Source: pixelovely.com

Source: mjranum.deviantart.com

Source: posemaniacs.com

Source: mjranum.deviantart.com

LIFE DRAWING REFERENCE LINKS

While drawing from life is considered the ideal way to improve your skills, what if you don’t have the opportunity? Or, maybe you want to get a little more practice in between such sessions? Luckily, the internet is a fine thing, and it’s not hard to find good drawing references nowadays. You will find below a few popular figure drawing reference links that every artist should check out!

To further brush up on your figure drawing skills and enable you to practise from the comfort of your home, Syn Studio Concept Art School offers a variety of online drawing classes to help you perfect your art.

You can check out all our available classes on our Online Art Classes page.

Posemanics.com : Possibly the most popular pose website there is, they offer a multitude of ‘skinless’ poses so you can get a good handle on the body’s musculature. Features include timed poses (good for gesture practice), negative space drawing, and even an app for your phone!

Artists.pixelovely.com :  Popular site with timed poses, they offer a variety of photographical references ranging from full figures, faces, hands & feet, and even animals. They also have a blog with useful art tips.

FreshDesigner : An art tutorial website run by Chris Legaspi with a fascinating page dedicated to figure drawing titled “The Ultimate Guide to Good Figure Drawing Reference” which explains what to look for in reference photos, where to find good reference photos, and even a recommendation for an out of print vintage Japanese reference book.

SketchDaily : Similar to pixelovely. Focuses primarily on full body shots. Also has a popular reddit page: https://www.reddit.com/r/sketchdaily/

Quickposes.com : Another slideshow-esque site similar to pixelovely, including a ‘Challenges’ feature where you are able to upload your own images.

Posespace.com : A large collection of HD 360 degree nude photos taken particularly for use as reference in traditional art. Downloadable content for a fee.

Reference! Reference! : specifically for animation, here you can find short clips of common movements and actions.

Human Anatomy for Artist : HD resolution human photos, including stereoscopic 3D references. While there is a paid membership option, quite a few quality images are viewable for free. It has a noteworthy search tool, where you can pick even the hair color of the model you’re looking for!

Anatomy4Sculptors.com : Not just for sculptors! This website has loads of anatomical references in the form of muscles & bones, block-outs and plain photos. There’s also a lot of art tips throughout the website that are extremely insightful!

3D Pose tool for Mobile : Available to both Mac and Android users, this nifty little app allows you to generate and pose a 3D model however you like. Also available: Horse Pose Tool, and Manga Pose Tool. Note: It was rated as one of the “Top 10 Must-Have Art Apps” in issue #92 of ImagineFX!

Atarichan Drawer : an interesting website where a stick figure with key joints is generated for you.

* Character Design Photosets: A huge collection of various poses with and without costumes, including action shots as well. This is a great site for artists looking for not just clothing references but specific poses.

*Art Models 360:  Models in a wide range of poses where users can rotate the image in 360 as well. Great feature here is the Pose Picker Filter, where you can search for specific criteria you want in your pose.

*The Circus Dictionary: A large collection of circus performer poses and moves, perhaps not intended for anatomy artists but nevertheless an amazing reference for bodies in motion.

*Croquis Cafe: A set of videos of life drawing sessions in real time with a range of body types.

Tumblr : tumblr has a plethora of resources, but here are a few to start you off:

• Portraitsfordrawing
• Figuresfordrawing
• Everyday-art-practice
• * Fuck-ton of Anatomy References
• * Anatomyrefs

Pinterest : same story as tumblr, here are a few goodies!

• Theluuvre’s Figure Drawing Reference board
• Angua80’s Expressions & Poses boards

DeviantART : many stock photo professionals have set up shop here. Here are a few popular names:

• SenshiStock
  Mjranum Stock
  DAposes (group)
  Pose-emporium (group)

*(Updated – Jan. 27, 2016)

Did we miss something you think fellow artists would appreciate? Please share!