A common problem among artists is where to find artist reference photos. The ideal situation is to take your own photos. However not all of us are competent photographers and even those of us who are it is not always convenient or realistic to find and pay a model and schedule the time to take these photos. Or go to the places needed to get the photos.
With the internet it is becoming increasingly easy to find great reference photos but this can be a controversial issue also because of copyright. Over the years I have found many different ways to get reference images for my artwork. In this blog post I will provide you with links to some of my favorite sites to get images as well as tell you a little about each. Royalty free Image Sites.
There are many image sites out there known as Royalty Free Image Sites. Royalty free meaning you will be able to use these photos without paying royalties to anyone. This however does not necessarily mean the photos are free to take. You will still need to buy them for a small one time fee, sometimes as little as 20 cents. This is not much to ask for the perfect picture. However, If you are wanting to browse pictures which are completely free I recommend Morgue File. Morgue File is a site with a large library of high resolution photos which are completely free. (however you should still reed the terms of use for each photo to make sure you are following them.) Sometimes the quality leaves some to be desired but it is definitely worth a look. I always look here before anywhere else. It also Links to some of the more popular royalty free paid sites directly on the Morgue File Site. Figure Images & Life Drawing Videos
Quality figure pictures are some of the hardest ones to get especially if you need a nude model. Lets face it, unless you are married to the person most of us aren’t going to ask our friends, family, or neighbors to model nude for us. There are a few sites I have found that provide an excellent database of figure models. New masters Academy
New masters Academy is an online art school with fantastic professional artist instructors. They have a strong focus on classical art instruction which I love. This is a paid site with membership fees starting at around $20 a month. However they also have a number of free resources as well. With a membership you have access to their full image library of nude and non-nude models as well as animals. They also have many instructional videos in drawing, painting, and sculpture, as well as 3D models so you can view the model from any angle and even change the lighting according to your needs. I cannot find this information on their site now and I am still waiting a reply from them but I once read that these images are free to use in your artwork with no copyright issues as long as you are not using the actual images such as a photo collage. However you should verify this information yourself.
To get a taste of New Masters Academy you can subscribe to their youtube channel for free. Every week they come out with new timed figure drawing videos to practice your drawing skills. They provide both a Nude and Non-Nude series to fit your needs. Because these are photos you also get more active poses than you would in a real life figure drawing session. I use these videos all the time for warm ups. I also use the Non-Nude videos in my High School art classes I teach them figure drawing.
Here is one of their videos:
Croquis Cafe
I also very much enjoy Croquis Cafe. They too provide weekly figure drawing videos. These videos are recorded in real time which makes it feel more like a real figure drawing session. They also provide short drawing tips at the beginning of the videos. Here is an example of one of their videos:
One other thing I love about Croquis Cafe are thier 360 videos. They take a model and provide a 360 view. This is great for sculptors or for 2D artist who want a slightly different angle. Sketch Daily
I also often use the site http://reference.sketchdaily.net/
I like this site because you can customize your drawing session by choosing the length of time it shows each image and if you want male or female, nude or non-nude, action or stationary. They also have many of their figures in costumes so it can be fun if you are in the mood to draw ninjas, pirates, or someone holding a big gun. This website appears to be in the beginning stages but has the potential to be fantastic.
The sites listed above are great for practice and giving you ideas of interesting poses. Sometimes during my figure drawing practice I will find a pose that I like and will then recreate that pose with my own live model to get various angles. Posespace
Another great site is posespace.com. If you are serious about getting great photos you can use in your art and then sell your art you will want to take a look at this site. You will need to purchase each pose but they will provide you with a full 360 view of the figure in high resolution. You will find nude and non-nude poses on this site at high resolution. you can purchase each image for $5.99-$3.50 depending on how many you buy.
By no means is this an extensive list of all of the websites you can find photo references for your art but they are some of my favorites that I have found. Do you know of other websites we should all know about? Please share your comments below. I am always looking for new great places to get quality photo references.
I am a little reluctant to write this post today. It has been two weeks since my last post. You see… although I made the goal to write a weekly blog this entire year, I missed a week. It was spring break, and I had an entire week off from my day job as a High School art teacher. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to skip just one week, besides I was spending time with my family on vacation. What I didn’t realize is that over the past few months I had established a routine which made it much easier to write blog posts. Now I have broken that routine and I have found that it is much harder to do it than it was before. And to think what would have happened if I had missed more than just one post!
This happens to be the only picture of me taken during my entire spring break vacation. I guess it is hard to get pictures of yourself when you are the one behind the camera. We were at a family members house roasting marshmallows.
Routines have pros and cons in art just as much as in any other aspect of life. Today I want to make an argument how routine can help your artwork, or any other aspect of your life for that matter. Maybe in a future post I will talk about how breaking from routine can be beneficial but that is for another post and another time.
How can routine help your artwork? Just like my blog writing having an established routine helps you form habits that make you more productive. If you set aside a specific time each day or week to work on your art you will find that the routine will develop into a habit. Once creating artwork becomes habitual then you will no longer waste time with getting in the right frame of mind. Your body and mind will adjust to your routine and will get prepared for the schedule you have set. And because it is a habit you will naturally be thinking of Ideas during the times you are not creating, so when you sit down to do art you aren’t stumped on what to do.
Keeping a routine helps minimize distractions. This world is full of more distractions then there have ever been. If you keep to a firm routine and you let others know about it they will be less likely to be distracting you. Your family will respect your routine and it will be easier to say no when someone tries to pull you away from what you should be doing. Not to mention the distractions that go on within your own head, If you have a schedule set out you will be less likely to waist your time checking your phone or worrying about other things that can wait. If you don’t set aside a specific time to create then creating artwork will feel like a distraction from something else you should be doing. I used to feel this way a lot. I knew I needed to make artwork a priority, my wife knew also and supported me. But if I didn’t set aside specific time to make art I would feel like I was being selfish and I should be helping around the house and with the kids. The truth is, during the summer time, me being at home trying to help around the house was a distraction to everyone else, and everyone would get more done if I would just stick to a routine.
Routines help you be more productive. One routine I fall in and out of is apply to public art calls. Applying to calls is a lot of work and can be very time consuming. When I make a routine of applying to calls I find that I am able to get through each application much quicker. Much of the material needed for each application can be reused on future applications. But if I haven’t applied for a call in a while I tend to loose or forget where the information is. I am now in the process to establish that routine again. I have applied to a couple public art calls recently. One of which I procrastinated for a long time. I finally got it together the day before it was due. Because I had fallen out of my routine and procrastinated I ended up having to pay shipping for next day delivery. Another call I was working on which needed to be submitted online never got submitted. I was working on it the day it was due and what happened. My computer crashed and I lost everything I had written. At that point I didn’t have the time or drive to finish the application. No routine resulted in lost opportunities. There have also been many instances where because I had a routine and I was able to take advantage of opportunities which helped me in my art career.
Now I’m in no way perfect at keeping to my routines but I sure am trying and I know established routines help me a lot.
I hope you are able to glean some inspiration from my experiences on routines that you can apply to your own art creation and life.
What do you think? What routines have you established that help you get things done?
Happy New Year!
2014 was a great year. For me it was full of many leaps and bounds as well as some disappointments along the way. Over the years I have come to accept the fact that no matter how great and noble my resolutions are at the beginning of the year, by the end of the year they just didn’t happen and often times weren’t realistic. This post is not about my theories on how to make and keep new years resolutions. But, I would like to tell you my resolution and maybe you can help me keep it. I also want to tell you some of the highlights of 2014. My Resolution:
Simply put, I am going to regularly post to my blog. That’s it! Once a week (Thursday) I am going to write a blog post about the steps I made as an artist that week. This will be a way for my collectors to get a better understanding of me and my creative process. It will also be a place for other artists to learn from and find inspiration. It will also help keep me on track and doing the things I should. In short this blog will be about my journey as a professional artist.
So what can you do to help me keep it? If you haven’t already done so, you can subscribe to my newsletter. (sign up form in the side bar to the left, and the footer on this page) In this news letter I will be sending email notifications whenever there is a new blog post. Please read my posts and make comments. That way I know people are reading them, and it will be much easier for me to keep a blog if I know people are reading it. You will also get the added benefit of being among the first to know about pre-sales and other deals on my artwork.
Rather than setting a bunch of lofty goals that are unlikely to be accomplished. This year I am setting a small goal that I know I can accomplish. My hope is that this goal will snowball into some other lofty accomplishments. Coming Up This Year:
I already have some exiting things planned for 2015, that you can look forward to. I am scheduled for an artist residency at the Idaho Art Lab the first week of March. This will be an exciting week of lots of artwork being created and I will be posting regular updates on Facebook and Instagram and of course a good blogpost about that.
I am also scheduled for a solo exhibition at the Carr Gallery in Idaho Falls around November 2015-Jannuary 2016. 2014 Highlights:
Tons of things happened this year here are some of the more exciting moments including pictures.
Artist in residence at Idaho Art Lab. This is a sculpture I did for my public demonstration on Portrait Sculpture and Anatomy.
Grafitti Mural at Barron Photography
Successful Kickstarter Campaign to Bonze My Sculpture Shelter
I made my first sculpture video while I was doing my artist residency. You can see me do an entire sculpture (took about 8 hours) in less than 8 minutes. Click on the link below to be directed to youtube. http://youtu.be/tGi6pNdikrs
I received the Judges Award and best in sculpture professional division at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.
Finished and donated 19 Splatter Paintings to the Idaho Falls Arts Council
Painted 60 foot mural at the Dance Studio
I am looking forward to another great year and I hope you will join me in this journey and follow my blog.
Thanks for Reading.
It’s the last day of school. Here is a painting by a student of mine. It will be going in the hallway at Shelley High School. I’m pretty proud of this student she did an excellent job. The painting is 4 feet tall.
I’ve been working on a figure sculpture with my high school students. Our model is an exchange student from Africa. Sculpting from life is so much fun. I love being an artist.
Happy New Year!
