Art and Drawing References: A Palette, a Type Pairing and a Folder of One-Page Tutorials

My art references aren't a big library. They're a couple of short notes and a folder of images. That's the appeal: when you sit down to draw or design something, it helps to have the colors, the fonts and a few examples in one place, not a bookmark folder with 400 entries nobody reads.

Here's what's in there.

Color: one palette, written down

This came out of a brand concept of mine that needed a logo, bags and cups. The logo and packaging designs never got past a placeholder in my notes, but the palette is finished, and it's the kind of thing that works well beyond the project it was made for.

Role	Name	Hex
Primary	Chalkboard Black	#1A1A1A
Primary	Eggshell White	#F0F0E0
Accent	Yellow-Gold	#FCB900
Accent	Bright Aqua	#00B5E2
Accent	Bright Coral	#FF6F61

Why it works: the two primaries are softened versions of black and white. Chalkboard Black isn't pure black and Eggshell White has a little warmth, so the pair reads as chalk on a board instead of a harsh screen. The three accents are bright and spread across the wheel, warm gold, cool aqua and a coral in between, and they all hold up against either primary.

Tip

Use one accent per piece and let the other two sit out. Three bright accents at full strength on one page gets loud fast.

Naming the colors helps more than you'd think. "Bright Coral" is easier to remember and ask for than #FF6F61, and it makes the palette feel like a thing rather than a list of numbers.

Type: two fonts that get along

Use	Font
Main / headings	Della Respira
Secondary / body	Kollektif

Della Respira is a classical serif with a lot of character, free on Google Fonts. Kollektif is a clean geometric sans-serif. Put together, the serif carries the personality and the sans keeps things readable. It's the standard serif-plus-sans move, and it's standard because it works.

The one open item in my notes is a Japanese font to go with them, which is still marked with a question mark. If you're pairing a Latin font with Japanese text, pick the Japanese face by weight and feel first, and let the Latin fonts follow.

Drawing: one-page tutorials

The other half is a folder of one-page drawing tutorials and reference sheets: 23 single-page images, each one about a single subject. It's a random grab bag rather than a course, which is how the note is titled, too.

That randomness is the useful part. A few ways to use a pile like this:

• Pick one at random. No deciding. Whatever comes up is today's drawing.
• Follow it once, then draw it again without looking. The first pass is copying. The second is where you find out what you actually learned.
• Keep it to one page. One subject, one sitting. The format's whole appeal is that it's finishable.

Try this

When you find a one-page tutorial you like, save it into one folder right away. A random pile you can pull from beats a curated list you never get around to making.

Where this fits

It's a small kit, and small is fine. If you'd rather generate images than draw them, I keep an AI tools directory with an images and AI art section. And if your design work ends up printed and in a case, the DVD and game case cover dimensions post has the sizes.