Reference photos and other artwork are major contributors to a successful project, whether it’s sculpting, painting, or furring a creature. These tools will inspire and guide you through the creative process if you use them properly.
Humans have a way of adding or changing elements in their mind’s eye that are nothing like our subjects we are focused on. We all know what a skull looks like. We are bombarded with them almost daily. Movies, tattoos, drawings, advertising, cartoons, Halloween props, they seem to be everywhere.
If you were asked to draw or sculpt a skull from memory, there would be a lot of missing details, added information, or distortions.
Certainly, if you showed that drawing or sculpture to any random person, he or she would immediately see a skull. Even though the image might lean toward a cartoon, have a facial expression, or look like a Picasso, hell, even a Salvador Dali skull melted and slumped over a chair; people would still know what you were trying to convey. But would it be correct? Would it be true to the project you’re working on?
You’ll do a much better job of drawing or sculpting that skull if you have references in front of you that match the needs of the project.
It’s always important to have something to refer to even if your creature or character is completely fabricated in your imagination. Even an imaginary character has elements based in reality—feathers, hair, teeth, body shapes, etc. Most ideas aren’t born in a vacuum.
I like to have my bases covered before I start a project. I like to have those elements in front of me to refer to so I don’t mistakenly veer off track. I look for as many angles as I can in my references—profiles, straight-on shots, the top of the head, and the bottom. I grab whatever I can. Even a multitude of facial expressions can be helpful.
I need to be clear: you are not copying these images. You’re using them as a guide to ground your work in the reality of the character or creature you’re making. They’re simply a tool to get you where you need to be. You aren’t cheating by using these materials; most effects artists use references. I’d say all effects artists use them, but there is always one person out there who just has to say, “Well, I don’t. Never have, never will.” There’s always one, and they are usually completely full of shit.
My advice is to do a Google Image search for characters similar to what you are working on. You might be creating a werewolf. There are so many kinds of werewolves out there to see, you would be doing yourself an injustice not looking around. There are two different looks for werewolves in the Underworld universe alone.
Sticking with our focus on werewolves, these creatures change from culture to culture, from film to TV, fantasy to mythology. So, when you’re creating your own werewolf, you’re likely to find elements from other styles that you want to include in your creature.
To be honest, when you’re creating your werewolf, you might even seek out images of creatures that have nothing to do with these monsters. You might find inspiration in someone’s depiction of a half-man half-lion, a reptile, or an elephant.
One subject generally won’t cover your needs. Think about your subject while you’re looking for reference images. Maybe you like the eyes in one reference, the mouth of another, and the ears of another. When you’re sculpting or fabricating your creature, focus on these areas. You’ll refer to those images to help bring your character to life.
Click on Google Images and print the photos that appear closest to the design you most want to incorporate into your creature suit, sculpture, or design. Make sure you get lots of angles.
My favorite references come from unpainted or raw photos, like in-progress ZBrush or Blender photos. Often, the paint and décor in a finished piece can hide details important to your design. I want to see those details. So, many of my reference images are lacking paint and décor. I use these during the sculpting and foam fabrication process.
That said, I also want to see images that do have paint schemes, décor, or hairstyles that I will incorporate into my project after I have it completed.
As a future tip, regardless of how trashed my references get, when I am done with them, I file them away for future use. If I can still make out the detail for which I printed it in the first place, the photo gets put into my files. I do this for a number of reasons. The image might not be available in the future. So why not save it? I save it because printer ink is expensive and I don’t want to keep printing stuff when I can just save what I do have and refer to it later. I also save the prints because I’m fond of trees and don’t want to contribute to their demise any more than I have to.
Look, references are an important part of the creative process and shouldn’t be looked at as cheating or stealing. Just through the normal process of sculpting or sketching, you’re going to be taking that concept a whole different direction. Used properly, these tools should inspire and guide you.
Let me know what you're working on in the comments, and don’t forget to grab your references before you dive in.
I so agree. Thank you for covering this Russ. I see so many artists put through the ringer on this topic.
So glad you covered this Russ. It's one of the most basic and important lessons a starting artist should learn. Saying you don't need reference is an instant path to mediocrity. I've never met a professional artist that doesn't use reference images when they're working. However...I have met a couple clowns that claimed to be artists that said they didn't need references and it definitely showed in their work or were later called out as lying.
Moral of the story.... Don't be a clown 😁