Sourcebooks and their importance for artists

I want to talk about finding sources this week. Sources are important for artists and craftspeople; they spur on the creative mind and offer tools to accomplish it's vision. Therefore I think it's safe to say that searching out a good source is a worthy use of one's time, and once you've found a good one it's often a spring that can be visited again and again without running dry. One of the most valuable places to find this? A book.

A sourcebook is any book that you use in your work, whether it's as a drawing reference or for clip art in your graphics. It can also be a book that you simply find full of inspiring images. Obviously we also have the phenomenal sources that the internet brings to our fingertips, but there is wisdom in keeping close a small arsenal of books as sources. Having something immediately tangible comes in handy for an artist now and then. Join me after the jump as I catalogue a few different kinds of sourcebooks.