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Pigment
BeginnerAdded October 16, 2026

Build a pose reference board

Collect photographs you can draw from, and keep them on a local board instead of a social feed.

A feed is a bad drawing desk. Timed figure sites give you photographs of bodies, and PureRef lets you pin the useful ones next to the canvas. This workflow does not ask a model to invent a person.

Tools

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  • PureRef

    A desktop board for pinning reference images beside the canvas.

  • Line of Action

    Timed figure-drawing sessions built from photographs.

  • Quickposes

    Short pose timers for gesture practice.

How to do it

  1. 1

    Name the job

    Write one sentence: a seated guest, a three-quarter head, a hand holding a pen. A board without a job becomes a pile of pictures you will not use.

  2. 2

    Save only matching poses

    Run a short session on Line of Action or Quickposes and keep the poses that fit the sentence. Prefer photos you took, or session images the site allows you to practice from. Skip generated bodies if you are trying to learn weight and joints.

  3. 3

    Pin them in PureRef

    Drop the images onto a PureRef board, crop to the part you will draw, and make the clearest pose the largest. Save the board next to the artwork file.

  4. 4

    Draw, then close the board

    Use the photos to check angles and overlaps. When the drawing starts to trace the photo, hide the board and finish from what you understand.

Nearby on the desk