Free Figure Reference for Designers and Artists

figure design images for artists and designers

If you are a budding artists, character designer or illustrator there are bound to be times when you need human figure reference. I was recently looking for some books to help with figure drawing and showed different poses but in the process of searching came across a website that could really help.

Characterdesigns.com is a website which provides resources and information for artists, illustrators and designers, one of these resources being figure reference photos of people in different poses. There are several sets of photo poses which you can chose from a drop down menu. The figures include action, facial expression, nudes and figures in costume. Although some are a little rigid/posed they are a good starting point for getting proportions etc right.

Also on the site are photos of events such as fashion shows and anime expos, all again which can act as good reference for drawing the human figure. There is also a section where artists and illustrators can display there work and a forum too. As this site grows I think it could become an excellent resource for artists and designers alike.

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11 Comments

  1. Posted May 1, 2008 at 7:49 pm | Permalink

    Tara, you have no idea how many hours I’ve wasted online looking for anatomy reference. A side hobby I have is to paint and I always need reference. This looks like an awesome resource, thanks for sharing!!

  2. Posted May 1, 2008 at 11:53 pm | Permalink

    For years now I have been collecting photos of people cut out of magazines and glued into a scrapbook, to use as a reference for drawing the human figure in various poses. This site will be a whole lot easier than cutting and pasting (literally, not the digital equivalent) which gets pretty tedious. Thanks for another great resource, Tara.

  3. Posted May 2, 2008 at 9:23 am | Permalink

    Hi Louisa
    Me too, you can never find a figure image in the position you are looking for. Hopefully it will be useful.

    Hi Tracey
    You sound like me, I do the same thing cutting out character designs and sticking them in a scrap book for reference for my own designs.

  4. Posted May 12, 2008 at 3:00 pm | Permalink

    I cant help but drool over the pictures:) I like it. It stunned me.

  5. Posted May 13, 2008 at 9:29 pm | Permalink

    Wow, that is so useful thanks!

    Errr….also, unlike some of you, I’ve neglected to save any of poses I have found and used over the years, which is pretty stupid and inefficient of me, lol!

  6. Posted June 9, 2008 at 11:56 am | Permalink

    Hey, thanks for the link! This is really useful to me!

  7. Posted July 2, 2008 at 9:51 am | Permalink

    Characters – realistic ones anyway – i’ve always thought are the hardest things to draw/design/3D model/animate… having a resource like this is really useful thanks!

  8. Posted February 1, 2010 at 5:22 am | Permalink

    Excellent resource. This goes to my bookmarks list.

  9. Posted February 11, 2010 at 7:14 am | Permalink
  10. Posted February 11, 2010 at 11:00 am | Permalink

    Thanks for he suggestion Richard

  11. Posted March 1, 2010 at 2:03 am | Permalink

    Hi,
    Nice to see this site. By the way, i usually spend my time to make some characters. Now, i have a court to take lessons bout drawing character. I used to have difficulties in making some body styles, especially matters related to hand movements. That’s the most difficult draw. I will learn from your site that offer to me, after reading this article.

    For several years, I’ve collected some of the human body style. Thank you for your input.

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