TODAY'S FEATURED POST

Eranos and the Archetype Database

Lauren Panepinto

Last month I did a long post about how to not rely on Google images to do your image research — for a lot of reasons, including originality, accuracy, and avoiding AI sludge filling up search engines. The short version of the post is to start using better/vetted databases. And one I forgot to add is worth a whole post in itself, for the kind of things we do in fantastic art. Let me introduce…

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EVERYDAY ORIGINAL

The Wildlife Artist

YESTERDAY’S POST

Image

Research Images Like a Pro

Lauren Panepinto

June 12, 2025 - I just did a spurt of portfolio reviews (it's fresh graduates season!) and a topic seemed to come up more than a few times, and that usually means it's worth a Muddy Colors article. So here we go. I don't want to make this sound like a "the kids don't know X" or "back when I was in school we knew how to Y" kind of thing, but I think some old(er) school knowledge might help a growing problem. A growing problem of using search engines for image research. Since I've been reviewing portfolios and commissioning illustrators (for 20ish years now) I have occasionally had to have a conversation with artists about their image research. Sometimes amusingly referred to as "Google-Fu". The most glaring issue was most often reminding an artist — usually one fresh…

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