Reference is the mantra

Norway16 03 2008

Whenever you want to draw something you haven't drawn before ore not for a long time, you like to have reference at hand in one form ore another.

When drawing a person ore many persons I find that I like to have both, many pictures and the real live model accessible at any time.
The same goes for landscapes, interiors and exteriors. But this is of course the optimal scenario, and it rarely occurs. So one is obliged to make do with what is accessible at any given time.

There are a lot of things that can make life easier for a poor illustrator, and over the years the situation has really improved with the web making it's entry on to the scene and all.
But despite the web, books will always come in very handy. And I can not stress it enough how valuable they are, those huge cafe table books with real big pictures in them, fashion magazines (I usually ask my dentist and doctor if I can have the old magazines they toss from the waiting room.
It's all kind of womans magazines, science magazines and some weird stuff. It's great), old news yearbooks with pix in them, old catalogs, old comics, toy catalogs, tool catalogs and so on in that direction is also fantastic reference tools.

You should collect stuff like this as much as you can store. My feeling on this matter is that you can never get enough.
But don't burn all your cash on this, I have another great source for you namely videos.
Movies are great sources for reference. You can freeze your picture on anything your heart desires and make a screen grab (if watching on a computer of course).
It is especially great for coming up with cool angles and perspectives. I struggle with a very difficult matter in a comic at the moment and my video collection is a invaluable help in this case.
So always be on the lookout for cheap videos (even if it is a bummer at the box office and boring as he*&%¤.. the references can still be great).

But the one I use the most these days are the internet.
There seams to be absolutely nothing you can't find a picture ore a video capture of on the web.
So for you people I will reveal a few of my favorites ones.

LINKS:
At the Courtesy of a good web friend of mine that I met in the artist network redbubble.com Namely thickblackoutline I can present a great site for reference to you.
thickblackoutline is something of a specialist in everything Japanese art, and here art mirrors that.
One of her favorite places for reference to all that is Japanese art is this site here:Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints The next tip I have for you is from one of the most admirable initiatives on the entire web.....in the entire world come to think of it.
I am of course talking about the Project Guttenberg. This place is overflowing with great reference material, and it is all for free (you also find a lot of other handy stuff in here, but that is for another post all together).
Here is a couple of the best ones:
The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration.
Architecture.

Children's Picture Books.

Art.

The list goes on. All you have to do is dig.You will not run in to the picture at once you hit these links, but just dig away and you soon hit gold....I guarantee it.

Architecture is a something most illustrators run in to sooner ore later, most likely sooner.
This next link I have for you is a great reference if you look for city landscapes from the turn of last two centuries (1800 - 1900). I use this site a lot in a new comic/video production I am involved in at the moment. The story is in big parts taking place in Europe around 1800. The link is:

carfree.com.

Like I said I am working on a project taking place in the early 1800 in France. So I don't get around Napoleon and his Grand Armè, Thus I have three very good links about thees times.
It is about the army and the weaponry and uniforms...:

Napoleon Online

Die Uniformierung der französischen Armee

Napoleonic Guide images

And for a good round up I have one more really top one, but it is also the most obvious one.
Maybe that is the reason so many don't think of it when they need reference for a project.
The one I am talking about is of course Flickr.com There isn't the thing you can't find a whole heap of great images of on the flickr, so bookmark that one on top of your list. It is the best one.

OK we are closing in on the end of this post, but before I leave you for now, I have two more links, but these are not so much for reference, but rather as inspiration. The first one is a real strange flower with the name of Luigi Serafini and his book "the CODEX SERAPHINIANUS"
I won't spoil your experience by yapping about it, you just check it out my friends, and remember to keep an open mind on this one....wide open.


The very last link for this time is is one of my favorite blogs. It is called "Today's Inspiration" .
I have been following this blog for a year now and I just love it.
The guy running it has a very great nose for finding old classic illustrations from old magazines and analyzing them. Check him out you won't regret.

That is my contribution for now, but grab my RSS feed and keep an eye on this blog, cos there will be more...lots of more. until then my friends... POS