Hello, I just wanted to say that I love your comic and would like to ask an art-related question. I really love the fashionable outfits you give to characters like Steven, Connie and Stevonnie and wanted to know how you come up with them. I really want to draw characters with chic designs but I don't how to go about it (I might lack imagination). Sorry if this is a noob question but do you use clothing reference? If I drew a character wearing an outfit I saw in store or online, would that be plagiarizing? How would I use fashion reference the correct way? Sorry if I'm overthinking this.
Right off the bat:
USE!! REFERENCES!!!
All seasoned/professional artists use references. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a reference, especially as a starting point when you don’t know much about the subject and don’t have a very large visual library in your head.
I feel like although the online say-no-to-tracing movement was well-meant at the time, it has created a generation of artists that now have a completely panicked reaction to everything that even SMELLS like copying...
I personally find inspiration in all kinds of places. As a kid I liked to look at my grandmother’s fashion magazines when she wasn’t home. Nowadays, I window-shop for clothes and mentally file them into the back of my head for use later. I sometimes even take photos of mannequins if I think I want to draw a character wearing a specific outfit!
Other than that... I don’t know if you were asking about this specifically but imagination IS a muscle! It takes time to stretch and train. When you first start out, you don’t have a lot of experience with thinking outside the box. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. But first, you need REFERENCES! The more mental pictures you have in your memory, the better you can take specific parts of those pictures and rearrange them into something new!
