Reference-orama!

I think I´ve mentioned before that reference is key, or king, and both is true. References are a great way to get the details right, like light, colour, anatomy, texture and a hundred other things. But sometimes references can be a crutch, something I´ve discovered the hard way. I realized I had been relying on reference pictures too much, which made me doubt my own skill as a painter. Am I good at this, or am I just good at copying references? Well, not copying-copying... I´d never do that. Anywho, less talking, more showing of examples!

Below are three pictures you´ll find in one of my many (MANY) ref. pic folders:

Kevin Durand

Tom Hardy -  from The Men of Warrior by Tim Palen

Bettie Page

And here are the three paintings I painted using these pictures as references:

Icarium from Steven Erikson´s Malazan Book of the Fallen

Mok, the Seguleh Third, from Steven Erikson´s Malazan Book of the Fallen

Tattersail, from Steven Erikson´s Malazan Book of the Fallen

As you can see, they don´t deviate much from their respective references. This is a prime example of going too far in your use of references, at least that´s what I think.

I didn´t like where I was headed, and I didn´t like the feeling of being only as good as my references, so  I decided to draw stuff completely from my own imagination, and do a painting with as few references as possible. I´m hoping it will be good. In fact, I´m hoping it will be better than my previous stuff.

If you want to see for yourself, stay tuned!

 - Tattersail, signing off.