Select a Photo For this demo, Buddy asked me In this demo, you’ll see how I draw, paint, ink and then add a little texture with colored pencils. I paint with watercolor because I like its subdued tones. 6ĭemonstration Watercolor Painting From Photo Reference BY MARK SMYLIE A lot of my artwork is in the genre of fantasy. The low angle of the shot makes him seem even taller and more imposing.įrom an emotional standpoint, a reference photo with two light sources adds drama, depth and feeling to the figure. This photograph shows a tall, physically powerful man throwing a punch. It may not match perfectly, but as an artist you can borrow gestures and expressions from other photographs or something that you envision in your head. Choose a photograph that closely approximates the picture you want to draw. As an artist, you can move your mental “camera” in any possible angle to create a new, fresh and exciting illustration. There are only so many ways that the body can move and twist, but there are infinite ways to draw it.
But first, you need to know how to look beyond the flat image of the photo to see form and motion.įind Your Photo Look for a photo that gives you the A good photograph can help you add weight, depth and realism to your illustrations. An experienced artist can trick the viewer into seeing 3-D people, places or things by leveraging art techniques such as foreshortening, shading and perspective. Photographs and comic book pages are twodimensional representations of three-dimensional objects. How to Use Photo Reference BY SEAN CHEN You’d think that looking at photo reference would be a simple and straightforward process. Running, flying, kicking, wielding weapons, it’s all here, along with a great selection of casual activities (talking on the phone, getting dressed, drinking) for carrying your storyline forward. In this book, you get WHAM! (Karate chop to the head!) WHOOSH! (Leaping out of danger!) ARGH! (I’ve been shot!).
This isn’t your average visual aid full of boring, lifeless models in the same staid poses.
16 step-by-step demonstrations show how professional comic artists from DC, Marvel and other top publishers use photo references to create cutting-edge artĬreated specifically for comic book and fantasy artists, the Colossal Collection of Action Poses features page after page of energetic, highquality, artfully composed reference photos.Male and female models represent a range of ages and ethnicities.