I remember someone said once "Drawing without a reference is like tryimg to cook without a cook book". That alone freed me from any guilt for using references

Sam's intros are just getting better and better.

I feel like asking an artist "Why do you use references?" is like asking a chef "Why do you read recipe books?", or a Martial artist "Why do you Spar?"

I want everyone to take this time to remember the late Kim Jung Gi. He's really one of a kind that graced this earth. Hearing Sam explain all about references magnifies how Jung Gi was really a master of his craft. On top of great memory was his crazy perspectives.

References are really important and I’m glad you made this video. Even Van Gogh used references. Sure, it is well known he did for starry night and his bedroom in Arles, but he also used references to paint his Sunflower painting. This is shown when he is a reference of the painting “The Painter of the Sunflowers” by Paul Gauguin.

Literally Sam encourages me to do digital art even when I only have a Android Phone and NO stylus 😂. Like SERIOUSLY his videos do have a great effect on me. Hats off to you man❤❤

I’m still growing as an artist and when I started using references it made my work a lot easier, I still struggle with imposter syndrome but I guess that feeling is something I have to deal with as I keep on growing. 😊😊 It’s always a good day when Sam posts 😊😊

The truth is Sam wants to feed his art village, but sometimes runs out of ideas, and therefore uses references so he has enough ideas to feed his village :D

This is one of the most brilliant “why” explanations I’ve ever seen. I’m definitely the type of person that needs to understand the “why” behind doing something, and your examples are so clear. Absolutely loved this video, very impactful 🎉

THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ALL OF US ART BABIES WE LOVE YOU SAM!

Yep, 100% agree. I was raised in the 80s and 90s on the idea that using a reference was "not art, just copying" and that if you want it to look " real" just use a camera. Stopped doing art to raise a family, now I'm getting back into art, and relearning a lot of it. Just did an orange in colored pencils and mixed medium, using a reference and it was the best peice of art i have ever done in my life. Now i am building up a reference library of subject matter i want to get into more. Thank you so much for confirming what i had to find out the long, hard way, and passing it on to young artists so they dont waste 2 decades not improving and quiting like i did. Love your content. ❤ 🇧🇿

I loved these little "buts" about references like the example with Myazaki - sometimes you don't use references and it's really individual. Like, yeah, sometimes in order to make it less familiar you don't look at the refernece, but you do it deliberately and you already know that in case you cannot imagine something you better not run from your responsibilities and learn how to do it. To break the rules you learn them in a first place

I’m not much of an artist, but knowing that even Sam uses references is so comforting. It’s always felt like such a cheat to me but I guess I just have unrealistic expectations of my brain😅

You know it's a good day when Sam posts.

I also love your drawings, especially the ones from memory. The Shiba, the turtle and the surfer guy are particularly awesome!

okay, sam, thanks to you, I'm finally gonna step up & start using references! I love your artstyle & it's absolutely gorgeous! thank you for inspiring us art babies haha! (also i love your intros & outros xD) :]]

I'm glad that you came full circle by the end of the video because most of your non reference drawings definitely have more charm as you say. Maybe the key is if you don't know what something looks like then STUDY reference then draw from memory.

Learning about observation and a using references helped my art so much. Seeing the visual progress over a year makes me so happy.

“This is a no reference chicken” Epic quote! 😂😂😂 love this video! Even for the most stylized drawing, a reference can give tiny clues that make the drawing come to life.

I started art really recently, and seeing this video made me realize a lot of mistakes I was making and I'm really grateful for that. I realize now that I've been rushing my work too much, and I haven't been putting in the time to understand the structures behind things like faces or body parts. I'll use references more now, thank you!

Hi, I’m an art baby Thank you for helping me on my art journey Sam, you inspire so many of us. You are the person who encouraged me to start digital art even though I have no stylus and am drawing with my finger! 😄I only recently started to use references and already I can see the improvements in my art❤ your videos are so helpful, keep up the good work!

This was a great vid, it's so awesome to see a side by side clear comparison proving that even the most skilled artists benefit from references. It really did make a huge difference to the quality of your drawings. Thank you Sam!

Just wanted to say something. This video is one of the best art videos I've ever seen. I've seen a LOT of them. My father (an artist) taught me how to be one when I was a child. Well, all he really did was repeat the phrase "Draw what you see, not what you think you see" For years i struggled with it. I fought it, because I wanted to draw my own things. Then when I finally embraced it, I became SO MUCH BETTER. Now I'm a full-time (disabled) artist, working on my etsy right I haven't even finished the video yet because I was too excited to say something about it. AMAZING VIDEO, Sam!

sam, do you think you could do a video on GLAZE and Nightshade? they’re both pretty important tools for combatting AI stealing art, and i think that it would be really cool to get your perspective on that.

9:18 this is so true. I am a perfectionist, so whenever I see some thing that is slightly off I need to fix it and I won’t like the art piece until the things that I can see are wrong are fixed. but sometimes you’re right, that I don’t have that information in my mental library and that’s when I go to Pinterest! Thank you so much Sam you’re the best.

Probably my newest favorite video of yours; I love how you not only encourage people to make art the way they want to but even explain how a method different from yours might help your audience. You're one genuine dude, Sam.

I think this video hits at an even deeper meaning. You don't necessarily improve at something by spending more time at it. Sometimes you need external help to improve.

I need to embed this in my head. You truly are so right. Every time I open up a canvas, i just mindlessly doodle, but in order to actually come up with ideas and drawings I gotta look at ALOTT OF reference. I want to be inventive with style and I'm definitely not going for realism, I'm going for believability and imaginative. But reference, that's the only way I will build up my library for that imaginative approach im always going for. Thank you so much Sam. The best advice seriously!

Honestly one of the best videos you’ve made in a long while. Not saying your other ones are bad, far from it. It’s just that this one hit’s different because of how passionate you are with this topic. I certainly wouldn’t mind more videos like this. But of course release what you want and enjoy.

This is fantastic advice. I like to break it down to around an 80/20 split of using reference versus not. Break the rules but know them first!

Sam's intros are just getting better and better.better and better.better and better.better and better.better and better.better and better.

Glad you did follow that comment's suggestion and created the reference versions! One thing that stood out to me is your 'from imagination' drawings feel like cartoon/ comic-like. Stylized and not quite realistic but has personality- but also stiff. Your 'from reference' drawings were a lot more dynamic, in pose, feeling of movement, angle and in many of them weight. Definitely a great exercise for many to try!

The reference ones have character. Riding the balance is key. Reference for understanding of the subjects stucture, but then bringing back in those elements of character and charm.

Using references is(for myself)a form of methodology to make an accurate point of what it is I am trying to convey,without a reference I'm uninhibited by boundaries,and that's a great thing.

this 12 minute video just convinced me to not be afraid to use references, seeing your raw before ref sketches remind me of my drawings, sometimes stale, then ref drawings look more full of life, bro im gonna be using refs more now

9:33 that is why I have drawn too many hands on my math book. Wherever I'm bored, i look at my hand and do a pose that I'm not familiar with and just draw it or try to. My hands are improving so much from this.

U should make comics with characters like those, It would really be amazing😂

I had no idea that so many people were discouraged from using references? Until recently I never tried to draw “seriously” from memory. Then I realized professionals who draw a huge volume of images clearly aren’t working off a reference for every comic panel, for example. I got jealous of that flexibility and have been obsessed with learning to draw human anatomy from memory. This video showed me I need to find a middle ground where I can use a reference to remind myself of the basic shapes, without needing to find a reference that captures the exact pose I want down to the last detail

All famous artists in history used references, the painting process is about depicting the real world, getting the main idea, making composition, and getting rid of unnecessary things, from classical art like Leonardo to modern like Boris Vallejo. It is all based on references. And only little school kids think that references are cheating :) Thanks for the great video!

Now this really motivated me to stop using my imagination when drawing start using refrences actually help my atamony way better and improvements in my own character design improved alot Thank Sam you truly art Sensei

Thanks for the video and your experience. Honestly, I would make that into a challenge instead of Inktober. NoRefember or something. One day you draw a sketch from memory, the next day - from a reference, and third day - from your memory enriched by the ref experience. Or maybe all in one day. Quite a challenge, honestly

I was literally just using a reference rn to help me understand a pose I was trying to draw, great timing Sam!! XD

Man I’ve been watching Sam for so long now and my dog literally love the ending when ever I watch you haha love u Sam!

It's so true! There is such an underlying stigma about references!! It's such a hard voice to shush in your head when drawing - but it's good to hear it from one of the best :) Keep up the great work Sam!

I dig, sometimes I can even get information from a reference that is in a different angle or position.

0:01 justice for birb and Sams enemy ❤❤❤❤

Reference is a time honored tradition in the Illustration field for multiple generations. Even the greats of illustration used it.

SAM, please teach us how to draw like you, just listening to you speak shows how much knowledge you have and you don't complicate things.

unpopular opinion: i love sam's more serious art advice videos over the "rating tik tok art tips" even though they probably don't do as well

I got thinking after watching the original video where Sam did the sketches without a reference. So many different people have mental libraries that are just stronger or weaker in different areas of the five senses. Some people have an incredibly vivid memory of things attached to scent, or sound. Or for some, they may struggle with that, but they have a very clear mental image. Not every single person can call to mind the image of something in the same way another person can, regardless of what it is (kind of how some people don't have internal dialogue and some do). This is something I've learned about myself over the years, and only just recently started piecing together how that affects my memory. I've learned that the main way my brain holds onto information and memory is actually through sound, smells, and touch. Visual memory is easily my weakest link, memory wise. The faces of my loved ones are always foggy in my brain. No amount of studying them will change that. I can only memorize facts that I observe, that I then remember as information, but with no mental image to go along with it. But I can perfectly recall their voices, what their jacket smells like, what their hands feel like. Realizing this suddenly made it make so much more sense why I've always struggled SO MUCH drawing without a reference. I used to view it as "cheating" or invalidating it as "actual art" because I thought if I was a real artist, it could all come 100% from me. But I'm learning to move past it, not only in general, but also specifically with the knowledge that my mental library may work differently from others.

As someone who has created art for about 7-8 years, I didn’t use references for about 5 of them because I was convinced it was cheating and I wanted to create something brand new. It killed my work for a long-ass time, even though I’ve been drawing for so long I’m still learning the basics because I just wouldn’t let myself. It’s still hard for me to admit I need a reference, and I tend to already have something in my head so when I don’t find a reference that fits the image in my mind, I give up. But then I took parts of poses I like, smashed them together, and then it was perfect. References help you learn and grow, even if you’re not looking for realism. Just knowing anatomy and how everything is supposed to look is really important, no matter your artstyle! Keep drawing guys, you’re gonna do great!

Lessss gooooooo the king posted again

Oh my! Thank you so much! I needed this video and everything you said. I have been feeling like an imposter whenever I needed to grab the reference. And like you said, mostly this kind of attitude about references comes from old-timers. This gives me motivation to expand my mental library and to grab a notebook to just practice drawing whatever I want to learn to draw better. My art mostly has been stylized this whole time. I love it, but I really want to take it to the next level and this thing about references and feeling like its cheating has held me back a lot, I mean. You have no idea how much it held me back! Thank you so much 100x!

references are so important ❤❤❤

As an Animator, I love using reference. Getting timing, motion, and weight right depends on the quality of the reference I use.

Please do more of this!

Your style is great but I love to see these sketches and raw-like draws such as u gave us in this vid. 👌🏻

The reason why kimjunggi always be our lifetime fav illustrator. And even Gi himself tell us to see reference

What (some) older people don’t realise is, when you’re painting a model for example, you are *referencing* them. You look back and forth to observe the details. Referencing is great, and you should start using it if you haven’t already (especially if you struggle picturing things in ur mind)

I loved that non-reference chicken, it had some great shapes.

❤ the intro sam

The fact that people think references are cheating, baffles me to my core. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF IT BEING CHEATING BEFORE YOUR LAST VIDEO!!! Some people do not have a minds eye and some can’t see what an image is supposed to look like. I cannot picture faces for the life of me, it always distorts in my mind. Not only that but, when I was a child and I went to a few art classes( out of school) THEY ALWAYS HAD REFERENCES! However, I live in a different country, so that could be why.

I'm an old timer and have always used reference for most of my work. And working from life rather than photo is the best reference. Working from life isn't always possible or practical, but doing it regularly will help you grow in your skills much faster.

This was such an awesome exercise and I love that you took it a step further to draw from reference and compare. Always amazing work!

I love your art, man! I always sketch with no references at all, but when it comes to draw and to render, I always jump in with lots of references. The more the better! That's how it works for me! 🖤

Oh yeah! Jacked dude with a Surfboard Def looks more experienced now!❤ I'd love to see you only glance at a reference and then draw it from memory.

I LOVE side-by-side comparisons. This is such a great lesson.

You are such a cool dude, I feel like you’re a cool older brother or something. I feel so much better about the idea of using reference now!

Sam's the funniest artist in the world!

I drew a few Spiderman across the spider verse drawings and my dad sent them to his friend who is an artist of over 30 years and he was really impressed, and he said that it was pretty hard to draw something that really impresses him (I'm 12 btw) also the spiderman drawings are on my channel, they are the ones with the yellow outlines 😊❤ Edit 1: yes I used references for my Spiderman drawings Edit 2: "it (the chicken) looks edible" The vegan teacher 😮😢🤬😡 Edit 3: that is exactly what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to use lots and lots of references because I'm trying to change my art style from attempted realism to the pop comic style of the spider verse movies (yes I am obsessed with it 😅) without losing my attempted realism style. I want to do realsim and comic without losing either skills. Thank you, Sam, for inspiring me and giving me lots of helpful tips and advice from your amazing videos ❤❤❤❤

Ah. Another day, another Sam's video. Nothing beter💅

Hello Sam👋 you’ve helped me improve my art so much as an art baby 👶🏼

Yo sam my names is sam too, this is a sam to sam conversation. I passionatly believe you should start a podcast. Usually when drawing I'll watch your vids and draw and i think your voice is so calming so you should start a podcast on behalf of the sam's

References, drawing and practicing from references is what everyone should do. But I also think everyone should draw from their imagination and memory. Not because it works by itself... But because it works when combined with observation. Basically as you did now. You go and compare your drawing from memory to an actual photo of the thing and think "What makes these different? Oh this and that and those are different. This is actually a more tubular shape, oh this is in different angle". It basically helps you fix the mistakes in your memory library, as you can compare your memory to the actual thing. It is hard to "fix the mistakes" without knowing what they are, drawing and then comparing can help to identify them, forces you to observe the difference. But I agree, using references is a great tool both when learning and when doing full on art works.

this is the video that finally made me actually want to use references! I always thought I'd do it "later" once I'm better at drawing from imagination (which??? makes no sense) but now I understand, I need them NOW

I love how your mental library drawings are the same as my reference drawings 😭😭

All of your content is so great and helpful. Keep doing what you’re doing man

Ive been watching your videos a lot and its help me with my art a huge amount, i'm thankful.

My problem with reference is I get too fixated on the reference and it gets hard for me to do "my own" version I just end up trying to copy the picture 1 to 1 which isn't my goal. I am not sure how to go about this I think it's a problem of auto pilot but then again I always catch myself doing it, unlike other artists I see, where they take what they want from the reference to help their vision and accuracy.

i have a visual impairment and draw with a magnifying glass so none of my art uses reference, but it has forced me to develop a style and catalogue more stuff in my mind which in turn gives me more freedom to draw things you can't find references for in the exact pose I want without having to compromise. just a fun little counter point take it as you will. btw I'm probably at journeyman to adept level myself, deffo not a master yet.

i've watched this video with my lil sis and when there was the new drawing of an animal we both went like : awwwwwwwwww. Thanks again to teach me new things over an over again pls dont stop it! love your art dont stop doing it

Good overview of why reference is important. Drawing from memory is important, too, because it - hopefully - frees the imagination and, more importantly, allows one to focus on the act of drawing itself, something that many beginners overlook in their rush to become "great illustrators". As for reference, it's indispensable for all representational art. And all representational artists use it (even if some of them vociferously deny it!). Reference involves drawing from life, either in a studio or en plein air, or using other artistic images, projectors or photographs. The artist's focus should be on the final result, and how that is achieved is nobody's business but the artist's. Before photographic reference or light tables (for - gasp! - tracing) became available artists had other means at their disposal for ensuring accuracy in their artworks. For instance, the camera obscura, camera lucida, epidiascope, and mechanical grids. With the possible exception of the epidiascope, all these methods were complex and time-consuming and have been superceded by faster, more convenient technology. Some of the artists associated with these mechanical aids to drawing include (but are probably not limited to) Caravaggio, Raphael, Frans Hals, Vermeer, Velázquez, Canaletto, Ingres, Durer, Holbein, Fox Talbot, Manet, Sickert, Degas, Warhol and Hockney. Is their art invalidated by the use of these reference aids? Of course not!

The energy i get from the drawings side by side is like a main character vs side character type of feeling

I'm planning to use references to draw the face, but instead of drawing it accurately, i'm doing it so I can stylize the faces. I can look at the face anatomy and try to alter it to find an art style. I think references arent just for drawing something accurate, but you can also use it to break the rules a little bit and it could also extend your visual library even more than just copying the reference 1:1.

No último vídeo qdo ele pediu pra desenhar no finzinho do video foi esse exercicio que eu fiz, desenhar de memória apenas bichos verdes, primeiro sem referências depois foi olhar as referências e de fato ficou um aprendizado de formas, linhas e ângulos. Thanks Sam

Day 2: can you try drawing without a pen only using your finger?

I draw a lot at work, mostly to kill time and avoid being on my phone. and I get compliments on my art a lot, I've been drawing since I was 5 or so. I wouldn't say I'm great, I'm nowhere near where you are. But the difference is palpable! I started doing some anatomy references and it's so noticeable! I better understand hands and arms. it's improved my art faster than when I was doodling head empty. it made art much more enjoyable making my non-reference sketches look so much better.

The greatest artists of all time used references, whether directly from a model for a portrait, or bashing references together for some crazy religious painting in the 1600’s. I don’t understand this whole thing about not using references: it will only keep you from improving more efficiently. Also, train both: study from reference and practice invention.

Even if you use reference photos, your drawing is the best I love him more than any painter. I hope you continue your hobby because it is as beautiful as you

Every artist SHOULD use reference!! When I was a beginner I thought that I was cheating if I used references and I didn't do it, and for years my art didn't improve much because of it... Now I know the truth, it's not cheating, every artist out there do it because it helps you to learn and improve your drawings! References are GOOD ! References will make your art better! Even when you want to draw from memory! So please do as Sam says and use it!

There is TREMENDOUS pressure on artists to be able to draw without reference, largely because comic book artists are able to do it. The trade-off is that your work fits a particular mold and can look good but not necessarily accurate. I learned the hard way that using reference is what makes a good artist great. Look at all the famous commercial illustrators - Loomis, Leyendecker, Rockwell - they all worked from photographs. ALWAYS use reference, and ALWAYS practice drawing from memory / imagination.

What I would say in regard to references is it really depends on whether you're working realistically or not and also the project itself. When you're doing a multi-page comic book, the time constraints prevent you from referencing every single thing you're rendering. And then, also, if you're doing humorous illustration, you don't need an accurate rendering.

I clicked as soon as i saw that notification of a new vid of yours❤❤

Sam,tysm for reminding us art babies how important references are every 0.5 seconds😀

Sam you're great.i've learned so so much from you

I feel like copying a photograph, doing a study, is a good exercise. But if it's not my photograph it's just a study. But for a personal piece, I usually want to draw something in a certain pose. Reference is definitely still very important to understand what the subject matter looks like, figure out how it works, for inspiration, and give me examples to pick from. But my skill comes into play as I need to figure out how to implement the reference in the new pose, lighting, etc...

Drawing with references are really helpful. I usually find that when I use references for facial expressions, my art looks a lot better. Some objects really do need a reference to draw (for example, musical instruments. References are more like a launchpad to work from and is really grounding.

bro this came at the perfect time. i'm draIwing a haystack and I was like yea a cube, I'll look up how to render a cube and we'll be good. But ive been making a funky looking haystack because all of my references are in black in white (though if i can render it in black and white then i don't need a colored reference). Use a reference for everything, shapes, lines, angles, colors, lighting, etc. Use multiple to retain originality but still. Reference for everything. Saves soooo much time

Just how much positivity can a person express😅. Love every bit of it.❤

Bruh i really love your videos and yourself. You're great You helped me alot!