Searching for references in the AI era.
AD 2024, more than a year in the generative AI era, one of the more annoying side effects, one that Google shouldn't have seen coming (or maybe they would think twice before pointing so much on Generative AI), is that now Google Image is literally a useless research tool. Even if you have the good sense to add -ai to your query, you'll be flooded by AI generated images anyway.
So, how can we artists survive in our quest to search reliable images to use as reference for our art?
Well, the best way is to take a camera, or your phone, and go take some pictures yourself, but this is not always possible.
Books, old magazines and catalogs are always a great source of information and pictures but, if you're not lucky enough to have a good library in your town, it can be very expensive.
Open Library can help
But there are other options that maybe you didn't consider.
One is the virtual visit to museums.
I was already aware that many museums give you the opportunity to do a virtual tour, but I started using it to search things to draw during the covid lockdown, and I still use this great tool when I need something very specific.
For example, a couple months ago I was doing an illustration based on mayan myths, but what I found on Google Image were iper saturated images of very muscular handsome men with feathered headpieces. AI, obviously.
Not very reliable was the search for websites, so I went directly to the sources, the archaeological museum of Mexico City, that, for my big luck, had a great virtual tour, with a resolution so good you can, sometimes, read the labels under the reports.
Museums, something (like the Moma of New York) have a photo archive you can consult too.
Museums are just a great resource, and there are museums about literally everything.
If you still have some doubts, you can integrate your information by watching some videos from experts on YouTube.
There are plenty of serious historians, botanists, biologists and so on.
This can be a bit time-consuming (I watched everything about meso-american civilizations! I'm a happy child!), but if accuracy is what you are searching for it is worth.
I used to have documentaries playing when working on another illustration.
If you need some monument or views from a particular place, Google Street View is your friend.
They have mapped a good part of the place of interest in the world, even outside the big city.
You can't go yourself to the Scottish Islands in the Orkney to visit Skara Brae?
Street View has been there too.
Do you need a path in the Dolomites?
Street View has that too.
(Obviously there is no need to tell you to not copy the images but to use them just as references, right?)
If what you need are images of animals, well, just go on YouTube and search for “nature cam live” and the world will open in front of your eyes.
Every cam has footage of the last 24 hours you can check in search of what you need.
Some of them have a really good resolution, they are a great resource if you want to do study of animals in their environment.
Some zoos have their live cameras too.
It is easier to spot the animals there, but you will see a lot less action.
