how do you find a good reference to a pose you have in your imagination?
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for example i want to find this leaning girl/cheerleader like. leaning on a man...
is there like a search engine for pose references?
at my current level, i've tried like 15 poses without reference and i know my level is too low for this. -
References are really important. We learn and we improve to draw by observation.
I think what you did is good. Its good to push our imagination and force to recreate the image we have in our heads and try to recreate it without reference. But if you want to keep improving is time to look for some reference and then this "aha!" moments will start to come, looking on what you did and looking on what you saw in your references. Then you start to improve, like, "oh, ok that pose was wrong, or ok this arm go like this, is more natural etc"
For finding references you can use google images, shutterstock, adobe stock, any image browser, also films ( Im not doing it now, but in the past when I was watching a movie I took screenshots if I saw good reference ).
You're not searching for an image that represents 100% the image you have in your head. You are looking for similar references, looking for the mood, something that make feel that is near on what you have in your head. And usually you look for diferent reference and then do a mix with the reference you got and the image you have in your head creating something new!
For exemple you will look a reference for the expresion of the girl, one for the expresion of the man, other for the pose, maybe other for the background, and you will adapt with the original idea you already had.
When you start progressing and getting better probably you will need less and lesss references, but its always good to have a references. References are to observe and understand the nature of things. Before we didnt have milions of photos so artist go outside and observe, took their references sketching daily life etc. Now this had change!
good reference searching!
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@arielg google is my best resource
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One option is to take your own reference photos! I'm often posing like an idiot in front of my webcam to get something like a hand position or
an expression looking right. Or if I'm struggling with a tricky pose I'll get someone else to take a photo of me or I get my very patient boyfriend to pose for me.
Like @Jordi-Ventura said your reference doesn't need to look exactly like what you have in your head it's just a guide. So if the character you're drawing looks nothing like you you can still use a reference picture of yourself or a friend just to get the bare bones of the pose down. Then you can find some more reference if you need it for the details like hair, clothes or proportions. Hope that helps! -
@arielg You could also just pose yourself and take a picture where ever possible.
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For the most part drawing a pose from your head is a very high tier skill I think. We are all so familiar with the human form that if it is the slightest bit off it can really stand out. Because of this it is very challenging to draw without reference. For a lot of people I think drawing without reference is a big dream goal but read into the work and processes of great illustrators and you will find that they almost never go without reference. Norman Rockwell was obsessive about his references. His work is so amazing because he always had such good reference!
So my advice is don’t push yourself to go without reference too much. It can be great practice but can build bad habits if not balanced with using references. I like to start by drawing very roughly without reference and then I will pose myself for reference and see how far off the mark I was. My first reference source is the internet, if it’s a really tricky pose I’ll try to do it myself or ask someone I live with to pose for me. There are also some action figure-like tools for reference that can be really helpful in a pinch.
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Also, are you sketching as loosely as you can?
Try really crazy loose quick sketches.
Are you trying to go too real?
If so, that can be difficult.
One technique I like to use(from my own brain) is, go really cartoony, really simple, and look at it from there.
Pencil on paper is my one and only. I mean, my basics.
Go back to basics!
Going back to basics almost never fails.The only other thing is, post it here!
And allow yourself to be critiqued.Embrace failure, and go forward, my friend.
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@jsnzart hehe. if you'd see what i'm trying to do lol. there are like 5 lines in every attempt. i'm trying to do like line of action that depicts the emotion through the pose. its not about loose its that i dont know well enough anatomy and probably perspective to realize how this is turned, and how the weight is balanced etc.
not trying to do anything beyond that at this stage. also that's the stage i want it to be.
no use to post it here if its not the pose i want.its a kind of familiar pose. i might find it. thanks for the support. i embrace the failure-it is my compass.
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@Annabishop
that's the best i think. because i know what i want in my head. I should probably get those timer camera apps.
but also its kinda clumsy, because i'm not female. but what's important is the pose/gesture. so yeah. it might work! i hopedid you ever use this method on your works?
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@arielg I use the timer on my phone's camera app a lot! Nothing fancy.
Yes, I do this all the time. Even if my final character doesn't end up looking a lot like the reference photo, sometimes the reference is just a good jumping off point. I think it's also a good way to decide on a pose if you're not sure how the character should be positioned. Get into the mindset of the character (e.g. surprised, angry, searching for something, curious etc.) and see it like acting a bit. Yeah it's a bit embarrassing especially if you share a work space, but I just roll with being the weirdo haha.
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@Neha-Rawat
thank you, yes, its a good idea -
@arielg I attended a webinar for my local SCBWI chapter, and an Art Director from Simon and Schuster was the guest presenter. She told us that she used to take pictures of her own facial expressions and poses and send them to the artist in order to capture the exact feeling and essence she wanted from the illustration. And provided visual examples.
Using reference is a thing. A quite legit thing.
I've taken to paying for collections of pose reference on ArtStation and various others I've found over time that sell reference packs on Gumroad. Interestingly, there are some useful profiles that focus on pose reference on DeviantArt, but the better ones there often link to their own pay-site collections. Also the rabbit hole that is Pinterest can sometimes proffer interesting resources that lead off-site as well.
For non-pose reference my standbys are the public domain sites like Pixabay, Pexels and PXHere, but one has to be careful of those--sometimes they're not actually public domain and all kinds of trouble can ensue. They curate similar subject matter in groups and that can sometimes help. I would personally rely upon Google more, but the ability to keep the reference material as reference and not outright copy it is beyond my capacity right now. So using anything on Google scares me, except when I specifically set search parameters for non-copyright results... I'm just not good enough to use reference confidently in the right way yet, so I shy away from the temptation. But that's just me.
Some other sites that I have found useful in one way or the other:
https://www.quickposes.com/en/gestures/timed
http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en/
https://www.anatomynext.com/
http://www.senshistock.com/sketch/
https://line-of-action.com/
http://www.onairvideo.com/croquis-cafe-photos3.html
https://figurosity.com/quick-poses
http://posemuse.com/
http://beta.sketchdaily.net/enhttps://vimeo.com/croquiscafe
https://modelindexdatabase.smugmug.com/browse
https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/
https://tracingrealbodymodels.org/
https://www.bodyvisualizer.com/male.html
https://www.artstation.com/marketplace/game-dev?section=trending&q=pose&page=3https://www.human-anatomy-for-artist.com/
https://www.earthsworld.com/https://www.deviantart.com/tasastock/journal/Stocky-Directory-216748618
https://www.deviantart.com/search?q=human PoseThese may not help you immediately right now, but perhaps they might be useful in the future.
Children's Illustration Portfolio: https://www.coreyartusillustration.com
Art Portfolio: https://www.coreyartusimagery.com
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@Coreyartus
Pixelfed: https://pixelfed.social/Coreyartus -
great resources! thank you very much, although i haven't found what i need still in there, i am sure to use this in the future.
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@arielg best to set up your own poses. Just like this one I did to get the right angle for a Unicorn painting I was doing.
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I want to order myself a full body mirror for poses. But also cause i look amazing
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@Coreyartus That earthsworld.com is gold!!
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@davidhohn Holy crap, that site is amazing!
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If all else fails look in the mirror... or take a photo of yourself. I’ve had to do this many times and it works. Even if it’s for a person that looks nothing like me in size or shape. You just need a general idea of how the bones bend and you’re good to go. There are a couple of great courses in svs that deal with poses. Highly recommend.
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@davidhohn @TessaW That Earthsworld resource actually comes from Brooklyn Walker's Introduction to Gesture Drawing course here on SVSLearn. It's hidden at the very very very bottom of the Additional Resources tab. I agree it's golden. There isn't a single person on there that isn't a walking character!
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I was conversing with Earthsworld and told him he was gathering a following of art students here. This was his response:
