Color Stock

A big part about what I do with digital art revolves around the photos I choose to edit. The photos are sometimes my own, but more often than not I rely on the internet for all my stock image needs. Since this is an important step in the creation of my artwork, I thought I would share how I go about picking my stock and mention some tips and tricks I've come across. I also want to split this into two different posts with today's explaining where exactly I go to find the stock and tomorrow's being what I take into consideration while searching. So without further or do, here is how I typically go about selecting the photos I use.

To start off a project, I usually begin my search at a royalty-free stock website called Unsplash. This site has a gigantic library of amazing photos that you can use in any commercial or personal project for free. Now a photo being royalty-free, or in the public domain, is a big deal when it comes to design because it allows you to use and edit a photo however you like without getting personal permission from the photographer or creator. While this also doesn't mean you have to credit them, I always try my best to give credit where credit is due because, without the photo, I would have no artwork in the first place. So tip, or really recommendation, number one from me is to always credit the stock you use. This is especially true when using stock of models. In this case, I try to find out who the model is as well and either write out their name or tag them in the post itself. This isn't only ethical but it could also give you some good exposure for your art piece. For example, back in May of this year I created a piece that involved a photo from Brad Lloyd of a model named Nerea. It was a simple edit that involved a blue liquid flowing from her eyes (Looking back on it I really love it so I'd check it out here if I were you!). Nonetheless, when posting this picture I went ahead and tagged both the model and photographer. Within a few hours of posting, both had seen and liked my picture. They both even went on to repost the artwork and tag my account in their Instagram stories. While I only received a few new followers, tagging the people involved got me some exposure and made me feel great!

Now, after searching over Unsplash, or another royalty-free photo website, I typically go on the hunt for supporting imagery. This includes pictures of clouds, plants, textures, fonts, and many other things. My favorite spot to find these types of images is on a site called DeviantArt. Now first visiting this website is a bit overwhelming because it is just a collection of all things art. So you will go on and see digital renders, pencil drawings, GIFs, cartoons, comics, photography and so much more. A big tip for anyone going onto this website is to go to your browsing configuration under settings and un-check the "Show Deviations with Mature Content" box because let's just say there is some VERY artistic stuff on this site as well. However, looking past this, DeviantArt has a ton of cool finds that have helped massively with a few projects.

After searching on these sites I typically have what I want to use, but sometimes I have to continue looking for a very specific item or model pose that I want. When this happens I usually result to Google Images. A cool thing I found out about searching through Google is that under Tools in Images, you can specify the usage rights you need to use a certain photo. This again is important because you could get in some serious trouble if you use the wrong person's photo without their permission. However, there have been plenty of times where Google has come through with some great pictures, especially from Wikimedia which is basically an archive of a good amount of public domain photos that you can use without any hassle.

Overall, these are the steps I go through for almost every project. After doing this for almost a year now I think I am getting pretty good at it too! However, I hope that after reading through my process, I have at least given you an idea of where to look if you want to start designing with stock photos. Tomorrow I will go more in-depth about my thought process of picking the photos I do. I will see you then!

- Jared