good places to find art reference that are not full of AI trash
21 Nov 2025 16:10![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doodlemancyimage searches are just junked up to hell. google, pinterest and duckduckgo's "no AI" filters do not fuckin work. so, here's a quick n dirty list of where i go now when i need some drawing reference.
caveat that's probably obvious: even the "AI-free" big stock websites probably have at least some AI lurking in them, because people who litter don't give a shit about "no littering" signs.
istockphoto, getty images, & shutterstock
https://www.istockphoto.com/ & https://www.gettyimages.com/ & https://www.shutterstock.com
https://pixabay.com/
free stock photo site. requires ai images to be labeled and lets you filter for authentic images only.
unsplash
https://unsplash.com/
free stock photo site. explicitly does not allow generative AI uploads.
flickr
https://www.flickr.com/search/
not completely AI-free, but it hasn't been cool since yahoo instant messenger still existed, so the clankers mostly ignore it. GREAT search tools, lots of Creative Commons stuff, you can even use advanced search to narrow your search by date to pre-AI-boom times. heads up, this is one of the rare big long-standing gallery sites that still allows some NSFW images, so be warned if you don't use the filters DICKS WILL BE ON YOUR SCREEN. (i guess that probably also means you could find nude reference there.)
the internet archive
https://archive.org/
can be a little tricky and clunky to use at times, but filters can often turn up interesting stuff you won't find in other places. definitely not AI-free but can be filtered by date to pre-AI-boom uploads.
the base mesh
https://www.thebasemesh.com/
a fantastic growing archive of basic 3D models of common objects. easy to download and view an object at an angle.
reference angle
http://referenceangle.com/
a much more specific tool, for when you need to see a head at an angle. try it out. shit rocks
for pose reference made specifically for artists, you should also check out adorkastock, trueref, and jookpubstock. i also highly recommend the Character Design References Visual Library.
caveat that's probably obvious: even the "AI-free" big stock websites probably have at least some AI lurking in them, because people who litter don't give a shit about "no littering" signs.
istockphoto, getty images, & shutterstock
https://www.istockphoto.com/ & https://www.gettyimages.com/ & https://www.shutterstock.com
MIRACULOUSLY, these have not yet fallen to AI. they will advertise their stupid AI "tools" loudly at you, but those are for modifying images after-the-fact. they do not actually allow generated images to be uploaded for sale. their size and popularity, along with the fact that stock photo sites tend to be good about specific keywords and descriptions, makes them ideal places to search. ime these sites were like half of google image results pre-AI-boom anyway LOL
pexels
https://www.pexels.com
free stock photo site. large selection, pretty good search tools. explicitly does not allow generative AI uploads.
https://pixabay.com/
free stock photo site. requires ai images to be labeled and lets you filter for authentic images only.
unsplash
https://unsplash.com/
free stock photo site. explicitly does not allow generative AI uploads.
flickr
https://www.flickr.com/search/
not completely AI-free, but it hasn't been cool since yahoo instant messenger still existed, so the clankers mostly ignore it. GREAT search tools, lots of Creative Commons stuff, you can even use advanced search to narrow your search by date to pre-AI-boom times. heads up, this is one of the rare big long-standing gallery sites that still allows some NSFW images, so be warned if you don't use the filters DICKS WILL BE ON YOUR SCREEN. (i guess that probably also means you could find nude reference there.)
the internet archive
https://archive.org/
can be a little tricky and clunky to use at times, but filters can often turn up interesting stuff you won't find in other places. definitely not AI-free but can be filtered by date to pre-AI-boom uploads.
the base mesh
https://www.thebasemesh.com/
a fantastic growing archive of basic 3D models of common objects. easy to download and view an object at an angle.
reference angle
http://referenceangle.com/
a much more specific tool, for when you need to see a head at an angle. try it out. shit rocks
for pose reference made specifically for artists, you should also check out adorkastock, trueref, and jookpubstock. i also highly recommend the Character Design References Visual Library.
