Using reference images for drawing

[Dragonkingdoms]

I've started to use reference images for drawing in parts of my comic. I don't directly trace them, but I do try to make them in my style- such as when a character is walking- so the result looks better.

The question I have is, is this frowned upon in the community? I don't want to have a comic with characters that look bad in different poses (due to lack of experience), but I also don't want to look like I'm just a rip-off.

[Perk_daddy]

Nothing wrong with that. It actually shows a willingness to improve your craft, and who can't use that?

[Dutch!]

I know of some comic strips from years back that drew buildings and backgrounds from what they saw around them. Sheds and houses and specific trees and whatnot, all drawn from those around the cartoonist's property. Nothing wrong with it.

I'd say even better if you want to have a specific location in mind for the setting of the strip.

[KWill]

Seems like using a highly detailed mannequin to me...

Nothing wrong with that. Also, why should the community believing its a no-no matter? It's not tracing, you're merely using it for reference. Being able to draw something perfectly without reference is certainly praiseworthy, but it doesn't make using references condemnable.

[K-Dawg]

Just tracing is shunned.

[Mvmarcz]

using a pose reference is fine but if the person in the image you draw looks the same and is wearing the same or similar attire you'll be getting into no no territory.

[EmergencyExit]

I use references all the time, to teach me to draw animals or do complicated poses and so on. I even splice images together to get what I need.

But yeah, tracing or just copying the image piece for piece is usually not so good, plus it doesn't make your skills stretch as much. Practicing a pose from references after a while usually helps me be able to draw it from my mind.

[Anywherebuthere]

Dont trace, tracing won't teach you anything.

But what you can do is take that picture and BREAK IT DOWN.

Define basic head shapes, define eye placement, define mouth shapes and hand positions.

I'll show what I mean when I get home and can scan in some examples. Its so simple you'll bonk yourself on the head and go "Of COURSE!"

[Ataraxia]

Dont trace, tracing won't teach you anything.

I'm going to question this. Tracing might teach you something, depending on what you're trying to learn. Recently I've been tracing photographs in order to practice black and white shading. I think it's been helpful. I used several of the practice sketches to make a comic/commentary on geek culture here, and you can see my latest attempt at non-traced black and white shading here.

The obvious counterargument to tracing as a learning tool is that it would be better to use the photos as a reference without tracing since then you'd be able to practice composition and proportion at the same time. The obvious counter-counter-argument is that tracing is acceptable if you just want to concentrate on one skill. The C-C-C-argument would be... I'll just stop here.

As for comics making use of reference photos (without tracing), I know that Idiot Comics and Voids both do that.
http://www.idiotcomics.com/
http://www.voidscomic.com/

[Bustertheclown]

Using reference material should be a valuable and even necessary part of any illustrator's tools and methods. You can be pretty damned sure that every great cartoonist out there worth their salt has referenced something sometime. I've yet to see anyone who has been able to draw everything convincingly purely from imagination. I doubt it could be done.

[Komiyan]

Using reference material should be a valuable and even necessary part of any illustrator's tools and methods. You can be pretty damned sure that every great cartoonist out there worth their salt has referenced something sometime. I've yet to see anyone who has been able to draw everything convincingly purely from imagination. I doubt it could be done.

Pretty much exactly what I wanted to say. Life drawing is referencing, after all.

And then there's situations like if you need to draw, say, a horse or something you don't see every day- you pretty much *have* to reference or chances are it won't look right.

[The Neko]

I think a lot of people do have problems differentiating between referencing and tracing at times. When suggested to go reference, they'll trace and/or copy what they see verbatim.

I can see finding reference of a horse, definitely. People should use them to see how they move or how they are composed. That way you can draw them yourself at any angle/position you please. If you just copy what you see without thinking, you don't learn.

[Jackhass]

Using references is perfectly fine...in fact more people should do it. There's a lot of comics that would benefit from looking at what real people look like more often.

Directly tracing/lightboxing stuff is usually frowned on though...especially if it's porn like some comic book artists.

[Anywherebuthere]

I just want to take a second and apologize/clarify.

I misread the original post. I thought he was asking about how photo referencing OR tracing are generally viewed.

Me Culpa. Either I'm a moron or my glasses were smudged...most likely the former.

Anyway. Tracing is still bad in my book, because it doesn't really challange you to understand structure. However you can utilize photos to BREAK DOWN how the human body is constructed.

[KWill]

using a pose reference is fine but if the person in the image you draw looks the same and is wearing the same or similar attire you'll be getting into no no territory.

This isn't universally applicable though. If you're doing a crossover, cameo, or spoof of something, making the image look the same is the whole point.

[Redtech]

using a pose reference is fine but if the person in the image you draw looks the same and is wearing the same or similar attire you'll be getting into no no territory.

This isn't universally applicable though. If you're doing a crossover, cameo, or spoof of something, making the image look the same is the whole point.

Then again, the whole point of thse sort of things is to do stuff in your own style. I don't like dittos (named after the polymorphing pokemon) who are only good at drawing other people's styles. Image Comics has a whole heap of them and it's just not attractive in the long run to be able to draw in a generic style with no original features to differentiate. I guess some anime' artists suffer from this also.

So DragonKingdoms is doing the right thing with his tactic. Rock on.

[Deathbringer]

Go to the "art" section of a high street book shop and take a look, HUGE books of people in "heroic" poses, as used by professional comic artists. If they can do it why can't the non-professionals?

[Jen_Babcock]

No, it's actually quite common. I knew a cartoonist who had a file cabinet full of references that he pulled from magazines, catalogues, newspapers, etc.

[Aiken]

I would definatly say that referencing photos has really helped me over the past few months.
I find i'm using http://www.istockphoto.com alot, and the great thing is that because i'm only looking and the poses and anatom, I don't even have to buy the pictures.

[Bustertheclown]

I knew a cartoonist who had a file cabinet full of references that he pulled from magazines, catalogues, newspapers, etc.

That's called a reference morgue, one of my all-time favorite art terms. My own morgue is primarily electronic, and contains thousands of images of all sorts.