Reference Gathering

In this lesson we’re going to figure out how to use references, why we need them and how to use them in our projects effectively. At the end of this lesson we will end up with a full mood and reference board we can use in any of our projects.

WHY DO WE USE REFERENCES?

As environment artists we get to work on a large variation of props of places. There’s no way that we can retain all the visuals and just pull them from memory. So to remind ourself and make sure we replicate something accurately we need to validate what we make with references.

There is typical comparison of being asked to draw a tree and then people draw the typical stick with a round sphere on it. We see trees on a daily basis, but those tree’s are not realistic.

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WHAT MAKES GOOD REFERENCES?

Might be a silly question!

Well, in simple terms context, we want to get a thorough understanding of the subject we’re making so we can bring out it’s unique features and sell them visually. Thus getting as close to the source as possible to help you get a better understanding of the thing you are trying to create.

So let me rank a general broad overview for you.

The reason why the last on is on there but at the bottom is because these have already been gone through someone else’s interpretation of the source material. Given your work a less original feel.So you can see that references are also heavily contextual as well. Helping us understand how something is build, by whom and why.

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REFERENCE SOURCES

Search engines like google or duck duck go are going to be your standard way of finding your first set of references. They give you a solid base. However, often times the images you find here are just not going to be enough to accurately recreate something. And we need to start looking deeper.

A good way to start with this is by going down the rabbit hole. Clicking on images and exploring their source material by following the sources they come from. Often times find yourself on auction websites, specialist websites, travel blogs, etc… . The images found here are usually in higher resolution and more specific and thus contain more detail.

Looking for people that specialise in the thing you are looking for is a great way to get started. For example, when working on medieval props you would want to look for people replicating medieval woodworking. For my work I ended up on https://thomasguild.blogspot.com/ a great blog about people recreating medieval wooden pieces.

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References for Environment art

As we’re focusing on the larger aspects of the environment we’re looking for references of a broad spectrum. Travel blogs, Nature documentaries, Urban Exploration videos, etc…

Since having a story in your environments is crucial, looking for CONTEXT is important. Context can be where it’s set, who lived there, why did they live here, what happened here, etc…

All these little elements can give you additional inspiration and insights on how to make a better more interesting environment yourself.

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References for Assets/Individual pieces

On the opposite spectrum. When looking for individual pieces, you want to focus on the details, textures, materials and little details to make them more unique. We’re looking for these smaller details, and good places to look for these is where people share these sort of images.

So different auction sites or specialist on the topic on youtube are amazing resources for this.

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COLLECTING REFERENCES

We look for references to find gaps in our knowledge about a subject. Which means that we look for references to help us better understand the SHAPES, DETAILS, CONTEXT. When making a mood/reference board I usually divide my references into different groups. Like so;

This works well for me personally, but it’s important to make something that works for you and actually use. That’s the most important part.

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PROGRAMS TO USE

The main difference here is if you’re working on your project by yourself or with others. If you want to collaborate you need something that is easy to share. For this we recommend using MIRO (https://miro.com/) offering seamless collaboration potential and we also use it for a great deal of our collaborative projects.

Then if you want to work on something yourself we recommend PureRef (https://www.pureref.com/). It saves locally and is great for adding loads of images by dragging in images from any source.It’s super easy to use!

Other recommendations are Milanote (https://milanote.com/), with other similar programs found online.

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RECAP

Now we know the where how and why of references. But the most important thing is that YOU make use of them and find more whenever you need them. It’s a living document. So whenever you feel lost on an aspect of something, that’s a good reminder to start looking for more references.

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