawing, so you can see what items a fuku should have. That’s all you use it for.
          o Pro: You draw everything yourself, from pose to fuku. Especially when you are a beginning artist, this can be quite discouraging. You need to put a lot of time and effort in this. However, if you do this: good for you! Keep on doing this!
          o Con: You have to keep proportions in mind, as well as the folds of clothes. In the beginning it will most likely look crappy (unless you are super awesome, of course, and that you are perfect from the start) and it can discourage you a lot. But practise makes perfect!
          o Other people’s views: People applaud this (or at least, they should!).
          o My recommendations: Keep on doing this! Two thumbs up!

Those are the three options you have, that is, if you decide to use someone else’s art/story. If you want to make everything up yourself (story, characters, etc) then you can still use the pose as a reference.

A lot of people use references, being it live models, stock images or drawings by other people. Even popular Manga-ka do it when they are in a pinch! (Though they often have assistants who strike a pose for them ^_^’)

2. You drew quite a while now…

So, you’ve been drawing for what, two years now? That’s wonderful! Keep on going, no matter what people say. My teachers in High School often said to me I couldn’t draw and that I should quit drawing (nice, eh?), but I kept on going ^_^. Practise makes perfect!

Anyway, let’s take a look at your style… Let’s say you continued with your ‘Daughter of ChibiUsa’ (a.k.a. ‘Rini’ to some) concept. We’ll name her ‘Tsukino Mitsuki’ (= Beautiful Moon of the Moon), a.k.a. ‘Sailor Neo Moon’. You made a regular Senshi (= Warrior/ Sailor Scout) outfit, a Super outfit and even an Eternal Outfit.

Because you wanted to be original, the bow of her Super outfit has bells on the bottom and the wings of her Eternal outfit are dragonfly-wings. Just because you wanted it. Other than that…

…hold on…

She really looks a lot like Sailor Moon, doesn’t she? I mean, the eyes, the hair, the proportions… Only now you realise that if you change some colours, she’s a dead ringer for Sailor Moon.

While it’s admirable you managed to copy the ‘official’ Sailor Moon style, it’s only handy if you want to be an animator on the Sailor Moon series. You again have a few options:

    * You keep the style. So what that it’s Sailor Moon style? It’s a cool style! Besides, it’s a Sailor Senshi!
          o Pro: You don’t have to think about how the eyes should look, how to do the hair… there isn’t much creativity, now is there?
          o Con: You managed to copy someone else’s style. Where is the ‘you’ in ‘your artwork’?
          o Other people’s views: People often say they like your art, because it looks good, but people rather see original styles. In the world of Sailor Moon, the ones with different styles stand out! Get the attention you deserve and become original!
          o My recommendation: Look at the style you have now and try to find out what you like and dislike. Think the legs are too long? Shorten them. Think the eyes need to be bigger? Sure, why not! Try to be an original, instead of a copy. You are an original too, so why not your work?

    * You keep some of the style, but adapt it to your needs.
          o Pro: It’s recognisable where your love lies and you don’t need to do much to change. Time does the rest.
          o Con: People will keep on linking it to Sailor Moon and you still don’t have a style for yourself.
          o Other people’s views: People will link it to Sailor Moon, but like your art more, because it’s starting to be original. And if they don’t: their problem. It’s your work, not theirs; it should stay like that!
          o My recommendation: Good work! Keep on doing that! The more you draw, the more the style will change :). Soon people will be able to recognise your art from a pile of fanarts (which is handy, in case of thieves ¬¬)

    * You throw the entire style overboard and create your own.
          o Pro: Your work, your style, your rules. You will be truly unique!
          o Con: Some people will use their style as an excuse against critique. ‘The legs are too short’ – ‘Yeah well, that’s my style!’. ‘The eyes are outside the face.’ – ‘But that’s my style!’.
          o Other people’s views: Some people dislike original styles and it attracts less viewers. There is no fanbase, so people will find your art less easier. However, most people are quite positive about this!
          o My recommendation: Don’t forget about anatomy! But that is about all I have to say, because you are on the right track!

And what about the poses? Or other people’s work? An artist is also an Observer: they look at the world around them and learn from it. Let’s say you really like the eyes from Tenchi Muyo, but the anatomy from Sailor Moon and the hairstyle from Ojamajo Doremi. You can combine those and make it work together, until you have something that doesn’t look like a hybrid bride of Frankenstein’s son.

If you do such a thing and keep on drawing it yourself, you will eventually create your own style. You’ve used someone else’s work as a reference then; a starting point to create your own.

Is such a thing bad?

No.

Why?

Because you have to be really amazing to make something up that hasn’t been made up before. Everyone had influences and artists their admire. It’s only logical you can find back traces of the artists you admire. Some people tell me that Winx Club is the inspiration (sometimes even claiming I stole the style!) for my work, while I’ve been perfecting my style since 1999 (way before Winx Club was on TV). My major influences are: Elfquest, Pokémon and Sailor Moon and the Elfquest influence is quite notable.

3. Ten years later…

So, you’re ten years later. You are now the best artist ever and don’t have anything left to learn any more. Your work is simply perfect!

If you think that, please let me introduce you to reality. An artist is never done learning! If your style is perfect, you still have to think about learning how to work with different media. Pencils, Computer, Watercolours, Acrylics, Ink, Crayons, Markers… the world of art is so big!

No matter how good you draw, there will always be flaws in your work. The reason is simple: you are human (if you are not… then okay, you can be perfect).

However, after ten years, some other people expect you to be perfect. They expect you to make everything up yourself and that other Artists are now rivals, instead of (sometimes without their knowing) teachers. Still, it’s best you keep on looking at other people’s work to become even better. How do they shade? How do they draw those annoying toes? How do they handle perspective?

Even poses can still be used, but after ten years, without you probably realising, you will be using less and less references. You can do it on your own now! ^_^v

4. Aren’t references for cheaters?

In my opinion, references aren’t cheating. References are just that: finding out how a pose works and most of the time: inspiration. No matter how good you are, you can’t make up new poses and drawings every day. As long as you keep on using it for reference and just that, no one should think it is cheating.

If you wish, you can give credit.

5. How about you?

When I began drawing, about ten years ago, I started gathering official art from Anime/Manga I liked, printing them out and posting them in a binder. That’s my reference and inspiration book. If I’m stuck with a drawing, not knowing where that darn foot should be, I can take that book and look at how others have done it. Since I don’t have an assistant, this is all I have to find the mistakes myself.

Once in a while, I also have an Art Block. I can still draw, but I’m never satisfied. I then sometimes take my ‘R&I’ book and flip through it. The pose I usually pick looks nothing like the end result, but the Art Block is crumbling down then.

I still gather reference images; usually Resin Models (those awesome Anime Figurines/Statues/Models) or Action Figurines. To promote that figurine, they usually make photo’s all around the figurine, as well as close-ups. That way I know how a certain pose looks from the left or the right.

While I still gather images, I use them less and less. I mostly use them for inspiration; to kick myself into drawing again. We all have different ways to help ourselves improve. We all have our specialties. Some specialise in pencil works, some specialise in digital work. Some specialise in editing Colouring Blanks, others evolve into amazing Manga-ka.

References are not bad, as long as they stay references and don’t dominate your work. We are all unique. We should be proud of what we are achieving; let’s show our pride through our work!

-KittyOcean-