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One thing I forgot to mention, is that when you spend time drawing from imagination, you discover more of who YOU are as an artist! The things you are into, how you like to represent things, what your natural drawing tempo is, etc are just a few of the things that you discover while 100% focused on your craft. No looking back and forth at other images, no distractions, just you and your work. Theres something special that develops the more time you spend doing that.
My problem was that I stopped drawing completely from reference simply because I found it boring. Once I learned the basics of shapes, proportions and perspective, I just wasn’t interested in copying. But now, that means I find it so hard to accept that I could do with more anatomy, color and lighting knowledge and stop limiting myself just because I don’t enjoy reference drawing/painting. Is this a common occurrence?
How about artists like me who have aphantasia. Aphantasia is the inability to voluntarily create a mental picture in your head. What would you advise, cause its like I can ONLY draw from reference since I can't form images in my head
For those who have Aphantasia, like me, it is also worth considering drawing based on conceptualization. I spent decades trying to visualize in my mind, not knowing that I physically could not. But being iterative on the page, and conceptual in your thoughts builds the same muscles for those that lack a minds eye.
Yes! For me it happened the other way around. I knew I couldn't visualize, and I never had ideas of what I'd want to draw. So I just assumed I was bad at art. Then through sketchbook session videos I realized I can draw something cool by starting with an awful and vague sketch and just adjusting again and again in tiny steps until it looks good. It almost feels like sculpting. Plus I get most of my ideas while drawing, not beforehand. It's basically thinking on the page, and it's amazing.
Here’s a tip on how to transition from reference to imagination. Take baby steps before you run with it. First, take the reference and make changes like pose, hair, body type, and clothing. Once you get comfortable with making changes then use your style or way of drawing and only use the abstractions of pose or lighting or other elements from the reference. Everything else is from your imagination.
I was definitely the guy who drew ONLY from imagination and only semi recently understood the power of a reference :P but I’ll never give up my imagination time … for me it’s the most fun! Great vid!
I enjoy drawing from imagination as I get to see what I know how to draw. There areas I lack are sometimes the anatomy, but when I do get it down well without reference (which has happened a lot lately, but there are a lot of fails lol) I get SO happy. Reference only works well when you are learning, or wanting to use it for inspiration or to get the proportions right.
My preffered drawing method is drawiing from imagination. I would say I do two thirds of my drawing process using imagination alone, ofcourse I fill gaps in understanding with references but I noticed that if I start with references I end up just copying what I see.
I've also noticed that my observation skills increased tremendously once I started drawing from imagination because I knew I wouldn't have a photo to refer while I am doing that. The amount of information that we get while observing 3d objects (also touching them to feel the form), we will never get that level of information from 2d references.
Wow. The honesty about drawing from imagination and reference was a really great tip for me. I stop drawing from imagination because ppl said that was bad. But now I know I can use both of these techniques. Thank you for this video!
this really hit close to home! im a full time artist and i spent the past 4-5 years drawing from reference in order to be faster + be able to pay my bills, and it really fucked up my relationship with art. this year ive been practicing drawing from imagination again, and it is not only helpful to your skill, but also your soul + enjoyment of art
this has been my biggest art revelation of this year and maybe previous years. i've drawn from hundreds of references and studied often, and grew satisfied with my ability to replicate what i saw. but what clicked was that the reason i have no original ideas is because i never practiced creativity/drawing imaginatively. I didn't know that was a separate skill until recently. in just a month i started noticing a significant increase in my ability to draw from imagination
This was what helped me a lot to memorize anatomy a lot faster. I'd try to draw say the upper body muscles, then pinpoint what muscles i dont know, look at a diagram and note those "missing" muscles, then draw again. Once I got the muscles down, I draw a bunch of different poses paying mind to which muscles show, stretch, contract and stuff. It's a slow process definitely, you start learning the biggest muscles then move on to the smaller and more subtle parts, which may or may not be always important. Same thing with any fundamentals, colors, light, perspective, values. In all things, its balance, not solely one or the other.
This was an interesting perspective, at first I thought you were going to roast hyperrealism art or anyone who uses reference, this was pretty insightful and solid advice
I have Been drawing from imagination ever since I started drawing I use both references and imagination and I personally think its fun! creating things unique,original and unusual is refreshing :D
for me personally, i started like you said and drew from imagination.But i eventually got to a point that i could really get frustrated and beat myself up over things i couldnt do properly. So now i tend to use reference and build the foundations of the pose, facial features etc, often time ill than go in and change things to a character out of my imagination. The referencing of pictures has really helped me understand areas that i need to focus on and get better at. It really helped me learn things i wouldnt have done if i tried to just use my imagination on its own. Using reference its great for teaching yourself how things work, how light works and how structures help shape things. From there take those foundations you lay and weave your own imagination into that pose etc. Great video as always
This was an eye-opener. I never, ever draw from imagination, though years ago that's the only way I ever drew (and honestly, that was when I enjoyed art the most). As I got older, began learning all the fundamentals, and wanting to take art more seriously and improve, I made referencing a big priority. but I realize I've now hamstrung myself into an odd situation where I can only draw from reference, unwilling to trust my own ability to create anymore. Given me something to think about when it comes to improving drawing abilities, thanks a lot for this one Josh~
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your videos. Sometimes I don't need a video with a bunch of technical tips, but instead one that helps me realize that I'm not learning/doing art wrong. I've loved art my whole life, but really only started taking it seriously recently. I've been struggling a lot with feeling like I'm not learning the "right way," but your videos have helped me second guess the way I'm doing things a lot less, which really helps to free up space in my brain allowing me to focus more on drawing.
I’m glad you put this out. I’ve been struggling between figuring out how heavily I should rely on reference. Sometimes it’s just far more freeing to draw from imagination, and then I’ll take a step back and make corrections using reference.
I've made it a habit to look at these type of videos of yours while I'm doing mundane things like eating and brushing my teeth so that I always have something to think about while I do those things. The amount of things I've learnt from you is insane and I'm so grateful to you for these videos. For anyone coming across his channel for the first time, please follow him. I started art only about 8 months back and I am definitely nowhere near close to where I want to be, but his videos and his tips are certainly a great push in the right direction. Thank you so, so much for your content, I really, truly enjoy and cherish it. Hope you're having a good day, and hope you're safe out there. Lots of love and good thoughts.
Thanks so much for posting this today. I have been struggling for a year or two trying to force myself to draw from references exclusively. At first it was good for me. But I forgot how to draw from imagination. It’s like in focusing solely on the one I lost the inner vision/voice that used drive my attempts at art. In essence I have shut off that part of my brain.
Did some drawing with imagination + reference for this Inktober. The result is better than i expect but since my skill is poor there is lots of rooms for improvement.
Love what you say about imagination but a good chunk of visual artists have aphantasia. It's not that we don't have imagination, but we think in ideas rather than pictures. Be cool to hear some of your suggestions for that.
@@inertpixel I often wonder that. I'm autistic but only found out that aphantasia wasn't how everybody's brain worked until I was 35. I can describe exactly how I want a painting to be but still won't know what it looks like. I'm sure there's a spectrum for it
Seeing things as 3d forms instead of images can help you in visualising something and tracing over the image you have in the mind. At first I found it too difficult to draw anything from imagination. It was because I had only experience of drawing from 2d reference. People can think in terms of images but they are really blurry at first because the brain hasn't been trained yet to visualise 3d forms.Once I learnt how to think in 3d, I was able to see the visuals related to the idea in mind way better and now I'm feeling like I'm tracing over those visuals while I draw(Only the subjects I have observed a lot). Kim Jung Gi is doing the same thing. He breaks down everything he sees into simpler geometric forms first. He has those forms in mind while he is drawing.Adding details over it is way easier.Having experience of drawing only from 2d reference without breaking it down ito forms is the reason why most artists have difficulty in really visualising their ideas even though they 'feel like' they are visualising. Hope this gives some insight 😅
Great advice. I struggled to find out why my work was okay sometimes and terrible other times. Until I practiced daily on poses, anatomy and then my weaknesses. Now I see the improvements and still keep the sketch books to remind myself.
Hey. Thanks for this video. It was reassuring to hear from you to not abandon drawing from imagination. My usual approach is to look at reference, when I'm in doubt about how things look and was beginning to question this approach.
It's OK it also happens to me sometimes but something you can do to make your art better is have a theme in your mind basically imagine your finished work in your head for some reason it helps me
You'll get over it, don't worry. I too, used to draw realism. Basically just manually fotocopying photograph. Then it became boring, not challenging. So I began to learn to draw anime/cartoon/thing that rely more on imagination. And yea, it was really crappy drawing lmao. It still is, but i know im getting better and better. And the most important thing is that I enjoy the process. GL
Damn josh, I can really feel how your confidence in front of the camera is growing right now, which in turn boosts the video quality sooo much. This is unbelievable
Thanks for telling this so clearly and honestly ♥️U reminded me why I wanted to learn to draw again....that Kim Jung Gi part was especially what I needed to hear
My job is drawing comics and it's impossible to find reference photos for everything I want to draw in the panels. Finding them would take more time than drawing itself (but it doesn't mean that I completely don't use references, sometimes it's necessary). Anyway, I can't imagine not drawing from imagination :D
As a guy who draws mostly from imagination, I gravitated towards this channel because I needed a lot of help with drawing from reference. So if it helps, here are my personal tips for drawing from imagination: 1. Weirdly, enough references. Not so much in-depth studies but moreso think (a lot, a whole lot) about the things you see and experience everyday. Think about the things that caught your eye yesterday, a month ago, last year, in your childhood. 2. Ties in with the first point, be interested in a lot of vastly different and varied topics and hobbies. The wider your palate, the more imaginative your art will be. This point and point 1 are what I consider to be the most important points and I will bet all my toes that is the literal secret sauce for every imaginative artist out there. Get into high fashion, botany, history, basketball, whatever. The more the better. 3. Get a good night's sleep. A lot of my most vivid imaginations come to me in my dreams. The more you think about something, the more vivid and imaginative your dreams become. Try your best to remember your dreams, do a quick sketch as you soon as you wake up, or write it down. 4. Use your time thinking in the shower for creative and imaginative things instead of stuff like the memed winning an argument in the shower. 5. Be open-minded. Sometimes you need to think like a child. Crafting your thoughts into something cohesive starts when you're already sketching and have references ready to be looked up on your computer. This is how I personally have honed my imagination, I honestly don't know if this will be useful for everyone, but I hope it helps at least one person reading this.
Thanks so much. I've always been in conflict with whether I should draw from imagination OR reference, but imagination is what I had fun with from the start. Then perfectionism came in with reference and it ruined art entirely for me. Now I came to this video seeing if I should even do it from imagination at all. I feel much better now about getting back into it :)
I have to thank you after this , after night and day looking and practice with 10GB of reference .. .Yes there a time i feel sick of it but can't not split myself and just draw from Imazination and actualy feel suffocating and pain when i'm not . I think this is come from me seeing the imagination one come out bad and i just see that as a SIGN of UN-Grow and so on i come back to Reference ..now is somewhat a comfort method but as you say I Just can not assemble it ...It Killing me time to time and Don't know why ...but now i know ...Thank you so much
Drawing from imagination is actaully quite limiting, even the best people that draw from imagination end up drawing the same faces environment eta with slight variations, When we are talking about using references vs imagination neither is better or worse it just depends on what kind of work you are doing and what it requires. I can tell you most concept artists use some kind of reference, they dont waste time remembering how to draw a car from there head they just find a photo, This helps anchor the idea in this reality and makes it relatable to people, good Marketable concepts come from the real world research never just from your own head. If your a student that wants to be a professional dont worry about drawing from imagination most people in industry are using references.
I think for solid things, like where the wheels are positioned on a bicycle, for example, then yes, use reference. Of course there are things that need reference but the initial ideas can be drawn with imagination, because you visualise your reference on the paper and you evolve it as you go. Not everyone can visualise to a high level and draw what they see, so reference , for ideas and visualisation, might be of help in the initial stages of constructing an image. Like a scenario or the mood, these things are tied to the imagination with emotions. You really can’t reference that from the outside. Not fully.
@@pixieartnebula yeah for idea generation sketching from your mind is perfictly fine, even bloating in big shapes can be done quite well from imagination.
This has inspired me SO MUCH. At one point I stopped drawing from imagination and now I draw only from reference, but my drawings always turn out so boring and dull and have nothing special to show, I usually feel they're not my vision of the world, not even what I like, but I am so afraid of seeing a result I don't like (mostly anatomy or composition) so I kept drawing from reference. I'm gonna change that and do my best to draw from imagination while enjoying the process. Wish me luck.
Finally I think I found the middle point , looking a few minutes the reference without drawing, and trying to remember the reference in the illustration without looking at it again
Great video , a good train of thought and cohesive ideas . An exercise that it helped me was drawing multiple sketches using a theme , like lets say " Mad King " and like the first two sketches are in most cases with less details but as you get to the thrid , fourth , fifth , six , the details gets better and better and the idea behind it is that in the first two or so sketches you put the main ideas that come to mind , but after that you get more and more refined ideas details wise and visualize better the subject that you are drawing .
wow really great video , ive been drawing for more than half my life and just realized through this video that i never truly grasped drawing from imagination. Thanks and keep up the amazing work.
As a guy whose been drawing for 3 years now, i think Its important to be REALLY familiar with what you actually want to draw. I've only just started drawing from imagination more and find it liberating. Though it is scary to think that you might just fail and end up hating what you drew, but a lot of times even i surprise myself to what i ended up drawing and actually really liked it
Great and inspiring video! I think I've been trying too hard to draw from imagination recently and this was good reminder that it's okay to reel it back and use more reference.
Thank you!!Every one of your video gives me a lot of help!I‘ve tried that, drawing from memory makes my work stiffer than drawing from memory. I've not realized that I'm drawing from memory before.Thank you very much!
thats what ive been doing for months because I was just too lazy to do anatomy studies or figure drawing and just wanted to draw this might be why i improved really fast
I haven’t been on this channel in a while my brother🤎🇳🇬I know have a pc and many programs, I’m learning blender 3D modeling🥰 AND we have the same glasses🤣 I also have a beard
I am one of those who began with no references... I just didn't even bother or think of it. Back then there wasn't a whole lot of images on google compared to now, no pinterest or facebook/instagram or anything at all really. Just websites. I only remember using a reference once and it turned out amazing even 20 years later I am still amazed that I was able to pull it off. I wish I had used it more. The only pictures I looked at were other artist's work, but it wasn't really reference it was more like copying their style and learning from it. Nowadays I look at references, I'm transitioning into more realism now in traditional art, I am finished with digital illustration, so I'm turning to photos more now instead of other people's artwork or their interpretations.
Liked and subbed. Im weird, in that Im the opposite: I draw mostly from imagination, reference from memory a lot, and Ive been drawing for yeeears. Just started digital drawing a couple months ago and really glad I found your channel.
I usually start my paintings purely from imagination, just getting the image in my head roughly on paper and seeing what works and what doesn't. Only after that will I start going on Pinterest and looking up references to the put into a sort of collage of my painting. I don't go looking for the perfect references, if necessary I edit them until I can work with them if I need to. So my workflow is a mix and match of imagination and painting from references
Recently I took on the challenge to only draw with a mouse for the entire past month, doing daily theme prompts. This had two dramatic effects: 1. I learned a lot of software tricks that helped get me off of relying on draftsmanship alone. Ctrl+Z remained lightly used. 2. I learned how to use reference both more intensively and more imaginatively. To minimize effort, I eventually had to do much more photobashing than I had before because the usual alternative - sketching from a blank sheet - was so much more difficult with no muscle memory to carry me and the available tools being too technical and precise to allow the possibility of repeatedly scratching out marks until it looked sort of right. I would still spend time studying on top of the reference, but with a definite function: Drawing up every plane in the figure helped with decision-making and magic wand selection later on, and served as the "polished sketch". It was the key point where I could add major changes to form and carry them forward to linework and shading, so I would gravitate towards building a "plane layer" and then final lines in a second layer. But once you have a detailed reference in the editor, your mind turns toward thinking, "oh, but I could just push the pose in the reference", or "I could apply a perspective transform here so that I don't have to eyeball it". There are lots of photo manipulation tricks, and they can also be used to take "flat" drawings and give them dimension, which opened the option of building faces by doing a front or profile version and then posing it. Thus more and more of the transformative work was done at an early stage, before I've even put down a single line for the illustration. And that in turn made it easier to be bold and create more complex and imaginative scenes without any technical burden. Carefully combining references makes me relatively unlimited technically, and it guarantees that I am studying the form in the most direct sense every time. Using a stylus would get me there faster in some cases, but whatever I do going forward, I'm definitely going to be using some of these techniques.
Is it okay if I used my own reference? Like, I do the pose on my own, I take a picture, then I draw it and add my own twist with the shading and some shapes. I also use my imagination a lot! Along with references as well when I don't know how the anatomy is supposed to work ☺️
Great video and great advice. I used to draw from imagination all the time, then I took one college drawing course where everything was from reference. It didn't go well: my self-esteem was so caught up with my drawing that it was really tough to draw from reference and be bad at it. I've been drawing from reference for a while now, and I've improved a lot, but I haven't gone back to imaginative drawing for a while. I think it's time.
Mmm I see mix of the 2 make sense Thx for the tips I most said tho I need to work on my head, Hands, hair, eye, lips nose personally Tho I think the proportion of the body is starting to take form it not too bad 3 to 3.5 head for the torso + head for what I want to do seem pretty good.
Im honestly surprised hearing you that cause that's what I have been doing and what I'll always will cause the reason I started to take art seriously was so I can get life to all the things in my head. For me its so natural its a surprise that its not for most people? idk I always use reference but I search the ones that can get me to where I need to and then twist it. Drawing only reference its just so insufferably boring to me, thats why my studies have to be related to other personal project or I just wont do it (Drawing figures but those fig are my OC for example)
Incredible tips right here! I was scared Ive done something wrong 'til now and then I realized I already do it alot of the time when I paint. Id get myself multiple references of the same thing and then try to create something entirely new out of it, with different poses, lightning etc. Looking at reference and drawing from imagination are equally as important as the other in my opinion but remember: "you don't have to be a slave to your reference" -Aaron Blaise
My whole life I had this mentality that looking at references was cheating. It's really hard to break that even in the present. I have always drawn from imagination or sometimes looked briefly at a reference beforehand and then tried to draw it from memory. How I wish I used references back then. It sounds really petty, I know. But I didn't know any better at the time. I know nobody would really care about my thoughts, being lost in the crowd and all. I love this channel because it is very, very unbiased as to what styles are better, what art is bad, etc. Things are looked at objectively and I value that.
How I test what I know is by drawing a full drawing with a background and everything completely from imagination and if I find something I don’t know how to draw I just do a very loose doodle of it and continue drawing, after I’m done I choose the thing I struggled with the least but I’m still not satisfied with the result and practice drawing it with references, also the very loose sketch helps me put my thoughts on paper easily and it became a habit now so drawing background is fun for me even though I’m not good at it
Right now instead of heavily refencing (copying every contour and tracing with the eye) I'm just taking my references, studying their shapes and what makes it "it" and then slapping in on my paper or tablet using the basic 3D shapes and combining multiple references to create original compositions. It's a start at least!
Drawing imagination really my struggle because I really too relying the reference. I heard from some other artist as well told me that not using reference will make work flow more quickly because you didn't have constant to search for it. If we already have the information of subject we want to draw in our memory, we just need to recall it. But I found out that it is hard to get it out information although I constantly seeing or observe subject from reference. that because i maybe too spoiled by searching reference often. Now I try practice some drawing without reference. If I'm learning from reference, I try to draw different angle or pose of what reference offer.
I drew from imagination for like 10 years and I never really liked my work, now that I use refrences my drawing has improved leaps and bounds, however I find myself going back to the drawings I did using imagination and constantly redraw them cause I find that those are the best refrences for anything creative I've done, if that makes sense....
to me that was the whole point of learning how to draw.. even if i shouldn't i will do it cuz that's fun. but you can fix everything with references tho, it doesnt have to be either wonky and 100% no ref or just a drawing of a girl from pinterest
I was recently VERY humbled by Kim Jung Gi. He made me go back to the absolute, most basic fundamentals about drawing shapes. I am SO BAD at drawing shapes, and how can I say that when I am a professional level artist? He draws completely from imagination, and watching him draw is watching him build a world. I have really enjoyed learning the human form with basic shapes. Say humble, folks. It makes you a better artist.
i just start drawing from imagination and it's really hard but it feels really great to se that the people actully like it , and it feels better than someone saying the exactly same thing but with a draw that i trace or i depend a lot in references, so the key it is keep the practice and sooner than later you'll see the difference and how much you have improved
Every pro artists uses reference,you cannot physically imagine things you have never seen,dragons are just big lizards that breathe fires,giants are just humans but larger,everything is based on refrence.
ive been drawing from reference for so long that now im having to regain my creativity back and remember why i wanted to draw in the first place and what it was i wanted to draw because i have no ideas anymore LOL
I use my imagination to create unique landscapes and creatures within those environments. It often comes from taking what I know and mixing and twisting it around to create something new and weird.
i dont think drawing from your imagination is an observation (rhyme) because when you draw from ur imagination you end up drawing something cartoonish (not realistic) but if your a really good experienced artist with a educated brain to track a-lot of knowledge in your brain... then uhh, sure. you can do that.
Hey bro I hope you doing well. Actually I see reference and observe how the eyes, mouth, hair are drawn then I draw it with my imagination which comes out mostly great. Sometimes even If I do doodle it comes out pretty good and I am really thankful to God although I am not that expert in anatomy, perspective and other fundamentals but still lack in coloring 😅. It has been 1 month since I started drawing digitally and going really well thanks to youtubers like you and many others.
For full-length narrated breakdowns & tutorials you wont find here on CZcams, Brushes, and timelapses for my most complex and detailed paintings - Consider supporting me on Patreon! ▶ geni.us/ergojoshpatreon
Imagine my disappointment when the drawing on your iPad wasn't a mouse mermaid with a party hat on, holding a trident and riding an elephant.
That sounds like the main character of an average indie game on steam these days
Haha!
Helppp i read this when he said it and it was like what the hell!!!??!
@@blackcitadel37 game sounds kinda sick tho i’d play it
One thing I forgot to mention, is that when you spend time drawing from imagination, you discover more of who YOU are as an artist! The things you are into, how you like to represent things, what your natural drawing tempo is, etc are just a few of the things that you discover while 100% focused on your craft. No looking back and forth at other images, no distractions, just you and your work. Theres something special that develops the more time you spend doing that.
alright
Nice look bro .you look good ..i love ur videos and i can draw from imagination...like anything coz i have a 25+ years experience...wish me luck🙋♂️
My problem was that I stopped drawing completely from reference simply because I found it boring. Once I learned the basics of shapes, proportions and perspective, I just wasn’t interested in copying. But now, that means I find it so hard to accept that I could do with more anatomy, color and lighting knowledge and stop limiting myself just because I don’t enjoy reference drawing/painting. Is this a common occurrence?
@@pixieartnebula cool..that,s the perfect path for you. Let ur imagination shine👍👍
How about artists like me who have aphantasia.
Aphantasia is the inability to voluntarily create a mental picture in your head.
What would you advise, cause its like I can ONLY draw from reference since I can't form images in my head
For those who have Aphantasia, like me, it is also worth considering drawing based on conceptualization. I spent decades trying to visualize in my mind, not knowing that I physically could not. But being iterative on the page, and conceptual in your thoughts builds the same muscles for those that lack a minds eye.
Yes! For me it happened the other way around. I knew I couldn't visualize, and I never had ideas of what I'd want to draw. So I just assumed I was bad at art. Then through sketchbook session videos I realized I can draw something cool by starting with an awful and vague sketch and just adjusting again and again in tiny steps until it looks good. It almost feels like sculpting. Plus I get most of my ideas while drawing, not beforehand. It's basically thinking on the page, and it's amazing.
@@RadishTheFool Yeah, this sounds very familiar. It is like working with a feedback loop with your mind and what is on the page.
@@DaneMurdock Exactly!
Here’s a tip on how to transition from reference to imagination. Take baby steps before you run with it. First, take the reference and make changes like pose, hair, body type, and clothing. Once you get comfortable with making changes then use your style or way of drawing and only use the abstractions of pose or lighting or other elements from the reference. Everything else is from your imagination.
I was definitely the guy who drew ONLY from imagination and only semi recently understood the power of a reference :P but I’ll never give up my imagination time … for me it’s the most fun! Great vid!
So basically a healthy balance of both reference and imagination.
I enjoy drawing from imagination as I get to see what I know how to draw. There areas I lack are sometimes the anatomy, but when I do get it down well without reference (which has happened a lot lately, but there are a lot of fails lol) I get SO happy. Reference only works well when you are learning, or wanting to use it for inspiration or to get the proportions right.
My preffered drawing method is drawiing from imagination. I would say I do two thirds of my drawing process using imagination alone, ofcourse I fill gaps in understanding with references but I noticed that if I start with references I end up just copying what I see.
Im the same 100%
I've also noticed that my observation skills increased tremendously once I started drawing from imagination because I knew I wouldn't have a photo to refer while I am doing that. The amount of information that we get while observing 3d objects (also touching them to feel the form), we will never get that level of information from 2d references.
Wow. The honesty about drawing from imagination and reference was a really great tip for me. I stop drawing from imagination because ppl said that was bad. But now I know I can use both of these techniques. Thank you for this video!
There's people saying that drawing from imagination is bad?
Sounds like they try to cope.
this really hit close to home! im a full time artist and i spent the past 4-5 years drawing from reference in order to be faster + be able to pay my bills, and it really fucked up my relationship with art. this year ive been practicing drawing from imagination again, and it is not only helpful to your skill, but also your soul + enjoyment of art
this has been my biggest art revelation of this year and maybe previous years. i've drawn from hundreds of references and studied often, and grew satisfied with my ability to replicate what i saw. but what clicked was that the reason i have no original ideas is because i never practiced creativity/drawing imaginatively. I didn't know that was a separate skill until recently. in just a month i started noticing a significant increase in my ability to draw from imagination
Nice.
This was what helped me a lot to memorize anatomy a lot faster. I'd try to draw say the upper body muscles, then pinpoint what muscles i dont know, look at a diagram and note those "missing" muscles, then draw again. Once I got the muscles down, I draw a bunch of different poses paying mind to which muscles show, stretch, contract and stuff.
It's a slow process definitely, you start learning the biggest muscles then move on to the smaller and more subtle parts, which may or may not be always important. Same thing with any fundamentals, colors, light, perspective, values. In all things, its balance, not solely one or the other.
This was an interesting perspective, at first I thought you were going to roast hyperrealism art or anyone who uses reference, this was pretty insightful and solid advice
I have Been drawing from imagination ever since I started drawing I use both references and imagination and I personally think its fun! creating things unique,original and unusual is refreshing :D
Josh: "Share your artwork with the world".
Rule 34 Artist be like: *[Sweating really really hard]*
for me personally, i started like you said and drew from imagination.But i eventually got to a point that i could really get frustrated and beat myself up over things i couldnt do properly. So now i tend to use reference and build the foundations of the pose, facial features etc, often time ill than go in and change things to a character out of my imagination.
The referencing of pictures has really helped me understand areas that i need to focus on and get better at. It really helped me learn things i wouldnt have done if i tried to just use my imagination on its own.
Using reference its great for teaching yourself how things work, how light works and how structures help shape things. From there take those foundations you lay and weave your own imagination into that pose etc.
Great video as always
This was an eye-opener. I never, ever draw from imagination, though years ago that's the only way I ever drew (and honestly, that was when I enjoyed art the most). As I got older, began learning all the fundamentals, and wanting to take art more seriously and improve, I made referencing a big priority. but I realize I've now hamstrung myself into an odd situation where I can only draw from reference, unwilling to trust my own ability to create anymore.
Given me something to think about when it comes to improving drawing abilities, thanks a lot for this one Josh~
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your videos. Sometimes I don't need a video with a bunch of technical tips, but instead one that helps me realize that I'm not learning/doing art wrong. I've loved art my whole life, but really only started taking it seriously recently. I've been struggling a lot with feeling like I'm not learning the "right way," but your videos have helped me second guess the way I'm doing things a lot less, which really helps to free up space in my brain allowing me to focus more on drawing.
I’m glad you put this out. I’ve been struggling between figuring out how heavily I should rely on reference. Sometimes it’s just far more freeing to draw from imagination, and then I’ll take a step back and make corrections using reference.
I've made it a habit to look at these type of videos of yours while I'm doing mundane things like eating and brushing my teeth so that I always have something to think about while I do those things. The amount of things I've learnt from you is insane and I'm so grateful to you for these videos. For anyone coming across his channel for the first time, please follow him. I started art only about 8 months back and I am definitely nowhere near close to where I want to be, but his videos and his tips are certainly a great push in the right direction. Thank you so, so much for your content, I really, truly enjoy and cherish it. Hope you're having a good day, and hope you're safe out there. Lots of love and good thoughts.
Thanks Tisha this means alot :)
Bro everything that was said from 9:00-9:20 is EXACTLY how I am. The grid method became a crutch that linked directly to myself esteem. Wow!
Thanks so much for posting this today. I have been struggling for a year or two trying to force myself to draw from references exclusively. At first it was good for me. But I forgot how to draw from imagination. It’s like in focusing solely on the one I lost the inner vision/voice that used drive my attempts at art. In essence I have shut off that part of my brain.
Did some drawing with imagination + reference for this Inktober. The result is better than i expect but since my skill is poor there is lots of rooms for improvement.
Love what you say about imagination but a good chunk of visual artists have aphantasia. It's not that we don't have imagination, but we think in ideas rather than pictures. Be cool to hear some of your suggestions for that.
I wonder if artists like Kim Jung Gi have hyperphantasia.
@@inertpixel I often wonder that. I'm autistic but only found out that aphantasia wasn't how everybody's brain worked until I was 35. I can describe exactly how I want a painting to be but still won't know what it looks like. I'm sure there's a spectrum for it
Aphantasia is a meme, stop self-diagnosing a barely understood mental condition.
@@AndreLuis-gw5ox I'm diagnosed autistic and was assessed for aphantasia at the same time as other divergent behaviours. Knob off.
Seeing things as 3d forms instead of images can help you in visualising something and tracing over the image you have in the mind. At first I found it too difficult to draw anything from imagination. It was because I had only experience of drawing from 2d reference. People can think in terms of images but they are really blurry at first because the brain hasn't been trained yet to visualise 3d forms.Once I learnt how to think in 3d, I was able to see the visuals related to the idea in mind way better and now I'm feeling like I'm tracing over those visuals while I draw(Only the subjects I have observed a lot). Kim Jung Gi is doing the same thing. He breaks down everything he sees into simpler geometric forms first. He has those forms in mind while he is drawing.Adding details over it is way easier.Having experience of drawing only from 2d reference without breaking it down ito forms is the reason why most artists have difficulty in really visualising their ideas even though they 'feel like' they are visualising. Hope this gives some insight 😅
I'm ALWAYS excited to see you Josh! Beard or no beard, you're the best!
Great advice. I struggled to find out why my work was okay sometimes and terrible other times. Until I practiced daily on poses, anatomy and then my weaknesses. Now I see the improvements and still keep the sketch books to remind myself.
Hey. Thanks for this video. It was reassuring to hear from you to not abandon drawing from imagination. My usual approach is to look at reference, when I'm in doubt about how things look and was beginning to question this approach.
I just want to say this is exactlyyyy what I’ve been needing to hear!!!! Thank you for making these videos
Drawing from imagination makes me unmotivated bc it never turns out well :(
Keep practicing
It's OK it also happens to me sometimes but something you can do to make your art better is have a theme in your mind basically imagine your finished work in your head for some reason it helps me
You'll get over it, don't worry.
I too, used to draw realism. Basically just manually fotocopying photograph. Then it became boring, not challenging. So I began to learn to draw anime/cartoon/thing that rely more on imagination. And yea, it was really crappy drawing lmao. It still is, but i know im getting better and better. And the most important thing is that I enjoy the process. GL
Same but i will never let myself down
@@bimajuantara do you have insta? I wanna see your stuff cause your pfp is fuc- sorry.... freaking dope.
Damn josh, I can really feel how your confidence in front of the camera is growing right now, which in turn boosts the video quality sooo much. This is unbelievable
Thanks for telling this so clearly and honestly ♥️U reminded me why I wanted to learn to draw again....that Kim Jung Gi part was especially what I needed to hear
My job is drawing comics and it's impossible to find reference photos for everything I want to draw in the panels. Finding them would take more time than drawing itself (but it doesn't mean that I completely don't use references, sometimes it's necessary). Anyway, I can't imagine not drawing from imagination :D
As a guy who draws mostly from imagination, I gravitated towards this channel because I needed a lot of help with drawing from reference. So if it helps, here are my personal tips for drawing from imagination:
1. Weirdly, enough references. Not so much in-depth studies but moreso think (a lot, a whole lot) about the things you see and experience everyday. Think about the things that caught your eye yesterday, a month ago, last year, in your childhood.
2. Ties in with the first point, be interested in a lot of vastly different and varied topics and hobbies. The wider your palate, the more imaginative your art will be. This point and point 1 are what I consider to be the most important points and I will bet all my toes that is the literal secret sauce for every imaginative artist out there. Get into high fashion, botany, history, basketball, whatever. The more the better.
3. Get a good night's sleep. A lot of my most vivid imaginations come to me in my dreams. The more you think about something, the more vivid and imaginative your dreams become. Try your best to remember your dreams, do a quick sketch as you soon as you wake up, or write it down.
4. Use your time thinking in the shower for creative and imaginative things instead of stuff like the memed winning an argument in the shower.
5. Be open-minded. Sometimes you need to think like a child. Crafting your thoughts into something cohesive starts when you're already sketching and have references ready to be looked up on your computer.
This is how I personally have honed my imagination, I honestly don't know if this will be useful for everyone, but I hope it helps at least one person reading this.
Thanks so much. I've always been in conflict with whether I should draw from imagination OR reference, but imagination is what I had fun with from the start. Then perfectionism came in with reference and it ruined art entirely for me. Now I came to this video seeing if I should even do it from imagination at all. I feel much better now about getting back into it :)
I have to thank you after this , after night and day looking and practice with 10GB of reference ..
.Yes there a time i feel sick of it but can't not split myself and just draw from Imazination and actualy feel suffocating and pain when i'm not . I think this is come from me seeing the imagination one come out bad and i just see that as a SIGN of UN-Grow and so on i come back to Reference ..now is somewhat a comfort method but as you say I Just can not assemble it ...It Killing me time to time and Don't know why ...but now i know ...Thank you so much
Yassss Josh your videos bring so much value to the art world, your art and work ethic continues to inspire me today 😆
Drawing from imagination is actaully quite limiting, even the best people that draw from imagination end up drawing the same faces environment eta with slight variations, When we are talking about using references vs imagination neither is better or worse it just depends on what kind of work you are doing and what it requires. I can tell you most concept artists use some kind of reference, they dont waste time remembering how to draw a car from there head they just find a photo, This helps anchor the idea in this reality and makes it relatable to people, good Marketable concepts come from the real world research never just from your own head.
If your a student that wants to be a professional dont worry about drawing from imagination most people in industry are using references.
I think for solid things, like where the wheels are positioned on a bicycle, for example, then yes, use reference. Of course there are things that need reference but the initial ideas can be drawn with imagination, because you visualise your reference on the paper and you evolve it as you go. Not everyone can visualise to a high level and draw what they see, so reference , for ideas and visualisation, might be of help in the initial stages of constructing an image. Like a scenario or the mood, these things are tied to the imagination with emotions. You really can’t reference that from the outside. Not fully.
@@pixieartnebula yeah for idea generation sketching from your mind is perfictly fine, even bloating in big shapes can be done quite well from imagination.
This has inspired me SO MUCH. At one point I stopped drawing from imagination and now I draw only from reference, but my drawings always turn out so boring and dull and have nothing special to show, I usually feel they're not my vision of the world, not even what I like, but I am so afraid of seeing a result I don't like (mostly anatomy or composition) so I kept drawing from reference. I'm gonna change that and do my best to draw from imagination while enjoying the process. Wish me luck.
Finally I think I found the middle point , looking a few minutes the reference without drawing, and trying to remember the reference in the illustration without looking at it again
Best art channel on CZcams
Great video , a good train of thought and cohesive ideas . An exercise that it helped me was drawing multiple sketches using a theme , like lets say " Mad King " and like the first two sketches are in most cases with less details but as you get to the thrid , fourth , fifth , six , the details gets better and better and the idea behind it is that in the first two or so sketches you put the main ideas that come to mind , but after that you get more and more refined ideas details wise and visualize better the subject that you are drawing .
I'm listening many of your videos while working on other things also because it's very relaxing. You should have a 24h radio braodcasting about art.
wow really great video , ive been drawing for more than half my life and just realized through this video that i never truly grasped drawing from imagination. Thanks and keep up the amazing work.
As a guy whose been drawing for 3 years now, i think Its important to be REALLY familiar with what you actually want to draw. I've only just started drawing from imagination more and find it liberating. Though it is scary to think that you might just fail and end up hating what you drew, but a lot of times even i surprise myself to what i ended up drawing and actually really liked it
We missed you, and we are happy you are back!
can i just say that yout studio is very aesteticly pleasing
Great and inspiring video! I think I've been trying too hard to draw from imagination recently and this was good reminder that it's okay to reel it back and use more reference.
Thank you!!Every one of your video gives me a lot of help!I‘ve tried that, drawing from memory makes my work stiffer than drawing from memory. I've not realized that I'm drawing from memory before.Thank you very much!
I found that when I draw the reference with some imagination instand of only copy the image ,I will learn more!
I didnt even know how much i needed this video
Ergostach
thats what ive been doing for months
because
I was just too lazy to do anatomy studies or figure drawing and just wanted to draw
this might be why i improved really fast
I can listen to you all day
I haven’t been on this channel in a while my brother🤎🇳🇬I know have a pc and many programs, I’m learning blender 3D modeling🥰 AND we have the same glasses🤣 I also have a beard
I am one of those who began with no references... I just didn't even bother or think of it. Back then there wasn't a whole lot of images on google compared to now, no pinterest or facebook/instagram or anything at all really. Just websites. I only remember using a reference once and it turned out amazing even 20 years later I am still amazed that I was able to pull it off. I wish I had used it more. The only pictures I looked at were other artist's work, but it wasn't really reference it was more like copying their style and learning from it. Nowadays I look at references, I'm transitioning into more realism now in traditional art, I am finished with digital illustration, so I'm turning to photos more now instead of other people's artwork or their interpretations.
I tried drawing from imagination for years and it got me nowhere. 90+% of my improvement came from references.
Thank you for speaking on this! I've lacked confidence with imagination drawing but I'm drawn to it. This video makes me feel braver.
Can you try do a video on resources/ courses or how you learned anatomy, I'm struggling to find where to learn it
He has a video dedicated entirely to this topic:)
Good advice man. Honestly. It is important to draw both from reference and imagination.
I like your new look.
Imagination can make your work unique, and reference exercises can make it more credible.
Liked and subbed. Im weird, in that Im the opposite: I draw mostly from imagination, reference from memory a lot, and Ive been drawing for yeeears. Just started digital drawing a couple months ago and really glad I found your channel.
I usually start my paintings purely from imagination, just getting the image in my head roughly on paper and seeing what works and what doesn't. Only after that will I start going on Pinterest and looking up references to the put into a sort of collage of my painting. I don't go looking for the perfect references, if necessary I edit them until I can work with them if I need to. So my workflow is a mix and match of imagination and painting from references
Recently I took on the challenge to only draw with a mouse for the entire past month, doing daily theme prompts. This had two dramatic effects:
1. I learned a lot of software tricks that helped get me off of relying on draftsmanship alone. Ctrl+Z remained lightly used.
2. I learned how to use reference both more intensively and more imaginatively.
To minimize effort, I eventually had to do much more photobashing than I had before because the usual alternative - sketching from a blank sheet - was so much more difficult with no muscle memory to carry me and the available tools being too technical and precise to allow the possibility of repeatedly scratching out marks until it looked sort of right. I would still spend time studying on top of the reference, but with a definite function: Drawing up every plane in the figure helped with decision-making and magic wand selection later on, and served as the "polished sketch". It was the key point where I could add major changes to form and carry them forward to linework and shading, so I would gravitate towards building a "plane layer" and then final lines in a second layer.
But once you have a detailed reference in the editor, your mind turns toward thinking, "oh, but I could just push the pose in the reference", or "I could apply a perspective transform here so that I don't have to eyeball it". There are lots of photo manipulation tricks, and they can also be used to take "flat" drawings and give them dimension, which opened the option of building faces by doing a front or profile version and then posing it. Thus more and more of the transformative work was done at an early stage, before I've even put down a single line for the illustration. And that in turn made it easier to be bold and create more complex and imaginative scenes without any technical burden. Carefully combining references makes me relatively unlimited technically, and it guarantees that I am studying the form in the most direct sense every time. Using a stylus would get me there faster in some cases, but whatever I do going forward, I'm definitely going to be using some of these techniques.
Is it okay if I used my own reference? Like, I do the pose on my own, I take a picture, then I draw it and add my own twist with the shading and some shapes. I also use my imagination a lot! Along with references as well when I don't know how the anatomy is supposed to work ☺️
Great video and great advice. I used to draw from imagination all the time, then I took one college drawing course where everything was from reference. It didn't go well: my self-esteem was so caught up with my drawing that it was really tough to draw from reference and be bad at it. I've been drawing from reference for a while now, and I've improved a lot, but I haven't gone back to imaginative drawing for a while. I think it's time.
Mmm I see mix of the 2 make sense Thx for the tips I most said tho I need to work on my head, Hands, hair, eye, lips nose personally Tho I think the proportion of the body is starting to take form it not too bad 3 to 3.5 head for the torso + head for what I want to do seem pretty good.
Also, the mustache looks amazing, Josh. :p
Im honestly surprised hearing you that cause that's what I have been doing and what I'll always will cause the reason I started to take art seriously was so I can get life to all the things in my head. For me its so natural its a surprise that its not for most people? idk
I always use reference but I search the ones that can get me to where I need to and then twist it.
Drawing only reference its just so insufferably boring to me, thats why my studies have to be related to other personal project or I just wont do it (Drawing figures but those fig are my OC for example)
Wait what, you barely started this year! You're amazing! I noticed you have improved your artwork super fast! I love your Figtober stuff!
Incredible tips right here!
I was scared Ive done something wrong 'til now and then I realized I already do it alot of the time when I paint.
Id get myself multiple references of the same thing and then try to create something entirely new out of it, with different poses, lightning etc.
Looking at reference and drawing from imagination are equally as important as the other in my opinion but remember:
"you don't have to be a slave to your reference" -Aaron Blaise
This video was really helpful, as usual!
This was extremely helpful, God bless you
I feel like drawing from imagination is a good way to be humbled and peak at what you need to work on.
My whole life I had this mentality that looking at references was cheating. It's really hard to break that even in the present. I have always drawn from imagination or sometimes looked briefly at a reference beforehand and then tried to draw it from memory. How I wish I used references back then.
It sounds really petty, I know. But I didn't know any better at the time. I know nobody would really care about my thoughts, being lost in the crowd and all.
I love this channel because it is very, very unbiased as to what styles are better, what art is bad, etc. Things are looked at objectively and I value that.
How I test what I know is by drawing a full drawing with a background and everything completely from imagination and if I find something I don’t know how to draw I just do a very loose doodle of it and continue drawing, after I’m done I choose the thing I struggled with the least but I’m still not satisfied with the result and practice drawing it with references, also the very loose sketch helps me put my thoughts on paper easily and it became a habit now so drawing background is fun for me even though I’m not good at it
You rock the stache josh. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Thanks so much for the informative video!
Right now instead of heavily refencing (copying every contour and tracing with the eye) I'm just taking my references, studying their shapes and what makes it "it" and then slapping in on my paper or tablet using the basic 3D shapes and combining multiple references to create original compositions.
It's a start at least!
Looks cool with a moustache
Drawing imagination really my struggle because I really too relying the reference. I heard from some other artist as well told me that not using reference will make work flow more quickly because you didn't have constant to search for it. If we already have the information of subject we want to draw in our memory, we just need to recall it. But I found out that it is hard to get it out information although I constantly seeing or observe subject from reference. that because i maybe too spoiled by searching reference often. Now I try practice some drawing without reference. If I'm learning from reference, I try to draw different angle or pose of what reference offer.
Thats a great way to challenge yourself!
I drew from imagination for like 10 years and I never really liked my work, now that I use refrences my drawing has improved leaps and bounds, however I find myself going back to the drawings I did using imagination and constantly redraw them cause I find that those are the best refrences for anything creative I've done, if that makes sense....
he basically just like LeVar Burton from the reading rainbow wearing the data glasses from star trek, levar don't go around wearing hobo beards !
I wish I were LeVar Burton
What a great and fantastic video, Josh! Love it :)
''Ergo Mustach'' lol
I like the mustache ...oh and great tip on using your imagination as a foundation the whole video vaild
to me that was the whole point of learning how to draw.. even if i shouldn't i will do it cuz that's fun. but you can fix everything with references tho, it doesnt have to be either wonky and 100% no ref or just a drawing of a girl from pinterest
I was recently VERY humbled by Kim Jung Gi. He made me go back to the absolute, most basic fundamentals about drawing shapes. I am SO BAD at drawing shapes, and how can I say that when I am a professional level artist? He draws completely from imagination, and watching him draw is watching him build a world.
I have really enjoyed learning the human form with basic shapes.
Say humble, folks. It makes you a better artist.
a very good point. dont think ive drawn from imaggination after alot of the things i practice.
i just start drawing from imagination and it's really hard but it feels really great to se that the people actully like it , and it feels better than someone saying the exactly same thing but with a draw that i trace or i depend a lot in references, so the key it is keep the practice and sooner than later you'll see the difference and how much you have improved
Every pro artists uses reference,you cannot physically imagine things you have never seen,dragons are just big lizards that breathe fires,giants are just humans but larger,everything is based on refrence.
this is how i learned anatomy slowly
ive been drawing from reference for so long that now im having to regain my creativity back and remember why i wanted to draw in the first place and what it was i wanted to draw because i have no ideas anymore LOL
Love you Josh
Nice look 👍🏼. Bro you look great anyway ✨
Really helpful, thanks .
I use my imagination to create unique landscapes and creatures within those environments. It often comes from taking what I know and mixing and twisting it around to create something new and weird.
Yeah...I think that’s what he just said in the video lol
i dont think drawing from your imagination is an observation (rhyme) because when you draw from ur imagination you end up drawing something cartoonish (not realistic) but if your a really good experienced artist with a educated brain to track a-lot of knowledge in your brain... then uhh, sure. you can do that.
Hey bro I hope you doing well. Actually I see reference and observe how the eyes, mouth, hair are drawn then I draw it with my imagination which comes out mostly great. Sometimes even If I do doodle it comes out pretty good and I am really thankful to God although I am not that expert in anatomy, perspective and other fundamentals but still lack in coloring 😅. It has been 1 month since I started drawing digitally and going really well thanks to youtubers like you and many others.
Amazing video!
I use to draw from reference just for learning and draw from imagination just to see how i improve