Reference images

Reference images are pictures of whatever it is you’re trying to make.

These could be artwork that you made yourself, pictures off the internet, or pictures you took yourself. It’s often really hard to know what an animal will look like in low poly—try searching for low poly art of that animal online. There’s a good chance someone else has already done it, and you can get a general idea of what you might be trying to make.

Searching for a reference image

For reference, it helps to have pictures from multiple angles: one from the front, one from the side, and one from the top. This way you’ll have clear references from all sides of your model.

For example, for the kangaroo, I found the following picture online when I searched kangaroo blueprint image.

Figure 9.2 – Reference images of a kangaroo used in this chapter (image from: seamless-pixels.blogspot.com)

The best reference art for...