Art Ref - Blog Posts
References are hard as fU-
a little hand drawing tip i picked up from tik tok. (i don’t know the name of the user)
random thing but i realized it might be helpful for some people so uh. theres this thingy where you can upload an image and it gives you a color palette based on it !
heres an example
and it also gives you the hex code values for them too its p neat !
here’s the link to the website !
Blue’s Tail Feathers Compendium: Tail Feathers for Flight
Wings Part 1 [Standard ]| Wings Part 2 [Atypical] | Feather Markings | Tail Feathers [Part 1] | Tail Feathers [Part2]
I didn’t forget the tail feathers! I was just caught between getting mad at the lack of extensive research into all tail feather types beyond swallow-tails and many anxiety attack :D
I get asked quite a lot: Are tail feathers important.
Yes! Yes they are! Very important!
There is outrageously not a lot of research on tail feathers and how it impacts flight, lift, drag, or anything else so I had to make my own paper models and use a hair dryer for a wind tunnel to test lift. :D I have so many papercuts now.
I had to split the tail feathers up and make my own chart because there is no official determination or umbrella grouping of different tail feathers. Accessory tail feathers like you see on peacocks and such will be in the second part.
Disclaimer: This is in no way intended to be an academic dissertation or proposal, do not treat it as such. It is purely for art and writing references for others, to aid description and inspiration.
HOLY SHIT
You bored, or feeling artsy but don’t have any inspiration...? *updated!*
Do you need to distract yourself? Or are you simply bored? Here are some great websites to make the time pass.
create pixel art
Awesome photo editor and art program, all free…!
Totally free transparent textures
make a cute chibi
draw some cool generative art
be a graffiti creator
create a picassohead (you don’t need to be a picasso to do so)
paint online
another awsome site to create pixel art on
and another one
create your own mandala
or color one
create an avatar
or you can try creating your own superhero
here you can interact with organisms in different environments to see how to music changes
here’s a website that translates the time into hexidecimal colours,
Here is a website where you can travel along a 3D line into the infinite unkown
here is a website where you can listen to rain with or without music
Need a model in a certain pose for drawing? here
Want to build your own planet
here is a website where you can create your own galaxies
make your own pattern (very useful if you need a new background)
create next hit comic
make a city which looks like something from 90′s games
draw a mandala like design
jig saw puzzles
more jig saw puzzles to solve
create a stunning HTML5 animation - no coding!
make a movie
create and dress up dolls
play a piano
you can also play a guitar
create sounds
another sound creator
create a logo
design your dream home
sketch rooms
explore fashion trends and create your own sets
build a website
try this app for building a website
Or maybe start learning how to code!
design your own t-shirt or a beanie or sweatpants and order them
design your own phone case
pretend to be a graphic designer with this cool online tool
Make your own Glitch art
Here’s another glitch art maker
And another!
Holy hell, here’s a third!
make an image look like it was created by a commodore 64
freaking cool text generator!
Easy to use word processor
Make up really cool patterns or run your photos through it :)
Write an essay on anything with no hassle
Wanna see how something you write would look like if it was on JacksFilms YGS((Your Grammar Sucks videos on YouTube))?
Make pictures out of text
ASCII word generator
Need an idea for some fanart-here :D
Still haven’t found something that would float your boat? Try these:
watch a documentary
learn to code
do something yourself
workout with the help of this great youtube channels
learn things
play pokemon or zelda or other awesome old school games
waste your time on miniclip
play games at additing games
or try games at agame
calm your thoughts
the quiet place
it will be okay
vent or listen to someone
pour out your soul
explore the sky
look at art from around the world
virtually visit museum of iraq
explore world with arounder
create a music playlist
list through rare books
scroll useful science website
create sand art
brain games
try out tastekid and discover new favorite band or movie or book
interactive 3D anatomy
random street view
post a secret
create a family tree
find our what’s the difference between x and y
help scientists and become volunteer researcher
create your own font
read a classic short story
In the mood to read, but not sure exactly what book to go for?
scribble on maps
listen to letters
play with acrobots
listen to podcasts
make a bucket list
Ever want to see the most truly useless websites in creation?
Prank a friend with this blue screen of death!
Zone out watching the colors drip down
Maybe none of these peeked your interest-maybe you’ve been wanting to create an o.c, but never really knew how to start-or you just enjoy making O.C’s….
This masterlist is to help you in making your own OCs….it can also apply to developing RP characters i suppose! (´ヮ`)!
How to Write Better OCs:
basic tips on how to make your oc even better
tragic backstory? learn how to write one/make yours great
writing specific characters
a wordier, great guide on how to develop your character
kick out those vague descriptions and make them AWESOME
Character Development:
how to actually make an OC
Q&A (to develop characters)
more Q&As
giving your character a backstory
how to write an attractive character
Need an Appearance idea?
Humanoid generator? check
Here’s another one
and maybe if you didn’t like those this’ll work
Need Monsterpeople?
Well, then here ya’ go
Maybe you need Cats?
Diversity
adding more racial diversity
avoiding tokenism, AKA, how to add diversity to your cast not just because you “need” it
writing sexuality and gender expression (doesnt include non binary, if you have a good ref to that, please add on!)
masterpost on writing more diversity into your story
cultures of the world
guides to drawing different ethnicities (not just a great art reference, but also really helpful in appearance descriptions!)
Mary Sue/Gary Stu
Test to see if your character is a Sue
Explains subdivisions of Sues/Stus
Powerful Characters Don’t Have to Be Sues
Villains
villain generator
need an evil sounding name for your evil character? bam
villain archetypes
what’s your villain’s motive for being a villain?
Relationships
character perceptions (What your character thinks of themselves and what others think of them)
how to write strong relationships between two characters
8 ways to write better characters and develop their relationships with others
OCxLove Interest Handbook
develop your couple with good ol’ Q&A!
how to write realistic relationships
how to write relatives for your characters (this is more OC related to a canon character, but will help in writing family members in general)
ARCHETYPES
12 common archetypes
8 archetypes for male/female characters
female archetypes (goes pretty indepth from two main categories)
a list of archetypes
NAMES
how to name your character
random name generator
most common surnames
surnames by ethnicity
APPEARANCE
tips for better design
basic appearance generator
pinterest board for character design (includes NSFW and images of skeletons/exposed muscle (?) so tread carefully!)
clothing ref masterpost
Clothing generator
Another clothing generator
More clothing generator
Aaaand even more
Steam punk clothing
Char Style preference
Dress Generator
DETAILS
give your character better powers
a list of professions
proactive vs reactive characters
positive and negative traits
interest generator
skills generator
motivation generator
123 ideas for character flaws
list of phobias
Oh shit someone died
Backgrounds and stuff? yep
Quirks
Personality. you need that shit
Need something fandom related?
City generator hell yeah
location? got ya
World-building?
make your own god damn laws
Landscape.
Need Item names?
Fantasy/sci-fi/etc. medicine names
Stuff to make things more interesting.Weapons, clothes, treasures… whatever your characters need.
Item & Artifact Generators
Other stuffs!
Genre, Plot, & Story Prompt Generators
How did your characters meet?
Fanfic plots. you bet your ass.
You know what’s some crazy $hit?
This fabulous bitch
She makes a shit ton of poses (like 16,000 or some crazy nonsense). I used this lovely lady to draw so much as a teen. Whether it was some nerdy pose for my Mary Sue as fuck OCs
or for full on fight sequences
or for tragic deaths of my OCs in the arms of a totally OOC main protagonist.
this bitch hooked me up.
And with the wildest, craziest stuff that you could see in your head but had no way or resources to reasonably draw like
or this
or this
DUDE! INASNE SHIT!! So I was using her for a pose reference and decided, you know what, I owe this bitch some cash. Lemme dole it out for her. BUT then, I looked and saw she only has 286 fucking patrons!! This chick gives out free shit and spends countless hours arranging these shoots and setting this stuff up.
I’ll fork up the cash, SenshiStock. You’re worth it.
Check out this amazing woman’s stuff, and get knowledged: https://www.deviantart.com/senshistock
Gonna start a post with blank memes. Please add any you have on hand and reblog to spread them.
Is there a website to look up models or people to draw, with gender, ethnicity, and age filters. (if possible)?
For example if a wanted to make a cartoon character realistic and use a real person for reference or to edit the photo to look like them?
I’ve been just googling white 20s male, black female 40s etc. (can’t find any good references for kids either) and been sifting through the results.
TF2 Merc references :)))
The rest of the mercs + more info under the cut
I've got reference sheets for merasmus and their stock weapons being made as well. Along with a height comparison between the mercs.
They'll be posted in a part 2!
This one was a popular demand. Many people people asked me about anatomy tips.
I know how hard this topic is and how confusing at the beginning. It’s just so much to learn! Exactly! I remember how lost I was in the beginning and trying out things that actually didn’t help me understand anatomy better.
Actually what I want to convey here is that you can learn to draw human without learning all the muscles and bones. My personal opinion, based on experience is actually that you can do that as something extra. Learning muscles and bones won’t help you draw. True story.
If you grasps few essential concepts first you will be better off, plus you will be actually drawing characters. You will be more confident in your lines and gain knowledge that will be enough to create artwork you want.
Look at body as any other object you want to draw. Simplifying and remembering the simplest ideas is way to go.
Remember: these few ideas I am presenting are just a tip of an iceberg. As you will progress you will expand your knowledge beyond few essential points.
This is my personal approach so I can’t say it will work for you. I know that it works for me
Hope you like it!
Hey friends!
Sorry for the late TUTOR TUESDAY, but here it is! Today is on clothing folds and was a recommendation from @kitemist, thanks! If you have any recommendations you’d like to see send ‘em in here or my personal! Hopefully I can expand on clothes more soon! Keep practicing, have fun, and I’ll see you next week!
Cleaning up my files and forgot that I had all these wing studies from circa. 2015 so thought, y’know what, I don’t need to hold onto these, so have this as a little gift from me to whomst ever needs some quick wings for their OC’s, AU’s, and Art.