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WorkOfArts Art Advice 3

Hey guys! I love giving art advice or critique. I can only give advice and critique to the best of my knowledge and ability, though. I've never taken an art class or had any type of formal training, so things I say might be different from what you may have been taught.

If you want critique, feel free to post below or send me a PM!

[header]Art Advice #3[/header]
[b]USE REFERENCES.[/b]
There are certain people out there who will always tell you that references are bad. "Don't use references," they say. "That's cheating," they say. The thing about references are that they're just references. Unless you want to have your own personal abstract style, you need references.

[b]You cannot learn accurately without understanding the accurate form.[/b] Don't EVER think you can "remember" what the correct form looks like. Your memory is always going to be slightly hazy or biased. You won't remember the details. Art is not a game of memory. Don't think "Oh psh, I can totally memorize that, and because I do, I am better than others." No screw that, that tests your memory skills NOT your artistic ability.

This isn't an opinion. You actually and absolutely cannot understand proportion or proper lighting/shadowing (values) without looking at a reference.

And that doesn't mean you can only look at pictures or real humans. It's almost impossible to learn distorted perspective without observing someone who already knows it. There are very few images available and looking at real humans won't help at all.

Use your references. Use them until you're so damn good that you don't have to use them.

If you are not using references, and your proportions/values/coloring is anything less than nearly perfect, then you are definitely not someone who is capable of drawing without reference.

[header]Summary version[/header]
Use references. It's not taboo. People who say that references are bad are one of those "I did it this way, and because I did it this way, anyone who doesn't do it this way sucks."