Looking for reference artwork source of people? What about cloth books?

I am having a problem finding reference images of people. This is true even though I have the power of the internet. There are two places I know where I can get lots of images of not just people, but also fashion. They are amazon.com, and also JCPenny. They have pictures of models wearing the cloths. I could even get some reproduction historic fashion pictures this way.

My problem is, can I use them? They certainly didn't give any obvious way of downloading them, I have to do a hack to get them.

If I am fully understanding the law on reference images, I can use them for reference, but not use them for derived works. Could I get in trouble with those pictures? The police often have time to search my computer, about one time every 2 years. They just had the chance to look at it about 1 month ago. What I am saying, it's not something I can keep silent about.

 

Pinterest is usually a great source for reference pictures.

 

+1 for Pintrest. Also, the world. There must be a least a couple hundred people wandering around this planet. I saw some just this morning. You might start there.

 

I do take my chances looking at people when I am out in public places. Having a pencil and paper out there is odd and strange behavior in my area, I could end up locked up.

It would be even worse if I was taking photographs of them. They would be offended by it. I might even get jumped by a group of men. I guess I would get to study anatomy in more detail that way.

 

I normally go to this site.
Check out 3d.sk.
They have lots of human body reference pics.
And their pics and texture stuff, were used for the assassin's creed games
and other games too. They even have pics, of old school flintlock pistols
and cannons.

Oh no. I forgot to put the link. Here it is.
https://www.3d.sk

 

They don’t need to be strangers, use friends, family even just a mirror. In fact, the bigger question would be where could you not find images of people for drawing reference. Books, magazines, comics, the news paper and web has nearly as many images of people as cats. (Drawings of humans predates the internet by ~40k years.) Reference material for drawing people is, in the practical sense, infinite.

 

I think the question here is more about what you're allowed to use and what you're allowed to use it for.

I'm pretty sure if I get a few pictures from amazon.com and use them to measure the relative length of limbs for my drawings I'm not going to get in trouble. I'm pretty sure if I pick one of those images and trace it I will get in trouble if the image spreads far enough. Where exactly is the line in the middle where "ok" and "not ok" meet?

 

I assumed that “reference for drawing” was used in the traditional sense. If tracing or copying was what was actually meant, I would suggest a camera and some willing friends or family or stock art. Deviant art as a stock section that is pretty deep.

Additionally, if it just used as an excerise, the source doesn’t matter. Just like in music, you offen learn by playing well known songs, If you are doing commercial work, it’s best to source your own reference.