TODAY'S FEATURED POST

A Studio Visit

Robert Hunt

I always love to visit another artist's studio. I suspect that Muddy Colors readers do too- so this month I thought I would give you a studio tour. I also know that readiers probably know little or nothing about me, as I don't think I am what one normally thinks of as a sci-fi fantasy artist (more on professional identity issues in a future article).  My studio is at my home, about 30 feet from…

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EVERYDAY ORIGINAL

Green Marlin’s Flying Ship

YESTERDAY’S POST

Image

The danger of reference

Jesper Ejsing

April 28, 2025 - I use photo reference all the time. I try to put them away and work from imagination but then I get insecure and I start searching in books or on the internet for things looking like the stuff I am painting. Most time it creates a fake security and I continue painting what is needed for the image anyway without using the ref. But finding it, helped me in overcoming the insecurity anyway. I still think that reference is, by large, the killer of creativity. Here is 2 things I noticed: When I paint without reference the image becomes more dynamic and spontaneous and also more personal. When I paint from reference they become more realistic and believable, seems more precise but loose a bit of the personality. I talked to Paul Bonner one day,…

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