Reference Images and How I Find Them…

⚠️Warning: Graphic images of real injuries.

When it comes to special effects makeup - especially looks that are based within real life like moulage - reference images are an important starting point. Having images in front of you when you are working ensures that you are basing your look in reality, and even if you are not copying the image 100% it will give you direction and assurance when creating.

When you are new to finding good quality reference images it can be a difficult and intimidating task however there are a few tips and resources that can make this easier.

My first port of call whenever I am looking for inspiration or reference is often Google images. You can find a lot of things there as long as you ensure your 'safe search' settings are off and you know what to type in. Due to the rise in popularity of special effects makeup in recent years however you will find that you need to specify that you are looking for real life examples, I simply do this by adding the word real into my search. You can generally find out if the image that you are looking at is makeup or not by clicking through to the link attached to the photo; this will take you to the website where the image has been posted and more often than not the context of the image will easily let you know whether you are looking at a real or fabricated wound.

Obviously Google is free to use and easily accessible as long as you have the internet so this makes it ideal as a starting point and, as long as you are willing to put in the effort to search for higher quality images of what you need, then you will be okay with just this.
The next place I want to talk about is Shutterstock.com. Shutterstock is a stock image provider who have a wide selection of images on their site. If you wish to download images it will cost you a monthly subscription fee which varies depending on the quantity of photos you wish to download, however you can look through the website without paying which if you are simply using the images as reference is all you need. The selection of real medical photos is pretty vast so this is definitely a good option as well. I'm sure other stock image providers would probably also have their own selections so if you already have a favourite stock image provider it would be worth checking there too.

Another set of resources that are worth considering are medical photography databases. Now this is not something that I can personally speak much on as they are not something that I use but I am aware that they exist and that they are an invaluable resource for medical special effects artists. The reason I do not use them myself is simply that I have never needed to stray from the places that I tend to use to source my references, however I have definitely ended up on them through Google images from time to time.

The last thing I want to talk about today is books. Books are always a brilliant thing to have lying around and I find that when trying to create the most realistic injury possible, anatomy and physiology books can be incredibly helpful. This is because they can help to identify what you should be seeing as the layers of skin are peeled back as well as helping you to understand the interactions between different body parts; such as the size differences. Books like this can also be incredibly helpful when trying to understand how different injuries and body parts will heal, making older versions of your injuries easier to create.

The next thing I want to talk about is a particular book called 'Special Effects Guide of Real Human Wounds and Injuries' by Benito Garcia. I recently got my hands on a copy of this and I can't rave about it enough. It does excatly what it says on the tin and is packed full of examples of real injuries especially for makeup artists. Obviously this book is not for the faint hearted and there are many pages within it that may cause distress to some people however, if you have a strong stomach and you are looking for some new resources to help with your makeup, then this book really has it all. If you are interested then it is available on Amazon and although it isn't the cheapest book it is worth every penny in my opnion.

The last way that I find reference images is simply by taking them myself. Any time myself or a member of my family has an injury I make sure to get a high quality image of it as you never know when it is going to come in handy. You may feel a little weird asking people at first but after a while people get used to it and most of my friends and family now will take photos of their injuries and send them straight to me without me even needing to ask!

I hope that you found some of this information useful, I know when I first started out I really struggled knowing where to look when it came to finding reference images, however once you get the hang of it you will be able to source anything you need in no time!!

If you want to know how I use these reference images in practice please tune back in for next Monday's blog post.

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments then please let me know :)