Simple Little Ref Sheet Guide With Some Tips Relevant For Any Amount Of Detail! With Art Fight Season

text reading: canonkiller's simplified ref sheet tips

a simple drawing of a cat with the text "KITTY" written in larger font and "house cat, adult" written in smaller font next to it. the caption reads: 1. clear distinctions between name and other information (font size, color, etc)

the same cat, now colored white and orange on a contrasting blue background. the caption reads: 2. background that contrasts the character's colors, for easy readability

the same cat, now with two added details: a cat's paw in a speech bubble shape pointing to the front legs, and a cat's eye in a speech bubble shape pointing towards the face. the caption reads: 3. details (written or visual) placed close to their relevant locations - harder to miss!

the same cat, now with a color palette next to it shaped like a cat's paw. the caption reads: 4. clear unblended color palette using simple, large shapes (easier to color pick)

simple little ref sheet guide with some tips relevant for any amount of detail! With Art Fight season around the corner they're some good things to keep in mind :)

other miscellaneous tips

if your character has detailed markings that need to be accurate (like tattoos), place the reference for it on a rectangular transparent section so it can be selected easily for copy/paste!

if your reference is for art purposes, try to keep it relevant to art! lore can help, but a lot of backstory text can make it difficult to tell what's important when drawing them

important things to include as written details are heights, weights / body types, pointing out any intentionally unusual proportions, and other things that may be interpreted as an art style (or that your reference may not accurately convey)!

if you can't draw something the way you want others to draw it, you can just insert other photos / screencaps for others to reference!

always have a SFW version. not one with censor blocks over the bits, I mean one that doesn't have the bits out at all. put some underwear on that beast. it's common courtesy.

ADD ALT TEXT. write a description of your character! bullet point lists of succinct traits are clearest for artists to work with when commissioned. having both a written and visual reference makes it possible to verify things

More Posts from Cosmicsmoothie and Others

cosmicsmoothie

2 years ago

me when I'm not doing art: hell yea do bad art!!!

me when I'm doing bad art: oh no

17K notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

2 years ago

Tags

strioboros made this one up myself 6 legs 2 wings various other anatomical oddities not otherkin but yall are chillin i tend to like nonstandard numbers of limbs on my dragons

503 notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

9 months ago

has anyone looked into whether choices made in anger can be undone or not yet?

31K notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

2 years ago

remember kids the best way to make an elemental magic system is to first figure out how you want to fracture the human soul into arbitrary pieces

Tags

magic systems smoothie's ramblings

5 notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

1 year ago

you might THINK that pissing off a spring dragon is easiest to deal with because their abilities literally heal anything they touch but they are still big and you know. dragon strong.

EMBER DRAGONS on the other hand. oh you can kick those guys like the football. what are they gonna do? eat rocks about it?

Tags

shitpost dragonposting smoothie's ramblings dragons of keppel keppel lore spring dragon ember dragon

0 notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

2 years ago

incidentally, are either of those strioboros characters of yours single? 👀👀👀

Technically, both of them are, however one is pretty much just me plus lore and the other one is 12. Little bit awkward.

Space is a big place, though, so there's plenty more out there. somewhere.

Tags

smoothie's ramblings strioboros stuff please if you want one feel free to make your own i'll make a whole guide on their anatomy and everything i despise the concept of closed species so i dont gatekeep any of mine

0 notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

2 years ago

Another Short Tutorial From A Year Or So Ago, Dino/dragon Paws! It's More Of A Niche Category But I Still

Another short tutorial from a year or so ago, dino/dragon paws! It's more of a niche category but I still have some more general art tips to post.

1K notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

2 years ago

1K notes View Post

cosmicsmoothie

2 years ago

tumblr's algorithm decided to freak out on me yesterday so i had to go on a spree of "this particular post is not for me" and blocking so now it doesnt know what to show me

i have scarred The Algorithm with the tools it gave me and it best be hesitant to go rogue again

Tags

smoothie's ramblings the woes of a for you page user

1 note View Post

cosmicsmoothie

1 year ago

hm. yet again my pinned post activates the curse that makes me have to go back on my words almost instantly. shit.

might have to make my blog adults only soon

Tags

smoothie's ramblings

0 notes View Post