So how does one make a realistic illustration without a live reference?
I know about reference collages but I think that isn't enough.
>>2427958
pictures dude learn to google
Some people are able to do that because they can pull from years of life drawing and related experience like Vilppu. Many modern commercial artists just trace or copy and paste photographs though; so that's how, generally.
>>2427972
So my issue is that I don't have enough photoreferences?
>>2427972
What about fantasy artists who draw from imagination?
>>2427980
No, your issue is you don't have enough experience. If you want to draw people realistically, you need to understand anatomy. The same goes for fantasy, even mythical creatures have some basis in reality, same goes for architecture, vehicles, etc.
Also keep in mind that working from imagination doesn't mean working without a reference. You don't need to copy your references, but rather draw inspiration from them or use them to figure out something you don't understand how to construct / do.
>>2427983
Related experience, drawing animals from photographs and at the zoo, drawing architecture from photographs or in person, understanding perspective, construction, drapery and so on.
Keep in mind, a professional artist generally draws 40 hours a week bare minimum while employed and many of them likely drew nearly that much before that that point. They have a lot of pre-existing information to pull from and it increases with each drawing they make.
>>2427987
This. A reference is above all just supposed to provide a point of reference. A good artist can take some of the information from a picture of something like say a giraffe in profile to draw a giraffe from any angle. That's what using a reference is. Like for example this artist from the tower girls thread used the thumbnail drawing as a reference but obviously did not trace or otherwise copy the thumbnail itself.
>>2427987
I understand anatomy and other tool for drawing, I'm just tired of looking for a style and decided to go the realistic route, yes maybe I'm not used to work with enough references or the correct references.
>>2428002
The reference above is just for the character, the artist must had referenced the mantis body and the dress before hand.
>>2427983
They don't draw from imagination entirely, get this no reference thing out of your head
>>2428008
>The reference above is just for the character, the artist must had referenced the mantis body and the dress before hand.
>must
I highly doubt that was necessary but assuming the artist did use any kind of corporeal reference (like a picture of a preying mantis) it does not conflict with my earlier statement at all.
>A good artist can take some of the information from a picture of something like say a giraffe in profile to draw a giraffe from any angle. That's what using a reference is.
The dress is simply a series of interweaving pipefolds along with the artist's interpretation of the frills from the character's dress in the thumbnail, probably wouldn't need a reference if they've ever drawn a dress before, and the mantis itself looks nothing like one you'll see in any photograph.
While some people are actually that limited, a good deal of artists aren't tracers or photobashers that are almost incapable of drawing something without looking at something else. With that said even the most imaginative artist is at bare minimum deferring to what they already know, both with regards to the knowledge of what a given subject is in a gestalt and with regards to the fundamentals of drawing that allow the artist to alter and manipulate the subject at will.
>>2428002
Cute mantis
>>2427983
fantasy artists have been learning from other fantasy artists and building on what other's have done in the genre. Look at fantasy art from 350 years ago. It's pretty laughable when they tried to draw an image of something from the metamorphosis like ceto where no reference exists.
I goes with out saying that they also have solid foundations.
