January 8, 2025 -   Amazing Spider-Man #638, Cover. 2010 Watercolor and gouache on Illustration Board, 11 x 17".   Part 1: Why do we need reference? — Refining searches through specificity — Today begins a 3-part post on "referential" advice. I will include a smattering of links that some of you may find useful, but my main purpose is to convey my thought process — in particular, the way in which I increase the depth of my knowledge pool (despite starting at the shallow end). One of the key elements in nearly every image I create is reference, photographic or otherwise. Even those images that require no direct quotations benefit from previous memories, whether consciously cited or not. Aside from my weekly exhibition of embarrassing photos, it is a subject I frequently talk about, often because I am…