Learning to sketch from imagination :(
1mo
@ethel
He mentioned it might be too tough, but I wanted to give it a shot anyway. Posting this feels a bit uncomfortable since it's pretty bad, but trying it did give me some insight. I'm glad I went through with the exercise, even though it was kind of disheartening.
I also need to get more comfortable sharing things, instead of holding back because I think it's not good enough, so here you go.
It was hard partly because I can’t rotate or change the perspective at will. I also kept forgetting to focus on line quality, so I think I need to learn to be more relaxed with my lines. I have this urge to measure everything. The ability of instructors to assess angles, distances, and lengths is so natural to them - it’s all pretty intuitive at their level but from here if I don’t measure everything then it all turns out wonky.
I am glad that you posted this. My level of drawing is even worse, but posts like this inspire me to be less overly-conscious about the process that I'd rather embrace.
Expressing visuals in lines is in itself a wonder
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30d
Kudos for posting your work! It's a vulnerable process but just know that it's valuable for your peers (and yourself) to give and receive feedback as you learn.
Don't get discouraged by the challenge here. Drawing from imagination is a skillset that takes a lot of repetition to develop. An artist that is a master of drawing from reference will struggle with drawing from imagination if they don't practice and actively work to build their visual library.
Building a visual library is key to drawing from imagination, and the best way to do that is to draw from observation, especially from life. Take a sketchbook everywhere and get in the habit of analyzing what interests you and filing your observations into that database to pull from when you want to draw from invention.
Like Ronaldo mentioned, having a great understanding of technical drawing skills will improve your ability to draw from imagination as well. Keep working through the course and you will see improvement on all fronts!
I love your explorations here. I wouldn't worry too much about your line quality as you experiment. Focus more on making interesting shapes and rhythms.
I'll admit I don't know much, but I do know this: your final sketch is really good. Relatively clean lines, and neat shape language & simplification with the crab design. I also struggle with getting a drawing just the way I want it. There is a part of the "drawing basics" course that focuses on perspective, in case that helps. I presume you have that course already. Oh, and if you ask me, your lines aren't too wonky. I enjoyed viewing your drawings!
