The thread for awesome references (and tutorials).

A really great site that details errors in single-point perspective for old paintings, and fixes the paintings so that you can see the right way to do it!

So.

How much of the basics do I need to learn if I am not drawing humans or humanoid things?

What are you drawing?

I would love some Eye references and tutorials

Whoah baby..◊

It's...it's beautiful

It has some eye info.. thanks!

I don't know why I never thought of looking this up before, but the Library of Congress catalog of images is really comprehensive and great if you want some period reference. It's almost all U.S. stuff, though there's some international photos also.

If your observatinal drawing requires little to no thought or planning (I might, might, give you "design application" depending on what is meant) you're probably doing it wrong.

Also, any newbie learning cartooning is going to be doing an observation drawing, they're going to be observing cartoons. Meaning they're going to be observing what someone else already simplified based on the thought and planning that goes into doing an observation from life and observing a form that has already been simplified for you is, in fact, going to be easier than observing a form from life and doing the simplification needed to place it on paper for yourself.

Unless you mean beginning artists who draw cartoons based on nothing at all, neither the work of artists before them nor reality, in which case, yes, that is going to be harder but that is not a good thing! If you're digging a ditch with a spoon you may be working harder but I'm not exactly going to be impressed with your hard work.

That's not to say that observing how others have solved the problem of converting reality to a drawing on paper (regardless how simplified or not the end result is) shouldn't be done. Quite the opposite, it is very important.

You can and should check with the work of other artists who have completed this process as they may have a worthwhile method of simplifying things that you can incoporate into your own work (NOT ripping them off wholesale). I do strongly advocate observing and copying (NOT tracing) the work of artists you admire. If someone has already simplified reality for you there isn't a reason to have to start from scratch and ignore their solutions entirely, that's just a different (though better) way of trying to dig a ditch with a spoon.

The reason most teachers/artists/professionals will point newbies in the direction of learning by observing reality first is that all artists make mistakes. No matter how much you revere a certain artist (or style) they're simply not going to be the best at all things at all times. Reality is the consistent cross-reference you can judge their work against, if you have a grip on drawing from reality then you can find solutions that work better for you, and possibly correct the mistakes, of the artist or style you are observing. You won't be unthinkingly copying their mistakes along with their methods.

Also, in focusing on learning to draw in a certain style (rather than simply learning to draw and using the simplication processes of others as a reference) you end up with the artistic version of inbreeding, if you focus solely on the "style" you wish to mimic you may ignore, not see, or reject, very good or even superior solutions because they are not X style enough.

In the end every piece, no matter how realistic, is simplified in some capacity, and what we are all simplifying (to one degree or another) is reality. So you very well cannot go wrong in learning to oberve and simplify it for yourself. However, one should also study the simplification process of other artists (emphasis on the plural) and other styles as long as one goes back to reality (and a variety of artists of varying degrees of realism and styles) in the end to make sure one is not mindlessly copying the process of another artist's thought and observation (as they may not have the best method of simplifying for everything, in fact, they won't).

Also, it must be said that when referencing other artists and styles the further removed from reality they are than your own chosen style the less you are likely to learn from them. An anime artist will probably not gain as much insight from studying the works of Charles Schultz as the works of James Gurney (though not to say it is impossible).

Anyhow, more on the topic here's a collection of Loomis' work which is extremely useful.

And more than you ever needed to know about light.

edited 25th May '11 2:36:15 PM by TheFedoraPirate

Anyone have good tutorials/references for clothing folds? I'm looking for stuff on folds that are not of drape-y cloth like gowns, capes, or curtains, since I have less trouble with those.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a lot of tutorials- I've got a dead-tree edition for drawing clothing that's quite good, but I'm not sure how much that helps you Tumbril... still, lesse... aaaaand I have no idea where it is. Apparently it went MIA in the last move >.<

Another request for references- has anyone ever run across a sort of... dunno what you'd call it, central-repository-ish kind of deal for (historical/present) costuming? Starting up a project that involves a fair bit of time-travel, and would like to take at least a halfway stab at realistic costumes, or at least ones that wouldn't be too impossible to wear. Oh, and I've already found the Wikipedia pages on it- they're less help than you'd think :/

Found this one today: Feeeeeeet

Anyone got reference for fighting poses? Trying to draw something shonen. I prefer drawn reference.

^^ I looked everywhere for visual references of medieval clothing and such that weren't tacky bs...this site, and a wee bit of research on the side, really helped. I don't know how accurate everything is since I'm not a historian. But I did notice only one of their viking helmets has horns, and it's got 'fantasy' in its name. Eh? Eh?

edited 4th Nov '11 5:10:17 PM by piearty

Where can I find a kinda sorta drawing 101 tutorial?

I have problems with things such as transferring what I see or imagine onto paper without breaking it down into symbols.

FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP.

Edit: Link is SFW.

For anyone really interested in figure drawing without easy access to a model (or even if you do have access to a model), I recommend R.D. Lockhart's Living Anatomy. It focuses on the surface appearance of muscles in action. The text is quite detailed and somewhat technical, as the intended audience are medical students, but the pictures should be sufficiently interesting for artists. I'll upload some pictures from it soon.

Now with pictures! Warning: nudity, images that might offend the especially squeamish and medical jargon. [1]◊, [2]◊, [3]◊.

Completely random, but anyone looking for historical Japanese clothing references? This site is absolutely amazing. It goes all the way up to Showa Era.

Head Construction by Andrew Loomis.

Oh, this is the thread where this goes.

This "article" was apparently intended for people looking to get sex changes, but it's also helpful for artists.

You're welcome.

Does anybody have a sort of a guide, or even just some advice, for how to choose attractive/effective colour schemes for pictures?

Following Noaqiyeum's link.

Also, there are these useful videos for digital painting: [1] and [2].

edited 26th Jul '12 6:03:56 PM by Fancolors

Thank you =)