The Artist's Guide to References

The Artist’s Guide to References

In art, we tend to think that every masterpiece begins entirely in the artist’s imagination. While a tiny handful of people have photographic memory and can recall every detail perfectly, the rest of us, including the world’s most famous masters in art, rely on references.

So, what is an artistic reference? In the broadest sense, a reference can be anything that sparks an idea in your mind, whether that be a song, a dream, or even the way a person looks. However, when we talk about ‘using references’ in artistic creations, we’re usually referring to visual references. This can include, but is not limited to, specific images or objects that we look at to help us understand the physical world, like how a shadow falls across a face, or how certain fabric folds over parts of the body.

These resources are essentially pieces of information that we have at our disposal. When we look at a reference, we aren’t just trying to look at how entrancing they are; rather, we are looking for specific answers to questions our brain can’t quite solve on its own.

Since almost anything can be a reference, breaking them down into specific groups makes the whole process feel much less overwhelming. Most of what you’ll find yourself looking for will fall into one of these following categories:

You might use a photo of a person or look into the mirror to see how joints and muscles work. This acts as a reference for the way the body works, so that the people you draw feel like they have a realistic, functional structure. Analysing a reference photo provides the guidance needed to place every limb and joint correctly for the specific pose you are creating.

This is about understanding how lights and shadows work in the real world to properly convey the impact that your light source has on your subject. Using a reference helps you see how light affects everything in a scene, ensuring every part of your drawing fits into the same realistic space. Expanding your knowledge on how lighting interacts with the things around you can prevent your art from looking flat.

When looking at the colors of the world around you, it can inspire you to come up with an arrangement of your own. To help you decide on a palette for a piece, you can borrow the tones from a sunset or even a simple piece of fruit. You aren’t drawing the subjects themselves, rather you’re sampling those specific hues and tones to create a cohesive mood in your own artwork.

This is all about looking at everything from cultural and historical outfits to the way characters are built in games and shows. It also includes looking at the graphic design of things like labels, posters or logos. Studying how these things are constructed helps you understand how to use shape language and decoration to aid in your own designs.

This includes looking at textures. Examining materials shows how light hits different surfaces, like the matte finish of stone to the glossy shine of polished metal. Recognising wear and tear of materials also helps you notice how time changes these finishes, shifting from an original state to a scuffed or grimy one. Observing these details allows you to truly capture an object’s exterior, and how to show off those exact textures in your own work.

To demonstrate how these diverse references can be synthesized into a single artwork, I created the piece below. By pulling specific elements from each of the sections we’ve discussed, such as how to use lighting from a photograph as well as its coloring, I was able to make a cohesive work that utilized the best of each source I used. 

This breakdown shows how I integrated five different references into the final piece. I used the pose from the photo of a woman in a yellow shirt as a base, then layered on the Hanfu and double-loop hairstyle from the photo of a Chinese performer for historical authenticity. For the atmosphere, I pulled a warm palette from the picture of a sunset and added hills to create depth. Finally, I refined the details by studying the organic clusters of yellow trumpet flowers and the reflections on real wine glasses.

Since these categories often overlap, you have the freedom to pick and choose exactly which components to use, just like I did here. By intentionally selecting specific details from different sources, you can build a piece that feels entirely unique. A single reference can teach you how a joint bends, how fabric folds over it, and how light hits that surface, all the while providing an inspiring colour palette. The main goal is to learn how to pull out only the specific pieces of information you need for your work wherever you see fit, or use multiple reference points in a single reference, it’s whatever you think will help you most. Once you know what to look for, the next step is knowing exactly where to find it.

Finding the right resources doesn’t necessarily require the use of online media or websites. In fact, some of the best references are usually sitting right in front of you, or are you. For cases where you’re trying to capture the real world or find yourself feeling inspired by parts of it, looking at the real world itself through your own eyes can be most helpful.

The environment around you is the pinnacle of a good reference. For example, if you’re struggling with a complex shape while drawing, you can often find a real world version of it just by looking anywhere around you. Even looking at the rounded grips of a controller, or the way the padding on headphones compresses when put on, can help you understand how specific forms work in a 3D space. The way a hoodie hangs over the back of a chair can teach you more about gravity and weight than a drawing from your imagination ever could.

This works for more than just objects. If you’re struggling with a pose or expression, use yourself as a guide: check in the mirror or prop up your phone to take a picture of yourself. If a selfie feels too stiff, record a video to capture the movement instead. I do this very frequently myself; whenever I’m stuck on the position of a hand or a specific facial expression while drawing, I just grab my phone and take a few pictures. Often, this is the fastest way to clear those hurdles, being able to see exactly how the creases of my hands look when they’re in a fist, or how they look when they’re stretched out. Doing this gives you the clarity you need for the details that are too complicated to get right from mental image alone.

The appearance of things such as lighting, color, and the texture of reliable materials are around you at all times; don’t hesitate to take advantage of these natural references. Whether it’s the way the sun is hitting a wall through windows, or how the color of a shirt changes in the shade, the real world is constantly giving you free information. Once you start noticing these details within your environment, you’ll internalize them until they become second nature to use in your art. The most efficient way to build this mental library is by taking photos of the things surrounding you.

Architecture and buildings are always available to help you understand perspective and scale, while museums, whether they focus on art, science, or history,  are essentially giant libraries of real life objects that you can use as references. Visiting these places allows you to see how light and shadow define the form and volume of objects in real life, giving you a better sense of an object’s true dimension and scale. Even if it’s just your local buildings, a museum, or just the way a streetlamp illuminates a pavement, there are always things worth taking inspiration or reference from. A short walk anywhere outside can provide you with plenty of ideas to spark your imagination and give you a solid head start on your next sketch.

The world around you is great for studying buildings and perspectives, and acting as your own reference gives you full control over poses and expressions. That said, there will be times when you need something specific to help guide your process that just isn’t within reach. This is where digital platforms come into play. These platforms allow you to search through millions of images to find the exact details you need to fill in the gaps of your imagination.

For an example, we’ll keep it relatively simple and use Google, the most well-known but influential starting point for finding any references. Google is the quickest way to find a vast range of images, though it often requires a bit of digging first to find exactly what you’re looking for. It’s perfect for finding general ideas or very specific objects that aren’t in your environment.

To get the most out of Google, I’d recommend refining your searches using the ‘Tools’ menu. Instead of just searching for an object, you can filter by ‘Color’ to find references that match what you’re looking for.

As shown in the photo above, you can also filter by usage rights by selecting ‘Creative Commons licenses’ or ‘Commercial & other licenses.’ Additionally, sites like AdorkaStock, Pexels, Cosmos, and picjumbo offer photos and videos curated by professional photographers that you might find are beneficial for your workflow.

As an example for using Google as a place to find references, here is a quick study where I used high-quality photos of apples I found on sites to draw my own. Even with a simple subject like an apple, finding a photo with clear lighting and texture allowed me to focus on translating those details straight into my own work. For this study, I used a reference from PublicDomainPictures (top) and another from Pexels (bottom). I combined aspects from three different photos (the lighting from one, the color from another, and the leaf structure from a third) to create a single, cohesive illustration.

This apple study demonstrates how Google can lead you straight to specialized websites dedicated to providing high-quality reference. However, finding these 'pure' references is getting harder with the influx of AI-generated images. To ensure my chosen references were anatomically and physically accurate. When I feel it is necessary to do so, I often add 'before:2020' to my Google queries. This filters out AI results and leads me straight to specialized sites like Pexels or Public Domain Pictures.

While Google is great for the initial hunt, Pinterest is my primary tool for organization. It’s a massive part of my workflow because I can section my boards into specific categories like hairstyles, feminine and masculine outfits, and tattoos. Instead of one giant 'Art' board, this organized system means I never have to go hunting for photos mid-drawing, I just open the right board and find exactly what I need.

I find that referencing other artists is one of the fastest ways to improve. Photos are great for the basics, but looking at how someone else handles a drawing helps you understand how they solve common obstacles while creating. You can learn so much by studying how they balance a crowded scene, or how they simplify anatomy so it doesn't feel stiff. It’s essentially a shortcut for learning how to handle things like tricky lighting or narrowing down a colour palette when you have too many options.

You can find art almost anywhere. Online, creators are constantly sharing work to their profiles and galleries, while movies, especially those that are animated, are often the result of entire teams of artists and concept designers. You might also find inspiration closer to home through a creative friend or family member, or by visiting museums to study the work of masters from centuries ago. Wherever you look, there are masterclasses in interpretation waiting to be studied.

By deconstructing the works of artists you love, you can pick up on the techniques they use. You might study how they structure perspective to create depth, or how they use colors to set a mood. It’s also helpful to look at the little intricacies, like the elements they add to build a character’s world or the expressions they use to really sell an emotion. By studying these choices, you can even incorporate parts of their process into your own, which helps you decide when to declare your own piece complete.

For example, notice how a single real-world subject (Figure 1) can be interpreted in completely different ways depending on the artist who painted it. Vincent van Gogh prioritized texture and highly exaggerated forms of the sunflower’s drooping stems and frantically placed petals, while utilizing deep, dull shades of color (Figure 2). In contrast, Claude Monet used a lot more visible, repetitive brushstrokes commonly found in impressionistic styles, blending the sunflowers into a tightly bundled bouquet, where the petals do not stick out; instead appearing as highly saturated pops of light.

This goes to show that using a reference isn’t about copying what’s in front of you, but instead using it as a starting point to create your own, unique piece. Once you see how an artist uses everything from their shading choices to how they pose their characters in a scene, you can start making those same deliberate decisions to make your own art feel more purposeful. 

When we talk about using references, it’s easy to imagine someone copying a single photo exactly. In reality, they can be used in a much more versatile way than that. Most artists break a reference down into specific categories of information, focusing on only the details they find difficult to draw from memory. Utilising the materials you have is where your own creative judgement comes into play. As mentioned earlier, you don’t need to replicate a source exactly as it appears. Instead, treat these images and points of interest as building blocks that you can adapt to match your own vision.

Translating what you see into your own artistic language allows you to keep your style front and center. You might simplify a complex texture or shape, or push the anatomy of a pose once you understand how to; in all cases, you’re using real life ‘rules’ to match your own original ideas. By deciding which part to keep and which to leave out, the final piece remains your own rather than just a copy of a photo.

You can see this process in the breakdown below. The final illustration at the bottom is a piece I created by pulling distinct details from three different sources. The flowing, extended pose comes from the photo of the dancer on the top left. The deep red fabric is pulled from the Caravaggio painting in the top middle, while the glossy, reflective look of the figure’s skin is inspired by the ornate silver jug in Willem Kalf’s Dutch still life on the top right. Mixing the gesture of the first image, the fabric of the second, and the texture of the third allowed me to create an artwork that is original to me.

On the other hand, oftentimes it's okay if your work is a copy of a photo in some ways. It's just as valid to stick closer to your visual guide if it already shows exactly what you need. If a photo provides the perfect lighting or anatomy for your piece, by all means draw exactly what you see. If the image you’re using aligns with what you’re imagining, it’s fine to use it as a direct template for your work.

You can see this direct approach in the example below. Here, I used the classical Roman statue of Eirene as a literal guide, copying the heavy folds line for line to understand how the fabric naturally drapes on the human body and how they catch light.

However, there is a big difference between drawing from a photo from the real world and copying another artist’s work. While using life for reference is basically fair game, as no one ‘owns’ the way light and shadow really work, relying too heavily on someone else’s ideas without credit, or permission, can cross the line into plagiarism. It’s always best practice to mention your sources, or at least shout out the original creator if their work was the main backbone of your piece. At the least, show respect to artists you’re inspired by and be honest about where your ideas come from.

In my own work, I rarely rely on just one or two images. I usually build up on a collection of 10 or more references for a single piece; pulling them from everywhere and anywhere I can. This might include taking my own photos of myself for help with poses, taking inspiration from pins on Pinterest, or studying the work of other artists to see how they handled similar styles. You can see an example of this expansive gathering stage in the layout below, where a broad moodboard of textures and patterns is distilled directly into one illustration.

This rough, unfinished concept shows a bird’s-eye view of a girl sitting inside a structure that merges the looks of different gazebos (with my own artistic touch). From this high angle, parts of the moodboard, like the golden teapots, antique chair, and table spreads, are packed into the scene to build out a believable and lived-in environment. Every single one of these items requires its own visual source material, and as such, I compiled a bunch of images that I searched for on Pexels together to help me map the piece out. The process of creating the composition was made easier by getting all the images I knew I’d need. Granted, I could always search for more if necessary.

Gathering this many different sources allows me to pick and choose the best parts from each one. Although it's almost impossible to come up with a completely ‘original’ idea, as we’re all a product of what we see and enjoy, I still test my imagination by seeing how I can remix a bunch of different concepts into something new. Using dozens of references doesn’t take away from my creativity, instead it gives my mind more to work with, helping me create a piece that feels fresh. When the piece I’m working on is finished, those ‘hundred bits of inspiration’ all show up within the final artwork.

This approach is how I’ve learned to push my work past the obvious choices. While I look at many different things that I find inspiring, I spend most of my time studying my favorite creators. Rather than just replicating what they’ve drawn, I look for the reasoning behind every brushstroke. I do my best to study the logic behind every aspect of their work. To show you what I mean, I’ll use my own process to analyze the work of Askziye, one of my many inspirations.

Askziye, also known as ASK, is an artist whose art is a beautiful blend of simplicity and technical mastery. While her pieces feel clean and approachable, they’re built on complex colour choices and incredibly disciplined linework. Below, I’ll show pieces of hers that I have often found myself revisiting.

To break down the parts of these artworks that I find most insightful, I try to replicate sections of her drawings through my own practice studies. You can see this process in the artwork below. For this study, I drew the character Megurine Luka in her chiffon dress designed by the illustrator Yunomi for the song “Just Be Friends”. By mimicking ASK’s distinctive linework and smooth shading on a pre-existing character design, I could easily test out what I learned on my own original drawing.

For this study, the main goal was capturing her trademark rendering style through the gentle clouds, soft hair shading, and a playful, dynamic hair pose. Inspiration for the delicate hand positioning and the clean facial profile also came directly from her work. To pull the whole look together, the subtle lineart deliberately stays close in value to the skin and clothes, rather than standing out as a harsh outline.

Doing these practice studies alongside basic observation has been vital to my growth because it allows me to integrate the lessons I’ve learned directly into my own work. Beyond that, I studied the way ASK defines her subjects with clear shapes without losing any of that rich colour information.

Like many artists I admire, I study her for how well her compositions hold up. Everything is easy to read, even from a distance. Because she has such a strong grasp on shape language and tones, her artworks feel balanced. That’s a huge part of why she’s remained a constant source of inspiration for me.

The best part about these processes is that every artist extracts different lessons from the same sources of inspiration. In the next section, I’ll break down how we can apply these ideas through a simple practice study. For a deeper dive on studying a broader range of art styles, refer to our article “How to Do an Artstyle Study” by Mogege M.

As a way to help you put what you’ve learned from this article so far into practical work: I’ll take you through an exercise that you can do to bridge the gap between looking at a reference and actually understanding how you can harness its potential for your own art.

Before trying to juggle a massive collection of 10+ images like I do, start by learning how to properly “read” just one. So, to get you started, I’ve picked out 3 images for you to work from. Instead of spending an hour scrolling through Pinterest (like many get stuck doing), I want you to focus entirely on how you can pull information from these 3 sources and merge them into one study.

See if you can create a single rough sketch or painting that blends an element from each image. Don’t worry about making it a ‘perfect’ illustration, just have fun with the process and try not to overthink your choices. The point isn’t to get it right; it’s just to see how these different pieces can live together in one artwork.

It’s completely okay if your final piece just looks like you’ve edited those 3 photos together for now. Learning how to blend different influences into one cohesive style takes time. If it feels a bit clunky, don’t sweat it. You can always try this exercise again, or go and find your own 3 references to explore this idea further.

To give you a better idea of how to move past that ‘edited’ feel, I’ve broken down exactly how I would tackle this same study. Even if you’re just reading along for now, seeing how I ‘read’ different images should help make the process more digestible. Here is how I translated those images into one new piece:

For this quick exercise, I used the front facing, hand-behind-back stance from the first photo as my base for her body. I then brought the off-the-shoulder dress and the angle of the head from the 2nd photo into the composition, adapting the round textures of the traditional bead necklace directly onto the trim of the clothing itself. Ultimately, I used the protea flower from the 3rd image to form the hair, transforming the layered, sharp petals into flowing, dynamic locks rather than directly drawing a flower on her head. On the borders, I’ve demonstrated the stages of evolution that the protea plant cycles through. The final result isn’t reminiscent of one single photo, it looks like my own work, just built from those different bits of information.

At the end of the day, referencing isn’t about finding a shortcut or ‘cheating’, it’s about giving yourself the guidance to create something better than what’s in your head. You might be using 10 images for a huge project, or just taking a quick picture of yourself to figure out a certain facial expression. Either way, you’re training your eyes to see the world like an artist.

Lean on your references as much as you need to. As you get used to pulling information from the world around you, the lessons you learn along the way will start showing up naturally in your artworks. Keep collecting references and keep on experimenting. Most importantly, have fun with it. Get creative with what you use as a reference, because sometimes the best ones come from the most out of the box places.

Don’t be afraid to explore new ways to use images, or even invent your own techniques outside of the ones discussed in this article. References are just a starting point; where you take them is entirely up to you.