REFERENCE PHOTOS ✨ (Patreon)

I've got some reference photos for you! 

Click here to download them in highest quality. 

The model is Arina, you can find her on Instagram @arina_shibaeva 

I sometimes get asked about the references I use and where I get them from.

Well, generally I recommend taking your own reference photos. That’s what I do for many of my bigger paintings.

I do find some references to use online. There are royalty-free websites; or you can message someone on Instagram (a person or a photographer) asking if you could use one of their photos. Overall I find that people are open and even excited about being painted.

When I painted someone without their permission first, those people were actually happy about it when they saw it later, so I’ve only had positive experiences with it so far. There were a few who either didn’t notice or just didn’t contact me / commented anything, which is fine as well.

When I look for photos online I always make sure they are of good quality, clear, taken in good lighting, preferably don’t have any filters applied or photoshoped colors (I want natural-looking colors). And lastly I want it to be interesting so I could develop some idea or a meaning behind it..

But in my opinion, nothing is as good as taking your own references; you can paint your friends, or acquaintances, ask some friends of friends to model for you, etc.

So.. I’m excited to share these references with you now! If you use any of them – please share your artworks with me, I’d love to see what you’ve created ❤️