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AquaSixio β Tutorial 14 Photoref to make the difference
Published: 2012-02-22 21:12:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 129258; Favourites: 4300; Downloads: 7767
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FACEBOOK FANPAGE | TUMBLR | TWITTER[EDIT] Just for information, what you called " tracing " (step 3.1.2) take me ... 2 minutes of work.
There is more than 25 hours of painting after, without "use" the photoreference, as explained in... the tutorial... just read[/EDIT]
En FRANCAIS !!!
Tutoriel #14 : Photo reference
Some WIPs :
Tutorial #16 : Shades
Tutorial #15 : Adjustment Layers
Tutorial #14 : Photo-referencing
Tutorial #13 : Water
Tutorial #12 : Creativity
Tutorial #11 : Three textures
Tutorial #10 : Color
Tutorial #9 : Layer
Tutorial #8 : Cloud 2
Tutorial #7 : Arround a drawing 3
Tutorial #6 : Brush
Tutorial #5 : Arround a drawing 2
Tutorial #4 : Arround a drawing 1
Tutorial #3 : Light and shadow
Tutorial #2 : Cloud 1
Retrospection 2004 - 2012
Retrospection 2004 - 2007
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Comments: 823
WE all began drawing due to using REFERENCES. We use them everyday. If we were blind, then we wouldn't know what to draw. Therefore, everything is a reference. IT IS OKAY.
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I am one of those "crazy" pro-free hand artists, however, I see nothing wrong with how you use photo references. I am peeved by people who trace/draw an exact picture of another artist's work then claims it as their own creation. You, on the other hand, placed your own concept, idea, and color theory upon the reference and only used the general shape to get a grasp of your idea. The rest was all you; the product came from your own imagination. Props to you, one of my top 3 favorite digital artists ever. I can never get enough of your amazing artwork. ^^ <3
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I don't see the big deal about him using photo references. The finished works always look very different from the references and anyone can see they're just a starting point for the amazing works of art he creates. I guess people will always find something to nitpick about. I personally like using references. It helps teach my brain how things work. Everyone has their own method. I am so inspired by you aquasixio!Β
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Thanks for sharing. your tutorials are very informative for begginers 
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This is extremely helpful, your criativity is so inspiring
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i used your tutorial for some help... your tutorials explained and clarified a lot of things to me. ty so much for putting the time together to make your tutsΒ fav.me/d6pvc90 (it's kinda silly compared to what you create)
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This is a great tutorial!! THank you very much!
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OhmyGosh thanks so much! So so inspiring! I'm finally getting my project done now. T_T Β I was afraid of using references.Β
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Freehand drawing purists might want to have a look at this before commenting:Β neolucida.com/history/
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Well for as long as I have skimmed through this debate and it's comments relegating tracing to cheating, to stock photos and copyright laws. Here's something many of you may not have considered. Who CARES how art is made? If a person snags a photo from Google of a Olympic Swimmer diving into the water and uses THAT pose for a superhero in flight, does that make this artist a liar and a thief? No. Β Also its like this, if people are really going to bitch and whine about wither an artist used a reference or not, and claiming this artist needs to "cite their source." then I guess if the artist lost or deleted their photo; then they would be at the internet for HOURS just trying to find the original photo. There are thousands upon thousands of stock photos based on ONE subject alone.Β
People also need to realize this, did anyone ever take a look at an Art book of a video game before? You can't tell me video game concept artists, or comic book artists don't use reference photos. If they can get by with it, so can we. You know why? Because the target audience of those groups are only interested in the final product.Β
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Β No, it doesn't make them a liar or a thief. However, it does demonstrate a poor understanding of the human subject matter and conveys that the artist is not willing to dedicate any real time to understanding human forms.
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So..what? An artist or game designer has to dedicate more time to study when they are short on time? Suppose you have an important deadline to meet for a big commission; if you spend 100+ hours studying anatomy instead of getting the final product done, the your client's gonna be pissed. I guess an "honest" hard days work of working is better than taking an "easier route". And yes for the record, I have studied anatomy for quite some time but I have also learned that clients don't care how the foundation is constructed, they want the final project now.Β
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"So..what?"
So...exactly what I said? I wasn't posting an opinion, just reasoning behind certain opinions.
"An artist or game designer has to dedicate more time to study when they are short on time? Suppose you have an important deadline to meet for a big commission; if you spend 100+ hours studying anatomy instead of getting the final product done, the your client's gonna be pissed."
Okay, but real clients only hire people that already have those 100+ hours under their belt.Β
"I guess an "honest" hard days work of working is better than taking an "easier route". And yes for the record, I have studied anatomy for quite some time but I have also learned that clients don't care how the foundation is constructed, they want the final project now. "
Tracing is not "easier". It make's it easier to create bad work, but actually understanding what you're drawing makes it easier to draw. Also, I never questioned if you studied anatomy or not? And if you did, you would understand that having a strong foundation knowledge greatly decreases your worktime. It also ensures that you don't have to rely on photographs to get a certain pose. Instead of googling for half an hour for the perfect pose of someone doing anything specific, you can just sketch the gesture you know you want and don't have to rely on the limited information in your reference picture.Β
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Understanding the human form comes with practice, just like anything else. Understanding perspective, the human body, still life, realism, lighting, etc. All comes from practice. Reference photos are great to use. I use them all the time, bite me. I'm a perfectionist, and I'd rather rely on something that I know is true, than from my own memory. I have a greater chance of producing something that is right, than it looking wrong. With that said, using reference photos over and over again, can help you get a basis of what the human form looks like. Everything comes with practice. How can you know what something looks like without seeing it? That's why reference photos exist. And I can tell you even the best artists use them.
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Oh my gosh these are my thoughts exactly! Well said!
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Wow! That comment was so long ago! Thank you for your feedback though
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Thank you for sharing you opinion
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You're most welcome
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I salute your extraordinary creativity, and thanks a lot for sharing this 
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Thank you for your support
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That's great to see how you work and your fantasy is just great ! I love this drawing <3
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I think the conversation on this piece is interesting I just would like to point out that referencing and tracing are two COMPLETELY different things. One improves the artist's drawing skill and one does not (at least as much). Drawing from life/photo/sculpture whatever is referencing and I seriously do not get it if any of you have a problem with that.
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Thank you for sharing your opinion
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You're a genius. I always have difficulties deciding what to draw. Like you, I've kept some photos in a folder that inspire me. But don't exactly inspire at the same time because i don't know what to draw from it. This is such a great idea! I love it! You're tutorials are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and techniques! Im loving it! Keep working hard
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People need to get off their high horses.
There are many well known artists and illustrators that use/have used the tracing techniques or other 'short ways' and different types of help to make their art, that's nothing new. Probably many that won't even admit it. Before photography many of the old masters used a camera obscura of some sort [link] That doesn't mean their art isn't their own or not great.
AquaSixio's art is certainly his own, it's creative and far from the original photo. So thanks for the tutorial AquaSixio, keep it up, and never mind the ignorant!
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I wonder if there would be such an issue with the technique if not for the source of reference being Google.
You're right though, ppl should read the book covering Norman Rockwell's technique.
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Thank you for sharing your opinion ^^
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incredible tutorial, thank you for sharing!
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with the "tracing" in this tutorial. He wanted to communicate an idea, a feeling; so he used all methods available to achieve this goal. I can't stand seeing perfect copies of a photo of some famous chap getting a lot of praise when they mean nothing and are but a demonstration of technique, and this getting bummed down when it's wonderful ART. Lots of the Great Masters of the renaissance used similar techniques (heck, even Canaletto traced his landscapes with the aid of the camera obscura).
Come on guys, art is not about knowing how to draw a the figure is about telling a story, inspiring people and above all... imagination. Not to mention he changed all about the reference picture. Just ridiculous.
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I'm not saying that this is stealing but until you have understood foundational skills(which can't be learned from simply tracing) that you should refrain from this because it will deter the development of your artistic skills because you will become so reliant on tracing. Which in turn, will become a crutch.
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These tutorials are fantastic! Thanks so much for taking the time to explain everything so well. This one in particular really speaks to me. I often see a photo that inspires me but I don't know how to go about making what I see in my head appear on paper. (or digital canvas) Seeing how you deal with it makes a lot of sense to me and I am looking forward to trying a new painting again.
I also really enjoy the turtle color tutorial! <3
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Please.
There is a large difference between tracing for reference and stealing a person's artwork.
If you look at the "tracing in question" in Aquasixio's tutorial, you will notice that they covered a general and basic outline of the photo, NOT a line-for-line copy of it. The child is a girl, looking down and wearing a completely different hat than Aquasixio's interpretation of it. (Boy, different hat, head tilted upwards vs. downwards, eyes visible vs. looking down) There is nothing wrong with Aquasixio's method; in fact, they have perfectly demonstrated an appropriate , albeit different, approach to using reference photos as a BASE for an art piece. Many great artists do this. This method is COMPLETELY different from someone's example of student's copying a photo line-for-line off a projector.
People need to use their heads.
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Thank you for your support
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i do this too ! and i thought i was the only one! ^~^
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A lot of the comments here are very dumb!
First I want to make clear that I'm not against the fact that you are tracing because it is obviously up to you. No one can tell you what to do!
And also, your art seriously IS amazing. How can anyone deny that?
But:
Why are people even saying down here that photo referencing in general IS BAD too? WHAT!?
people who said that a good artist must not photo-reference....have you ever studied anatomy? Figure drawing? Have you ever studied art seriously? What about life drawing? And art books with pictures? And everything around us basically, because art is BASED on things that already exist. An artist is constantly using any kind of references!
Photo referencing (or image referencing, call it how you like it) is what EVERY ARTIST MUST DO to learn how to do stuff properly. Lighting, colours, anatomy, poses, figure, etcetera.
I can't imagine how anyone can learn art without various references to learn from.
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Wait, how on earth does tracing teach COLORS?
There's nothing wrong with referencing. I do it every day for my illustration work, but I certainly don't pull stuff off of Google Image Search and trace it because that is not referencing. It's copying. For example, when I needed to draw a character holding a CB radio speaker for my art director, I didn't grab an image of one and trace it. I looked up a few photos of CB speakers and then drew one in my character's hand on my own. THAT is photo referencing.
Referencing is not tracing, and tracing is not referencing. Tracing stuff you don't own is a good way to get yourself expelled from art school for plagiarism, though. Outside of school it can get you sued like the artist behind the Obama HOPE poster was after tracing a photo of Obama that was shot by the Associated Press. He lost.
Students do indeed use visual reference to learn. When I was in school for my illustration degree we learned anatomy and how to draw the figure (and thus poses) by actually drawing figures from life, studying muscle groups in anatomy books, and drawing muscle structures on those figure drawings based on those anatomy books, not by tracing stuff. We learned the nature of light and how to capture what we were looking at by drawing still life setups and later painting still life setups to add color in the mix, not by tracing stuff. If we needed reference for a pose we would ask a friend to get into that pose so we could take a photo of them to LOOK AT as reference. Not TRACE, but LOOK AT.
You can look at photos of an object or people in a type of pose you want and look off of those photos to create your own image of that pose, but tracing it is NOT reference. Tracing a photo you don't own, no matter if it's of a person or an object, is NOT referencing. It's copying. There is a stark difference between the two.
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you haven't really read my comment have you?
As english is not my first language I'll probably make a big grammatical mess trying to reply but I'll try to:
I wasn't saying tracing is useful, at least not in the learning process (many illustrators trace their own sketches and stuff just to save time, to make them bigger or to copy them if they are not working in digital, but they are well aware of what is going on with anatomy and everything else).
I did not say that you have to trace to learn anatomy (or colour) for example. I myself am studying anatomy and figure drawing at present and I do that with anatomy books and live models. So, I know. I was talking about REFERENCING.
People in comments wrote that referencing is "bad" as well as tracing. So my point was that referencing is everything but bad: it is fundamental.
About tracing I just said that if people want to trace, then who are we to write to them nasty stuff? It is up to them, and also tracing comes in different "forms" (I'd like to explain what I mean but, you know).
I did not want to start a big argument with anyone, by the way.
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I did in fact read your comment. My point is that tracing a photo you do not own =/= photo referencing. People here are not saying photo referencing is bad. Photo referencing is good. Tracing it is not referencing. Aqua representing them as one in the same is what a lot of the people here have taken issue with, because it is not true and only further perpetuates that misunderstanding/falsehood to younger artists. They could get themselves into a lot of legal trouble doing that besides stunting their own growth.
By you saying that tracing photos WAS photo referencing, you were in turn saying it was the same as what you do to learn all of those different elements of art and image creation -- referencing. That is not how it is done, and I was illustrating that point. I am well aware that tracing comes in different "forms" as I do it quite often to transfer my thumbnails into rough sketches and rough sketches into tight sketches. That is different than tracing photos you don't own and then saying it was referencing the photo. That isn't reference, it's copying. Copying =/= referencing, tracing =/= referencing, etc.
I'm not arguing. I'm civilly disagreeing.
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really pisses me off when people come and pretend to overturn something I said just to disagree. You know, not everyone was born in the USA and can explain in a perfect fabulous way stuff in english. read my two comments again and realize that what you are saying is exactly what I was trying to say, too.
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I wasn't "pretending to overturn something you said just to disagree", I was taking your comment to mean what the English words you strung together mean in that order. My previous response to you was me listing out what your wording actually said as an explanation for why I took it to mean what I did in order for me to say what I said. How dare I, apparently.
"You know, not everyone was born in the USA and can explain in a perfect fabulous way stuff in english."
And I was supposed to know that... how, exactly?
You have nothing on your profile stating where you're from. I always check profiles when I talk to somebody to specifically see what country they are from, so don't get pissed off at me because you don't have anything listed. I don't have psychic powers, particularly when there is no information given and your English didn't come across as a second language. There are native English speakers in this country who type as though they just learned the language last week.
Given all of that, dear Lord oh please forgive me for taking your comment to mean what it said in English wording, not being clairvoyant about your country of origin, and not magically knowing what you were trying to say.
List a country of origin if you're going to get bent out of shape when someone misunderstands what you say because the way you worded it isn't what you actually meant. You're expecting a hell of a lot from people when you have absolutely NOTHING on your profile.
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so. I wrote this.
A lot of the comments here are very dumb!
First I want to make clear that I'm not against the fact that you are tracing because it is obviously up to you. No one can tell you what to do!
And also, your art seriously IS amazing. How can anyone deny that?
But:
Why are people even saying down here that photo referencing in general IS BAD too? WHAT!?
people who said that a good artist must not photo-reference....have you ever studied anatomy? Figure drawing? Have you ever studied art seriously? What about life drawing? And art books with pictures? And everything around us basically, because art is BASED on things that already exist. An artist is constantly using any kind of references!
Photo referencing (or image referencing, call it how you like it) is what EVERY ARTIST MUST DO to learn how to do stuff properly. Lighting, colours, anatomy, poses, figure, etcetera.
I can't imagine how anyone can learn art without various references to learn from.
I can't see any "tracing IS referencing" stuff nor I can see "tracing teach colour" stuff. just to mention a couple of things you went on and contested.
So, you know, I just think this conversation we're having is like pointless.
regards
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"So, you know, I just think this conversation we're having is like pointless."
Quite.
So why don't we just leave it at this, again: Before you get pissed off at anyone else for not magically knowing you aren't from an English speaking country, list it on your profile.
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I WAS NOT saying that tracing is photo referencing.
You have understood what I wrote this way.
So that is your opinion on a comment where that this is not written.... I can't do anything about it -_-
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Thank you for taking the time to share your opinion
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OMG UR A GENIUS!!! I never thought of using photo referencing like this at all.. my mind is completly blown away like for realz..
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hey bro.. i wanna ur help ?
can u plz tell me, how to turn a pic into "Fantasy Imagination" ?
i want a tutorial.. plz help me bro
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