How references can improve your art.

There was always that one person in high-school who could just draw the heck out of anything.

Give them a pencil and a sheet of paper they would draw whatever crazy thing the class could imagine.  Everyone would be huddled around a desk at the start of class, before the teacher would arrive.

Watching in amazement as the kids pencil, in a flurry of graphite dust, conjured up their favourite comic character or drew a grotesque caricature of the angry math teacher, flinging some poor kid by the scruff of his pants down the hallway (true story).

I was one of those kids once.  If someone asked me to draw something I would draw it.  Maybe part of me wanted to show off or maybe part of me was challenging myself.  Either way, the challenge of drawing from imagination pushed me out of my comfort zone.  It also made me realise what I could and could not draw well.

To improve our art, I think one key element and probably the starting point to any good piece of art, is observation.  Without truly observing the subject matter we want to portray, we can miss the most important parts.  Think of the times you've been watching a movie with someone but they're doing something else at the same time and they have to keep asking you "who's that guy"?  every 10 minutes.

Its by observing our surroundings and paying close attention to everyday simple things like how a tree casts a shadow at midday compared to early morning, that we really start to understand what we need to portray in our work to make it our best work.

But we don't all have the luxury of painting outside every day.  Or moving our canvas from one spot to the next to observe a particular element for our artwork.  Luckily, now you can take a quick snap with your digital camera or phone and instantly capture an element you can utilise for your artwork.

And even better yet, Google contains an endless amount of digital images we can access, for free to use as references.  It's these references that can help push your artwork to a higher level.

But the best way to use those references is to have them fit to your illustration rather than fit your illustration to the reference.

This is something which I'm demonstrating in Part 3 of this weeks lesson in illustration techniques for beginners.  Its part of a step by step tutorial where I take you through the process I use to develop my illustrations from concept to final artwork.

But I don't want this to be just about me showing you how I do it.  I think the best way to learn is by action.  So I've produced these videos in a way so you can easily follow along and by just spending a few minutes each day, create your own piece of artwork by the end of the month.

So why not check out the video and when you're ready, join us at the DHi Community page where you can ask questions, get advice, show off your work and learn more with me and other like minded artists.

In the meantime, check out todays video.