Giant list of helpful references and resources for artists and OCs!
A giant list of references that I use often, or have found useful, and would like to share with others. If any of the links are broken or unsafe, please let me know so I can remove them.
VecteezyΒ - A site to download vector art and stock photos.
Pixabay,Β Unsplash,Β Pexels, andΒ Public Domain PicturesΒ - Lots of public domain and royalty free stock photos.
Smithsonian Open AccessΒ -Β βWhere you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonianβs imagesβright now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to more than 4.4 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections.β
Nameberry,Β Magic Baby Names,Think Baby Names,Β Meaning of Names,Β 20,000 NamesΒ - All great for finding character names.
Fantasy Name GeneratorsΒ -Β Great for naming characters, locations, streets, buildings, towns and so on.
My Dogβs NameΒ - Actually has some decent sounding dog names that arenβt justΒ βFluffyβ or βSpikeβ.
Dance NamesΒ - A random site I found with an abundance of nice names.
Words to UseΒ - A handy theasaurus-like site.
More WordsΒ andΒ Word FinderΒ - Nice when you need to find words, for example ones thatΒ βstart with ROUβ or βend in INEβ.
OneLookΒ - Find words related to what you type, that arenβt limited to a theasaurus.
Word MixerΒ -Β Enter in 2-5 words and the site randomly mixes them together. Great for names and creating a species.
Latin DictionaryΒ - A list of words in the latin language and their meanings.
Random Word GeneratorΒ - Great for coming up with prompts to draw. Good for monthly art challenges.
RomajiDesuΒ - For japanese words and meanings.
Tip of My TongueΒ - Find words that you canβt seem to remember.
βPoses and Anatomyβ
Sensitivity warning for some of these sites showing full human anatomy.
PoseManiacsΒ - A site with premade poses that you can rotate. Hand viewer is coming back soon!
Magic PoserΒ - The web version of the Magic Poser App. Create your own poses and models at any angle.
DesignDollΒ - A posing program that is free, unless you want to save a pose or model. Can add multiple models to a scene, import Blender models, and useΒ Doll AtelierΒ to easily upload premade models. Also comes with a hand library, with fully poseable fingers, and a ton of other features.
Japanese Macho StockΒ - A free stock site of macho Japanese men doing silly or everyday actions. Nice for muscle studies.
Anatomy 360Β - A program to view 3D scanned real models for references. You have to buy the program, but they do provide some free references on their site.
Poses for DrawingΒ - A pinterest board with a handful of pins of poses and references.Β
AdorkastockΒ - Tons and tons of free pose references with varying body types that have anime and videogames in mind rather than just random poses. Posts often on Deviantart and Twitter.
Jookpubstock- Similar to Adorkastock, posts free references on Twitter frequently. Lots more available through their Patreon, including hand packs and item packs.
CharacterDesignsΒ - A site with convention and event photos you are free to use.
Pose ToolΒ - A site with an expansive search function to find the pose youβre looking for. You can browse the thumbnails but the packs have to be purchased.
QuickposesΒ - A tool to find poses or use as warmups. Comes with a section to sort which poses you want to see.
Body BuilderΒ - A great way to visualize a humanoid characterβs body shape based on variables such as height, weight, and how much exercise they get. I doubt itβs fully accurate, but itβs still useful.
ζΌ«η»η΄ ζε·₯ζΏ βs PixivΒ - So so so so many helpful images on nearly any kind of anatomy possible. Itβs all in japanese, but the images are clear enough to understand without text.Β Also has done lots and lots of hand references.
β-And now, a pose tip!β
Having trouble looking for a pose, or model, or you just donβt draw people? Try looking for YouTube videos! Dog agility events are great for dog anatomy, music videos are useful for more unique poses. Street/Town walking videos are great for environment references. Use your resources! Most 3D printing sites have 3D model viewers on the site, so you can view any modeled object in nearly any angle without downloading or buying anything.Β ThingiverseΒ andΒ SketchfabΒ are nice places to start.
Character Personality QuizΒ - Uses sliders to determine a characterβs personality, and compares them with already existing characters in media.
123 Ideas for Character FlawsΒ - A list of well, 123 character flaws.
Flaws and Weaknesses GeneratorΒ - As the title says! Also has other helpful links for character designs.
16 PersonalitiesΒ - The popular personality test to determine what personality people fall under. But also useful to answer in character too.
Thought-Provoking QuestionsΒ - A list of questions you can use to flesh out a character (or yourself).
ColorSnapΒ - Make your own color palette by uploading any image.
PalettonΒ - Select color schemes for websites or images. Drag the dots to create complimentary and tri-color schemes.
CoolorsΒ - Press your spacebar to create new color schemes. Lock or unlock colors you like, and rearrange them to your liking.
MyNoiseΒ - Set ambient tones for drawing or writing. Make it feel like itβs raining outside, or youβre sitting in a cafΓ©, or outside on a summer night but minus the cicadas.
Ambient MixerΒ - Has plenty of premade ambience, but you can still craft and edit your own.
Waifu2xΒ - A site that enlarges an image without losing the quality (most of the time). I mostly use it for Switch screenshots but Iβm sure it can have other artistic uses.
Save as PNGΒ - A useful Chrome extension that adds aΒ βSave as PNGβ section to your right click. Nice for when images keep saving as .webp files. (youβll have to search for this extension yourself, it doesnβt like me linking to it.)
Timer TabΒ - Turn your browserβs tab into a countdown clock. Useful for keeping focused.
Timer for ProductivityΒ - A small downloadable program to help keep you focused. Uses a timer in green when youβre working in an art program (or other authorized program), but stops and turns red if you click off and get distracted.
PostyBirbΒ - A downloadable program that lets you upload an image to multiple websites at once. Includes many art sites such as Deviantart, Tumblr, Furaffinity, and many more. Will adjust your tags, titles, descriptions, and ratings to fit every website, and even allows minor changes for each individual site. I questioned itβs authenticity at first since it requires your login information, but after asking some tech-savvy friends, itβs been deemed safe. However, please use your own judgment and research unknown programs before downloading them!
Akihito Yoshitomi - A manga artist that shows their entire process, from sketching thumbnails to inking and finalizing tones. Often posts sketchbook drawings.
Jenna Drawing - A lovely artist that shows their progression over the years. Beautiful style.
Kaiteki ART - A wonderful watercolor artist who works with all kinds of interesting water based ink.
γγ¦γ γΎ/ Otedama Art - Uses all kinds of mediums with beautiful results on every one.Β
The Art of Aaron Blaise - An animator that has worked for Disney in the past, who makes animation tutorials and often live streams his animation process. Has lots of amazing tips to give.
Proko - Has TONS of art tutorials, and brings on many different kinds of artists that give their own tips and classes. Can be anything from figure drawing, to environmental rendering. Has tutorials on the barebones basics of art and how to get started too. If you can draw a triangle, square, and a circle, then youβre on the road to success.
A standalone video that shows how to draw from a reference, and how to see where your flaws are.
A huge tutorial on Low Poly Modeling in Blender. Very long video but great for beginners.
50 Quick Tips and How to draw FAST - both have lots of tips for using Clip Studio Paint.Β
BlenderΒ andΒ ZBrushCoreMiniΒ areΒ free 3D modeling programs.Β
Krita is a free paint and animation program.
Clip Studio Paint often has sales at half their regular price (I got mine for $25USD). Also has a free trial option. Worth every penny in my opinion.
Canβt figure out how to draw a background, or need a quick background sketch? Open up a photo in Clip Studio Paint if you have it, go to Filter > Effect > Artistic, and play with the sliders to your hearts content. Ta da, quick background.
Take photos of yourself in a pose, or use a mirror if you have to. Sometimes you donβt realize a pose is impossible or unnatural until you try it yourself.
When you go out, take photos of scenery! You have free references then. Just donβt take or use photos of other people unless you ask for their permission first.
I have many more useful images onΒ MyΒ PinterestΒ that I try to keep updated, includingΒ color schemes,Β writing tips,Β clothing,Β tutorials, and a little bit ofΒ humor.Β
And remember, it is okay to use references.
ellievsbear
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
kianamaiart
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
gamechangershow
