trouble over references

#1

this is one question that has really been troubling me.i talk to professionals an amatures alike as i feel i can learn something from everyone.but i really come on a cross-road when it comes to references.is it wrong to use reference while working cuz you mite look like your not creative enough?or is it right since everyone needs an inspiration?please suggest me things that can take me out of this delimma as it realllllyy distracts me from using refernce at times,tho usually i try to avoid them

#2

References are there to help you check the accuracy of your anatomy, perspective, wrinkles in clothing, lighting, colors…etc. How you use references is a personal choice. There are artists who follow their references very closely, to the point of the final work looking like a copy of a photo, and then there are artists who use references very loosely–the final work is very stylized and looks nothing like a photo. It’s really up to you how you want to references.

I personally have done it both ways–following references closely, or very loosely. How much you stylize has to do with how comfortable you are doing artwork without any references. The more advanced you are, the more you can stray from the references and still not end up with something that looks “wrong.” One of the glaring marks of beginners is that they are completely lost without reference and tend to just copy the references, because they really don’t know how to draw/paint without something to copy. The only way to remedy that problem is by drawing and painting a lot–from life, from references, analyzing anatomy/figures…etc. The more visual information you have in your brain, the better you’ll become at doing artwork without references.

#3

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