How to get better results when you search for references

I wanted to talk a bit about how to google right because this can be very crucial when you search for something for your projects. You can get very bad results when you do it wrong and when you don’t know which words to use. As Creature artists, we always have to find real facts, info, and references for our work. And not only for personal projects but also for learning more over time and seeing the world through different eyes than non-artists.

So many people think to google something is easy but i see more often that people come to me and ask me to help them find the right tutorials, the right images and where to find this and that. Its a bit weird to go to someone and ask to google for you (because yes, its time wasting and also gives the feeling of being lazy and that the person dont take it so serious). Please dont be such a person. Its okay to ask but it depends on WHAT to ask.

Here is an example: If you ask someone for help "where to find a beginner tutorial in Zbrush" then that’s not a good question and can be a little bit annoying for the person on the other side because we all know you can find a lot of things on youtube for example. Just type in Beginner tutorials in ZBrush and you will automatically be bombarded with free videos.

I don’t say that people are stupid or not smart enough to search for it, but it definitely has a lot to do with being lazy and not bringing enough self-initiative into the whole thing. And other people are not there to grab your hand and do the work for you. That’s one part of acting like a professional. Know when you CAN ask for something and when you have to take some ACTION first BEFORE you reach out. Keep that in mind!

Compared to a question about "finding more information about mammal creatures and their DNA and evolution over the last decade". You see this question would be way more specific and can’t be easily found. So asking those questions is totally fine. I mean, overall there is a quote that says:

"There is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid answers."

And ya, asking is definitely better than being quiet all the time, i agree with that. But still, i think there are questions in a specific situation that are not as good as when you try to search for them first. And also it depends on which age you are. It’s way easier to ask weird questions as a kid than when you grew up and know when to take action and when to ask for help. There is a difference. But that’s just my opinion.

ANYWAY, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask questions at all. :) I hope you know what i mean by that. Just make sure you do your own research before you ask for help. That’s all. But no worry i will help you to do it here in this post.

Back to the right research. Of course there are other resources for getting references and information like books, videos, asking people who work in that field etc. But i will concentrate on online resources because thats what we all have (mostly) as a free source.

Let’s say you need to sculpt a deer for your project and now you need the skeleton to do some studies and overall to make it look realistic and right. So you have to search for deer references. Let’s dive into it.

Some Tips for making an easier time to find the right references

1. Use smarter words
It’s obvious to say that but by using smarter words, you get articles, posts, and videos with a higher standard, because they also use these smarter words in it. So an example here. If you are searching for deer skulls, then of course the first thing you google is just deer skulls, right? And this is what you will find.

It’s almost the same image of the popular deer skull with horns which you can see on many hunter walls or logos. It is not bad to google that, but it doesn’t help so much when you want to try to learn the structure of the skull or a more realistic outlook.

Now let’s jump in and add a smarter word to it. Instead of only typing in deer skulls, you can type in deer skull ventral/ dorsal/ posterior/ rostral or lateral (these words are just the science words for the bottom, top, back, front, and side view). And this is what you will find:

You see, that there are WAY more useful references for your work here. Realistic anatomy and science-proofed images. This is what you can work with and get better results for your art as well.

2. Search for scientific sub-names
When you have the angles of the skull, you can go even deeper into it to find more useful references. Now it’s a bit tricky because you have to know the names of the specific skull piece. But all the names are mostly the same for all animals or humans, so you can easily find out the Latin names for each bone. It’s easier when you google dog and cat skeletons because they are overall more popular or use a human skeleton. All of them should have at least the same main bones, so you can easily look them up. So let’s say you found something from a cat. Because like I said it’s easier to find information about them. I just typed in cat skeleton bone names. And here we go.

Now you have all these difficult Latin scientific names. Take one of them and google it with the recent animal you are working on. So as an example, we are typing deer zygomatic arch. This is the side bone from the cheek, right under the eye. (green marked). And these images popped up after searching it.

Now you have even more great images to work with on a deeper level. You also can expand this to articles, blog posts, videos, whatever you can find. Now while you are using smarter words in your searches, you can also even see high-leveled articles for your creature. For example, in this case, I found a site about mammals from the Oxford Academy.

3. Search for different under-categories and breeds
When you search for animals it’s pretty common that you just search for the overall term which everybody knows. So you are searching for the words cats, horses, dogs, frogs, and so on. And like i said before it’s not bad to search these things, it’s just better when you go closer into it.

So for example when you are searching for cats, try to find out what breeds exist and then write down their names and type this name into the search engine.

For example, i found a cat called margay artis. It’s a beautifully wild cat, with big eyes and round ears. Here are some images.

Sure cat anatomy is all the same even with our well-known house cats or big cats like lions. And you don’t need to search for specific breeds when it comes to anatomy. But when you want to do something more unique and when you want to increase your knowledge about the whole animal kingdom, then you have to know what is out there in the world, to make even better and unique art and to have the chance to mix them up with other things.

Here is another example of searching for horses. Did you know that there is a horse, which kinda looks like a sheep? No? Well, when you do good research you would know that it exists, and it is called Bashkir Curly. Here are a few images. (it looks so fluffy!!)

And the last example of an insect called the Orchid mantis. We all know how a mantis looks like but did you know there is a breed which looks like a flower? Here you go.

So my tip is when you search for animals, try to look into the under-categories. Which breeds do they have? How do they call them and search for their names? You will get so many more interesting results when you search for something specific instead of something superficial.

The more you learn what exist, the better you can come up with cool ideas for your art.

4. Use 'macro' in your searchings
This is a nice tip when you really wanna go into details. The word macro means images that were taken in a very zoomed-in way, so you actually see everything from a huge close-up shot. That can be amazing when it comes to the texture and overall structure of bones, horns, skins, eyes, nails, teeth, tongues, etc. It doesn’t work always to write macro behind something, but more often than you think. Did you know what cat tounges really look like? If you know it, it makes so much more sense why getting licked by a cat is pretty rough and why cats lick their own fur.

Or how fascinating eyes can look like in a macro shot? These can be incredible nice references when you create your own creatures and characters.

Another example of macro deer skulls.

So the only thing you have to do is type in animal eye macro, shark teeth macro, horns macro, slug skin macro, and so on.

5. Walk along with the roots
What I mean by that is, that when you're searching for your specific words, you also have the chance of seeing something super unique during that. Don’t only have your eyes on the words you are searching for. Open them for new ideas, maybe for other projects, you will do in the future. While looking at the slug skin macro topic, I saw something fascinating I never saw before but is highly amazing, especially creature artists. This little green slug.

This is so inspiring to only look at, that I totally find a new cool creature that I can combine with one of an already existing animal. Maybe, a horse mixed with this green slug? BAM a new unique creature is born!! Happily, under one of these pictures, it has a Latin name (remember to google smarter words), and it says that this creature is called Elysia chlorotic. So the next step you have to do is type in that name and see what you get.

And here we have the weird salad-looking green slug which i never heard before! But because you did great research with smart words, you found it and can use this knowledge now to mix it up with your creatures or maybe implement it with cloth, so that a jacket looks like this creature or whatever comes into your mind.

That is what i mean by walking along with the roots. You are searching for your specific words, and suddenly something cool comes up and you go picture to picture and find something unique like this. Be curious and interested in things you don’t know.

▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️

And that’s it for now. these tips will already help you to find way better references than before. I know a lot of people struggle with searching for the right images and references, so i thought it would be interesting to show you my way of doing it.

I really hope that will help you because it can be quite useful when we all together find the best references and info about the whole world, so we can share and create unique art together. :)