This master post outlines some of the media I find inspirational and educational from an artistic standpoint. This covers traditional, digital and 3d aspects of art.
Websites (Reference and Tutorials)
Anatomy and Poses – A collection of studies and reference sheets for anatomy in both humans and animals.
Art References For You – A huge collection of art advice and pointers from around the web.
Artsy Poses – A collection of models, references and tutorials.
Body’s in Motion – Scott Eaton’s photography collection, dynamic anatomical reference.
Cedarseed – Though the illustrations and diagrams are very simplistic, the information is in depth and detailed.
Ctrl + Paint – A digital art master class which covers both methods of improving painting skills and workflow techniques. It’s updates weekly with video tutorials and tips.
Imagine FX – Though sometimes low details and low resolution, Imagine FX upload a lot of their magazine’s articles online for free.
Pixelovely – A collection of gesture, figure and animal references with timer and category options.
Pose Maniacs – The human form in different poses. Great for drawing in perspective and unusual angles.
The Angry Animator – Fantastic collection of tips and tutorials for animation.
The Drawing Script – A collection of models, animals and references. Categories and timer can be defined.
Tutorial-z – Wonderfully in depth 3ds Max tutorials.
Websites (Textures and Brushes)
CG Textures – A huge collection of textures in high resolution. To be used for free so long as the textures or works made with the textures are not sold on.
deviantART – A massive archive of free textures and brushes (under the tags).
Digital Art Masters – The accompanying brushes for Digital Painting Techniques.
Free Stock Textures – Exactly what it says on the tin. Browse by a desired colour or category.
Websites (Miscellaneous)
Colour Scheme Designer – Quickly and easily generates a colour pallet.
Here To Create – Though fundamentally for literary and fictional writing, this resource is uses for character design and building.
NASA Astronomy Archive – A daily space picture released by NASA.
Text Image – Converts images into text (also produces a coded version).
Books
3dTotal’s Digital Painting Techniques: Practicle Techniques for Digital Art Masters: Masters Collections – To date there are five volumes, which cover personal painting techniques from a number of different industry professional artists.
Mark Simon’s Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists – A variety of facial types modelling a variety of facial poses. Simon covers this from a number of different angles.
Sarah Simblet’s Anatomy for the Artists – Simblet covers all aspects of anatomy from the inside out. Tracing paper diagrams allow the reader to see exactly where bones and muscle correspond with the body.
Inspiration
Artem Volchik – An extremely talented 3d artist working in the games industry (mainly focuses on vehicles).
Ashley Wood – Beautiful traditional artist, creates very atmospheric and emotional works.
Chris Ryniak – A sculptor with unique and interesting characters. His 2d works are very delicate and express a lot of personality.
Creature Box – The concept artists, Dave and Greg, who worked on the Ratchet and Clank series. On their Twitter account they also upload a daily character design.
Eric Kozlowsky – 3d industry professional in games. Mainly focuses on environment art.
Michael Vincete – A 3d environment and asset artist within the games industry.
Lucy Anna Lowe 