When in doubt...use a reference!

I usually don't post my cell pictures to DA, but I thought I'd share this. The next page involves a couple 8ft tall crystals, but after spending almost an hour trying to sketch out what they look like, I dug through my rock collection and picked up this small yellow quartz and used it as a reference. I used it for the transparency and lighting too! 

What I'm really trying to say is two things:

1.) If you are having trouble drawing something, use a reference! Don't be afraid to admit "I don't know what I'm doing" and get some help from google images or take your own picture of the thing you need to draw.

2.) It's called REFERENCING not TRACING! Tracing someone else's image is a terrible thing to do and can land you in some serious trouble. Referencing is what I did here and is 100% OK! If you notice, I didn't trace the crystal (I mean how could I? It's a physical thing). All I did was hold it in my hand and drew with my other hand.

The only time tracing may be ok is when you trace your own photos. Take a picture of yourself posing in a mirror and tracing that may get a job done, but you don't learn anything. You learn from practicing and repetitive drawing. It took me a few times to get the crystals to look right even with my little helper, but since I drew them without tracing, I learned how my hand has to move and how the resulting strokes makes something look. You don't learn that by simply following a line.

Just my little two cents on a subject that kind of irritates me. Take my advise or don't, but it works....just sayin


Also yes; having a rock collection is helping me out with this comic in many ways as rocks and crystals play very important roles in the story.