Three Unexpectedly Great Illustration Resources

Written By Stephanie Broder

In the internet age, sometimes, all the resources we have access to can be overwhelming. More image resources than we could ever need, social media spamming us with other artists and paid resources, books packed with essential knowledge- where do we begin?

Sifting through all the resources and distilling them into useful ones for repeat viewing is a daunting task. Fortunately, I have three of my absolute favourites here today. Quality guaranteed.

How to Think When You Draw by the Etherington Brothers

Lorenzo Etherington must be one of the most prolific illustrators out there. And he’s accumulated his masses of illustration theories, styles and ideas into thousands of free tutorials that you can find on his blog or Instagram. He also accumulates them into books every now and again that he pitches on Kickstarter (they are always FULLY funded). I have the first three in my collection and they are well worth owning.

I love his simple, quick tips and stylistic references. If you want to see stylish, smart tutorials, you absolutely must follow this creator!

The Etherington Brothers Instagram page, packed full of tutorials that are posted daily

Drawfee

Drawfee is a YouTube channel featuring four illustrators doing silly drawing challenges. The artists- Nathan, Julia, Jacob and Karina - egg each other on, riff off each other’s art, and celebrate the progress they make as artists through the course of biweekly fun videos that are FREE for us to enjoy!

I often recommend Drawfee to my classes because I think it’s a great way to show how illustrators actually think and work through art problems. They talk about their process, note their mistakes, and point out (mostly for each other) great moments and successes. And they do it all with a silly sense of humour and top-notch video themes. Drawfee are like my parasocial art buddies while I’m drawing.

I recommend starting with these videos if you want to see some of my faves:

Four Artists Design Characters from the Same Description

Four Artists Redraw the Same Classical Painting

Pro Artists Redraw Their Old OCs

Nathan’s Brother Challenged Him to a Speed Draw Contest

The Drawfee Show on YouTube

Croquis Cafe Life Drawing Images

Croquis Cafe is a website where you can find photos for life drawing. This is the only resource on this list that costs money, but it’s so affordable that it might as well be free.

For the ridiculously reasonable price of $36 a year, you can get full access to this beautifully curated life drawing resource's photo archives. With a huge variety of models and poses, unclothed images with moody lighting, and the ability to save images for later use - this deal is so good I’ve been a subscriber for several years.

On top of the photos, you also get 360 degree views of some poses (for sculptors or other 3D artists), tutorial videos, a timed drawing interface for gesture drawing and MORE! No they didn’t pay me to say any of this - I just love this resource that much.

I use Croquis Cafe reference photos for some of my most complicated posed pieces, and now the secret is out! Sign up. SERIOUSLY. SIGN. UP.

This illustration was a Croquis Cafe reference and is still one of my faves

Stephanie Broder
Previous

The Seven Key Elements of Art Making
Next

Ten Essential Skills Every Illustrator Should Practice