Let's talk about... REFERENCE!
Since I began my art journey, how and when to use reference is something that has baffled me and caused me a lot of stress. Has it baffled you too
My particular struggle in this area has been wrestling with ‘staying true’ to the reference and stylising whatever I’m drawing. It always felt like if I looked at reference I would just want to replicate it exactly as it is so if I wanted to stylise something it had to come directly from my imagination and I’ve been trying to find a balance between the two.
In recent years (when drawing characters especially) I’ve slowly been able not to be enslaved to reference and take some creative liberty but then the characters turn out less caricatured than I want them. I’ve also experimented with using reference just for hair and clothes as then I could have my nice cartoony head, torso and limb shapes. It’s worked to some degree but it’s probably created more work for me because I’m then I’m using my imagination for the pose and I have to go over it several times because it doesn’t look right.
However, I am hopeful that those days are over. I came across a YouTube video on caricature by Jackie Droukjo (a Character Designer currently working at Disney TVA) and something she said in the video flicked the light switch in my brain. She simply said ‘caricaturing is all about making decisions and sticking to it’ - it’s such a simple anecdote but you have no idea how much freedom that gave me. I was saying to myself ‘Duh! Just pick one thing to start with and stick to it and then go from there.’ I’ve been told a few times that you’re not necessarily trying to capture likeness but to tell a story, to share your own opinion, your take, but it’s finally clicked so thank you Jackie Droukjo! I will draw some studies from reference in the near future to prove it. Also, the things my mentor has been teaching me recently are beginning to click so I’m excited about my future artwork!
The video I was talking about is below. Why don’t you watch it for yourself? You might get something else out of it that becomes your aha moment.
Until next time!
God bless,
Selom