Tips to Make the PERFECT Reference Sheet

[@Qwizz]

i dont have any more codes to give out please stop dming me! i will do annual giveaways now, i dont want to regularly give them out because the amount of people adding me is overwhelming !! sorry!! thank u for the support i love y'all!!

[@Mothcat.]

I’ve seen a few people have multiple poses to show off markings from different angles and it may be helpful if you wish to buy commissions and want the artist to understand what your character looks like! It is something I’ve began to use even for myself as well

[@Emperor-Quill]

One of my best pieces of advice for making a reference sheet is as follows: "The point of a reference sheet isn't to look perfect, or introduce their lore, it's to visually organize information about their looks."

[@IceBeamTetsuno]

I love this!

[@ZarBluestar]

One of my favorite lines I tell people is “your ref sheet isn’t your character bio”. Save that for a nice portrait illustration and a sidebar or caption. The artist doesn’t need to know that your character likes their friends and hates bullies. If it doesn’t have a direct tie-in to something shown in the reference, don’t clutter the page with that piece of text

[@MahouShoujoMadeline]

@@ZarBluestar Wait no I did this with one of my reference sheets I'm sorry please forgive me 😭😭😭

[@junew8133]

As a fursuit maker, ALWAYS SEND YOUR MAKER A T POSE. The amount of times I've almost missed a marking because the ref had a pose which covered some things. Having a separate 'fursuit friendly' ref sheet is incredible when commissioning parts!

[@CottenVee]

I might make a fursuit ref

[@Spookatz.]

Don't forget to DRAW THE F-ING BACKSIDE, so many times have i tried drawing someone's character at a more complex angle and have simply not been able to get the character's design right because they didn't draw what the back side of the character looks like, please, draw the back end.

[@Qwizz]

i think the backside is more important to add if your commissioning 3d models or fursuits, or if youre specifically asking the artist to draw a pose that requires it--simply bc i can understand why someone might want to leave it out if its extra work for that one time where its necessary. its nice, but not imperative. HOWEVER! if your character's design cant be interpreted from the forward or side facing art, like if they have the face of their twice-removed cousin imprinted on their back fur, then you CANT expect artists to know that if you didnt draw the backside, and you cant be mad at them for that XP if someone leaves out the backside, id say use your better judgement and assume the color based on the character's front facing design; if the client gets upset, that's their own fault for not including it

[@Spookatz.]

@@Qwizz the problem arises for me when the character has a specific pattern or sometimes stripes, like if there are spots on the shoulders, without the backside i just can't know how those spots end. Personal sheets for oneself can be however they want it but gosh.

[@Qwizz]

@@Spookatz. yeah if the back pattern cant reasonably be inferred from the pose(s) provided on the sheet then you should probably include a visual of the back, or at least a label that says "spots only on shoulders" or something ! like i have a few different drawings of my character in different poses on his reference sheet, so i think its pretty clear that his back is just blue, but if you have specific stripes or patterns on the back then its just super confusing

[@RedSaber90]

Same.. especially when they commission you a ych and it has a back shot and you don't know how to draw it BC they don't have it in their ref sheet 😭

[@Silly_lalalala]

Personally I’ll only draw the backside if there’s a design element on the back that you can’t see from the front, but usually that’s not too much big an issue for me so I guess it depends on the character

[@roundabout4727]

I've seen some artists include hex codes for their OCs' colors as well as labelling what the colors are for, that's not something I see often

[@StrangeKindaArtist]

Who still uses JPEG?! Awesome video. I found it very helpful.

[@plantfoxproductions7877]

The labels on ref sheets are a god send for me. I always like to make a character look as similar to the ref sheet as possible, but sometimes I cant tell if somthing is a feature, or an artstyle choice so I apreciate it when those things are labeled.

[@foodham3277]

Fun fact: this pose 1:47 is called an "A pose". That's because the arms are a bit lower, making the shape look more like an A than a T, while a T pose has the arms stick straight out from the side. The Y pose is also a thing but it's not as common as a T pose or A pose (at least I don't think it is? I think most 3D model software for example defaults to displaying models in T or A pose depending on program but I'm not an expert lol).

[@CottenVee]

I usually draw my characters with an A pose.

[@vibrantgleam]

@@CottenVee I draw them in a simplistic pose but usually I make refs for personal use lol.

[@prismspheres]

If you REALLY want a pose in your ref make a really small somewhat simple design of your character that's posing, it can show off a lot of personality too lol.

[@A-wild-Kittybee]

A solid Color or transparent background also saves your makers printer ink if they want to print it out

[@aiuwapi]

One thing that helped me with figuring out how to make clear and understandable ref sheets is studying character model sheets from animation studios (moslty Japanese ones called settei) since they are made by professional they are very well… professional, something I’ve learned from those is to include detailed drawings of of items or parts of the design next to the character themselves Another thing which you have mentioned and that is indeed very important is to prioritise clarity over aesthetics, ref sheets are meant to be guide on how to draw a character correctly, it’s ok if there are a lot of notes, random drawings of the character’s eyes or head floating there even if it looks a bit messy And another thing which is honestly up to personal preferences but I’ve learnt over time to prioritise visual designs over personality in ref sheet by that I mean, keeping the character’s likes/dislikes, their personality and whatnot to note somewhere else and I can use the free space I get by removing that to add more intricate details about their appearance for instance their body language or height, etc. Great video Qwizz ! I am glad I discovered your channel

[@NightTheKittenn]

this past art fight i had SO many problems with bad ref sheets for some reason. lots of jpeg artifacting, tiny images, bust shots only, and shading (there was one person that was like 'i see a lot of people adding the darker patches, thats not a marking its shading' in the character description. this is why we dont shade our ref sheets) I personally recommend a solid color BG, as your background being transparent can make it hard to copy/paste directly into art programs (as the BG will just turn black) IDK about other artists but I try to avoid saving images to my computer when possible, and when drawing someone else's guy I'll just copy/paste the ref. What I do is have a solid color with lighter blobs under things like text and images to highlight them.

[@BL00DY-GUTZZZ]

One thing i hate is i got commissoned once, and they had a LINELESS ref. i get doing lineless art but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE have diffrent colors and not only one color in different shades

[@whyhesoears]

my general rule of thumb is that a ref sheet's level of detail should fall in line with how detailed the character is. Take Kirby for example. He has a very simplistic, easy to comprehend design, if he was a character that I made, I would make sure that his ref sheet specifies his facial expressions (and i suppose posing, given how hes just a ball with nub limbs) as well as how his hands and feet look, since at times I see some folks draw him with ball hands and feet rather than the egg-like, nubby shape they actually have. A simple turnaround, and a couple of faces! Sometimes though I've had characters so simple that a turnaround isn't even needed! Versus someone like Link (lets go with botw, base design link) sure he isnt as complex as lets say, Master Chief, but there are key details in his design that, if missed out on, can change the language of his general design. Link (especially his BOTW iteration) is intentionally designed as a sort of vessel for us the player, so he is rather androgynous in his design to suit that. Even in older iterations, he is made to look young, and agile as it stood as a way for him to stand out from the average male hero beefcake, something he actually shares in common with Popeye! (and his obvious inspo, Peter Pan!) If these aspects were changed, it would be a whole new guy!

[@alixiria]

Your tips are really good tbh. Everything i learnt about ref sheets i did slowly by doing art trades and seeing that artists were misinterpreting design elements i didnt make clear, or being sent a ref that felt more like a collage of random doodles that didn't feel very readable or succinct. Which is both long and painful because i feel bad for the absolutely dire material i used to send artists 😅 And learning that ref sheets can be "boring" or have a drawing that i think is meh but works well to showcase the design is okay, i used to be so scared of that for no reason

[@Czyszy]

The biggest "DON'T" of ref sheets for me is too much text info - just huge huge walls of blurb. I lean towards the "show don't tell" rule and ideally I like the refsheets with no text info best, but minimal text is ok. But when the ref sheet is basically an encyclopedia entry with sporadic drawings here and there or even when the text takes up ~50% of the sheet itself, then it puts me off.

[@DevysOddity]

Omg wait- this is the first video I’ve seen of urs and aaaa UR VOICE IS SO PRETTY??! SEDYFVUHNJNH

[@Firelava88.]

If I ever do art trades, I frantically sketch what my oc looks like and hand it to the person 😭 I needed this video, ty

[@DarkstarTheBackgroundCharacter]

Thank you! These are all really helpful, you put this together quite well! ^^ I didn’t even think of the shading making it more difficult to follow the reference, so that’s good to know! And I agree on labeling the colours of a character, I once wanted to make a fanart for somebody but they had like 15 shades of purple and I was like ‘how do I even know where these colours go??’ so I gave up. Also one time I was lazy I used a pre-drawn reference sheet for one of my characters and the tail fins were covering the shoulder… And there was an important pattern on the shoulder! So I had to draw the shoulder seperately and add it… But honestly, my reference sheets are always messed up and always different, I’m gonna save this video and sit down one of these days to put a proper one togother. XD Anyway, thank you! This is really helpful!

[@jy742]

Just found you a few weeks ago and you've inspired me to come out of my longtime art block. Thank you for your tips, they help so much!!

[@KURURULUVSCURRY]

This is actually REALLY helpful, thanks!!!

[@Mealwormeater45]

I’ve always made multiple versions of ref sheets tbh, my main sona has one paw down but I have a separate ref for his paws completely because people don’t draw his paw right on one of them. I have a dos and dont versions and tell people to send wips :p

[@URnightmares162]

I sent this to a friend who couldn't make reference sheets, i do shade on my reference sheets though but i also pick the colors out. I should totally remake those reference sheets lol.

[@pemanilnoob]

Thank you! This was a great video! As I’ve recently redesigned my sona to be way more complicated, making a ref sheet will be nice! Love the vid! Love your art!

[@V3rminous]

These are pretty useful How I usually do it Is a minimally clothed front, side, and back, then at least 1 but 3 if it’s a main character other poses with more full clothing and exaggerated poses Definitely want to keep in mind that showing all the characters important details and patterns isn’t enough The overall 3d shape is important too

[@sunstartle]

WAHOOO BANGER VIDEO also im cracking up bc at the part where u were like 'indicate if their eyes turn colors with different emotions etc' and i was like 'wow thats so ridiculously specific lmao' but... not one, not two, but THREE of my characters i use often do that!! ffs i made a CHART about it! anyways yesss good workable advice would also recommend an 'unstyled' fur pattern reference if ur characters' fur shape covers up the markings in some way etc AND i think, so long as every aspect of the character is shown off at least once, having more dramatic/fluid poses can really help commissioned artists w/ personality!

[@Qwizz]

TYSM ASTER!! YEAH I SEE THAT ONE A LOT...i was thinking of a specific commission instance where someone had eyes like that but it wasn't on the ref .. it was in their toyhouse profile but they didnt link their toyhouse, they just sent the img XP and yeah my thoughts r the same basically!! poses can even help show off more of the design---like if you have an arm up they can see how the forearm looks, and their beans and stuff :3 its just poses like... where their hands are behind their back or something that makes it an issue bahaha

[@sunstartle]

@@Qwizz oooh my god that must have been so annoying lmfaooo honestly i always want a toyhouse link even if i have a refsheet just to see how people usually draw their characters ^^;;; sometimes if they dont give me one i track it down detective style.... but ppl just expecting artists 2 be psychic is soooo irritating lmfao honestly i think your refsheet posing is like REALLY impressive !! its evocative of personality while still remaining legible (i think the ref you did for vegas is EXCELLENT in that regard)

[@Qwizz]

@@sunstartle it WAS...and yeah i love when people send a toyhouse link so i can do some background research on the character and get a better sense of what expression and pose might be fitting for them :3 THANK YOU WAA if i do a weird pose i try to make it so that the feral version shows what the anthro version covered up, or i just do another doodle that shows whatever could have been lost with the posing of the other drawing .. i like making ref sheets WAY too much, making the ref sheet is, like, the first thing i want to do when i get a new character PFFT

[@yex9069]

honestly my biggest question is how the HELL do ppl manage more than four colors on a character THATS WILD

[@yex9069]

@@0lliesFreakShow ' u are not a genuine artist ' damn thats mean

[@0lliesFreakShow]

@@yex9069 I’m so sorry 😭 I was really mad at the moment when I typed that comment I’m sure I didn’t mean it I’m just confused like wdym more

[@0lliesFreakShow]

@@yex9069 I deleted it I’m srry

[@beescared]

Ayo new video 👀 also thanks! I should probably make a reference sheet of my main oc/persona-

[@Brenilla]

What some nice tips! For poses, I honestly perfer them over an A or T pose, but if you only have 1 full body (or only 1 = to full body over the whole sheet) might be best to keep it simple pose wise. I prefer poses mostly because of how well it shows the character’s personality better, witch can be nice when descriptions can be a little lack luster. Main ones I would stress is the Shading and specification.

[@bdr_draw.ax.]

Honestly really needed this! I always struggled with reference sheet and even felt a bit self conscious about them to the point I just draw the design from my head, export them as a transparent png, and just drop em like that. This helps me understand that I don't need to make them complicated to look good but to be informative, as much as I think I should've realized that way earlier lmao- But again thank you so much! Really appreciate the effort :]!

[@ClariseTG]

thank you so much!! this is an excellent guide. im new to making reference sheets since i typically just draw for myself. i’m branching out, though, since artfight is approaching, and this is a really good guide! i think i’ll spruce up the reference sheets i’ve made so far to include this stuff. super helpful!!

[@RainDownpours]

Wow! I was just researching how to make it yesterday! What a timely upload.

[@easternightfury7505]

3:40 for me its tricky cuz my ref sheets takes huge amount of space which toyhouse really doesnt like and jpeg is only format which can make the size much smaller for toyhouse SOB

[@Qwizz]

maybe try using an image resizer website and resize it there, and then put a link to the full sheet in the caption? :3 you can just send the full thing in a random discord server and then press "copy link" -- or any img sharing site ^u^

[@easternightfury7505]

@@Qwizz tbh image resize can eat up the quality. But I can try, again

[@Qwizz]

@@easternightfury7505 a compressed png is honestly better than a jpeg imo~~jpegs get worse and worse the more theyre reshared so no matter what the artist is always working off of a worse version than what you uploaded. and with the full version linked in the caption, they dont even gotta use the actual toyhouse image! it can js be a placeholder for the sake of having somewhere to share the link ^u^

[@Itz_Phoenixxx]

One time I had a commission and the ref I got was just a head 😭

[@PersephonesWitch]

thank you so much I just got a comm for a complex ref sheet lol ty

[@robkiller205]

When I was in my character class, things like silhouette, back and front views, expressions, and annotations with image references for materials and patterns were emphasized.

[@HOWLING._.NIGHTMARE]

Watching this while remaking my ref

[@Hickorypaws]

A lot of my cat OCs have accessories in some way or another (one has gloves, a mechanical thingy on his face, stones in his fur sometimes and flowers behind his ears sometimes(PLUS varying hair lengths depending on the timeline); another has a scarf, a feather, and a burn scar on his leg; another has a ribbon bow on her neck) and I make sure on my ref sheets that every single feature is fleshed out and labeled because I would die if future me forgot how long one’s bow was or how many stones were in another’s fur or how long ones hair should be or how many fur curls were in this other one’s tail and so like I’ll have several headshots of just the different things in ONE ref sheet

[@BanditCatArt]

Great video! Time to update my reference sheets... :D

[@SushiDoqq]

very helpful video thank you :3 also kinda off topic, what brush are you using for your drawing in this video :0 it looks rlly cool!

[@vibrantgleam]

I usually make refs for my personal benefit, but if I'm wanting to commission someone or let them draw my characters, I'd like them to be able to read them in a simple, crystal clear way. Because I don't wanna confuse them lol.

[@tby11_]

The only reason I’d use a JPEG is if the file is too big for the site like artfight (has a min 5GB) a lot of my art tends to be 10GB so I just use a JPEG to upload it instead.

[@shadowyct]

One of my characters has two horns that are different lengths (one got partially cut and therefore is behind the other in growth) and i made sure to label that on the ref because people can easily just assume it was a mistake, lol

[@0tt3r_83]

I really enjoy your content! Where else do you post?

[@Qwizz]

i have an account basically everywhere but im most active on yt, twitch, toyhouse, and my discord server!

[@0tt3r_83]

@@Qwizz oh! I was looking for a discord server but i couldn’t find yours, where can i find the link?

[@Qwizz]

@@0tt3r_83 no worries! theres a link on my youtube about to my website, and if you click "about" you can find it there !

[@TheLoneWarrior50]

This is really helpful! Thank you!

[@SukunaYaoi]

Also note that most artists such as myself: if u are u able to draw/get a ref, a fullbody flat colored image of your oc/characters will be fine enough! ^^ (im just saying this in case you just get a new character that u dont have time to draw a ref for yet!) But yea getting one later would be good

[@y3llowed]

what brush do you use for lineart? it looks so good!

[@AmbrosiaMooshine]

When ever I get around to drawing my character ref sheets, I know I will have to specify some things, like one of my who has a large birthmark on there face, and if you didn’t know it was a birthmark you could mistake it for a scar cause its a pale red, Or another one of my oc’s who eyes don’t shine or reflect light, could be mistaken of a art style choice, :)

[@Lunablues23]

Yes!

[@aurplestarss]

Good vid ,, I'm too lazy to make refs tho HDJDODOODOF

[@Audieon]

Question: What about traditional drawings? I am a traditional artist and color picking due to pencil shading and lighting and image quality (I don't have a scanner but I know like, what a .tiff file is) can be fucky. What do you recommend to work around that?

[@xRandom.editsx]

Yooo Im just making a reference and watching tube and found this pretty good timing

[@See_The_Stars]

The background one is one of the worse issues I came across with. People had sent me reference sheets with bright colorful background that blended into the character. It hurts my eyes literally, as im a person who has there phones brightness that the lowest scale imaginable.

[@Soggycheeseee]

If your character has clothes, take them off. Just take them off, you don’t need to draw nudity but it’s helpful for markings and such and such. Plus, add SOME accessories separate from the character if they’ve got detailed earrings or a specific design on a necklace that isn’t too visible then draw it separately or up close.

[@KartsSafespace]

whats so annoying is when you save a drawing as a png but it still looks like a jpeg when i send it to people, or when someone sends one to me. it’s happened so many times and ive had to save my ref sheets so many different times so i have the same picture repeating over and over again in my photos purely so that the image is brand new and not crunched. ughhh so annoying

[@nidgithm]

yeahh sadly some places like discord will compress your images without warning. you could look into uploading the image somewhere that doesn't compress it and then just sending the link to people

[@Kitlexy871]

0:52 if you wanna render your reference atleast give it some colour palette 🤧

[@SnowfallinOhio]

Unrelated but what font do you use on the ref sheet at 6:33? I've been looking for a font as such for quite a long time

[@Qwizz]

its my own handwriting hehe, theres a website called calligraphr where u can make ur own font

[@Tuna_the_shark]

I knew all but 1 But still useful video!

[@HELLERLINE]

I really love your art lol

[@Hyperninester]

thanks for the tips!

[@manletsponge]

tip!!! if you shade your ref sheet, put a color guide either at the top or on the side, and if necessary, label what colors go where! edit: i didnt get all the way in and this tip came up lol

[@jumpyjasmine3735]

BRO I JUST FINISHED A REF SHEET YESTERDAY😭😭😭 aaaa

[@slavcvlt]

1:49 nope, one arm raised, one hand shows palm, basically strike a pose that shows nothing to hide at a angled view so you don’t waste your time making a side view

[@eletgres519]

very cool video :D i should follow these tips and im gonna redesign my fursona

[@Vlooitjie.]

This is super helpful!! Is minimal shading also discouraged, though?

[@Qwizz]

glad it helped you! id say it depends on what you'd consider minimal shading -- personally i think eye highlights and eye details are a-okay, so long as the main eye color(s) are on a pallet or available to be color picked somewhere! however in general i personally would discourage any shading - people may mistake it for patterns or a gradient in the design or something and it's clearer to them if it's flat color ^u^

[@Vlooitjie.]

@@Qwizz ah okay, makes sense!!! tysm again :D I love your videos, and I can already see how you'll become a super well known artist and youtuber in the future

[@Km0ii]

i’m so sad because i’ve been rendering half my references 😭 i came to the conclusion that i don’t need to have extra flair and stuff then very recently but it’s embarrassing it took me SUCH a long amount of time..

[@meteorshowerz_]

WOOOO QWIZZ ON TOP

[@lostalyx]

NEW QWIZZ VIDEO YAY!!

[@scribbleshrimp]

Very helpful!

[@tikimillie]

6:45 *DRAWS HIM BALD*

[@La-_-Moody]

I need to know what brush you used for the speed paint in the background

[@GabrieleTheMan]

This video is so beautiful and useful!❤❤

[@lilcalico8363]

What irks me whenever I get a ref to draw a character from is when there's nothing showing the mouth. It's such a small detail and I'm willing and fine to work with much worse, but for some reason that one drives me nuts. I guess it's cause I do open mouth smiles a lot idk lol.

[@SillysBirds]

i somehow got this reccomended to me mid- ref making

[@FainthedCherry]

I at least require a front and back drawing for my commissions lately. It's a nightmare, to draw characters with front-only. Like y'all do know that I can't make your character have cool poses and whatnot if you hide their backs from me? >:( /hj Seriously though, it's frustrating. Just draw a damn back and front ref. I also suck at back refs, but I still make them, for convenience.

[@AustinANimates]

*makes reference sheet while watching*

[@Dying-chambers]

I always draw full body

[@BubbleBearNetwork]

What brush are you using

[@skibidisandwich]

What brush do u use?:3

[@g00se_ars0nist]

what if my oc is just a guy? he’s a filipino boy i think people can assume his skin tone even if I add soft blushing

[@slavcvlt]

4:01 unless the colors on the Chara are inpercise. This can be dismissed.

[@HikoNoMori]

You kinda sound like chipflake (I’m going to cry)

[@monoex]

And oh god please don't exclusively use the most saturated + brightest colors for a palette, especially on a white background 😭 characters like that can legitimately cause eyestrain for an artist and it sucks when people don't even warn you about it. Alsoo if you're gonna say "don't change the color palette" PLEASE specify what that means. Artists often mean different things by it. Some artists dislike advanced lighting techniques/advanced color theory (even if the color does look accurate) meanwhile other artists couldn't care less as long as you don't make light blue into dark blue lol

[@Qwizz]

i think people should design their characters however they want to! if you want to make an eyestrain character, do it! just dont jumpscare your artist w the ref :3 im a sparkledog artist, i have characters that are sparkledogs, they are bright--but i always ask the artist first "hey do you draw eyestrain?" rather than just assuming that they do and in general i just would assume you shouldn't change the base colors--if the colors change in the rendering thats typically fine by most people

[@iunataspis]

Qwizz W

[@R0TTINGS0ULZZ]

ttuyuy

[@smrzgk]

this is not art 💀☠

[@atIas.x]

And how is it not art?

[@smrzgk]

@@atIas.x It's furry crap

[@smrzgk]

@@atIas.x Cuz it's furry

[@atIas.x]

@@smrzgk still art. What makes it not art if it's a furry

[@smrzgk]

@@atIas.x It's just not something to say wow about honestly