Reference Example

[telophase]

Was painting on the Matsumoto picture, and realized that if I took a screenshot, I'd have a really good example of how to use reference.

There's WAY too many people out there with no idea of what "reference" really means. Some think it means tracing. Some think it means copying exactly. Unfortunately, no. Those are, respectively, tracing and copying. If I have a live model in front of me and I am drawing her likeness, she is not my reference. She is my SUBJECT.

Reference is when you take a source picture, whether it's a photo or painting or drawing or sketch, and use it to apply SOME things to your picture. You can reference a pose. You can reference lighting. You can reference gravity, or folds, or volumes, or whatever aspect you want.

In this case, I'm referencing lighting. I found a picture of a young woman with a round face - because I really did not want Western-model cheekbones in this picture - whose head was at turned away from the camera at basically the same angle Matsumoto was, and with light coming from the direction I wanted. Actually, it was coming at the exact opposite angle, so I had to flip the picture horizontally.





You can see that while I'm using the basic pattern of light, Matsumoto's features are not the same as that of the model in the picture. Eye shape, mouth shape, lip shape, face shape are all different. I don't even have the lighting exact, because I threw an Inner Shadow layer style on to exaggerate the shadows on the right side of the face.

Comments

snark

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

...there are people who think it means copy exactly? Jeepers.

Re: snark

[telophase.livejournal.com]

YES Id eloborate more but im typing with left hahnd as kitten insists i hold him with right

Re: snark

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Yes; some of them have comic books. >_

Re: snark

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. Dude, I've traced and copied things, but generally for my own edification. (That's how I first learned to draw horses, come to think of it.)

Re: snark

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a great way to learn! I still have plans to exactly copy some art I have around by hand, because I learn a lot more about the artists' techniques that way than I do by just staring at it. But I'm not going to put it on Deviant Art or make it into a comic book. Siiigh.

[chisotahn]

Man, I'd love to use something like that on Gaia. I moderate in art-heavy areas and the number of people who just don't get that you can't sell artwork you traced is just... staggering.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yikes!

I may be doing a version of this that's more copyright-friendly, by taking stock photos from DA that allow use anywhere and pictures from Morguefile that do the same thing, so I can post it as a tutorial or maybe even an article on DA.

[chisotahn]

Explaining it to them is such a pain in the ass. :/ I'd love to get something nice and clean and obvious that's *official* and not just me trying to pound sense into various thick skulls, but... well.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I think that would be very useful.

[yukie1013.livejournal.com]

...I love you so verreh much for the reference clarification D: I mean. Argh. i swear. Just. THINGS.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I get into too many arguments on the intarwebs about this not to come up with some sort of clarification.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

I had always wondered...

Thank you so much for the clearer definition of what is a reference and what's just copying! I appreciate that a lot.