Project - Learning to Sketch from Imagination

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

inDrawing Basics

9.9K

Assignments 1.6K

Downloads 5

Project - Learning to Sketch from Imagination

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

9.9K

Assignments 1.6K

Downloads 5

Pick an animal, a bug, or some kind of creature, and find several reference photos to use as inspiration to sketch a new character.

Don't copy the photos. Feel free to explore with proportions and exaggerate or simplify things to make it your own. Do multiple sketches to experiment and try different ideas.

Once you think you have a clear idea of a character, do one full page sketch. Even in this final sketch, try to use loose, confident lines and focus on the shapes of the character you have in mind. We're trying something new here with this project by starting to develop our ability to draw from imagination. So it might be a bit of a challenge, but don't sweat it.

Let's keep it loose and rough with our sketches and just focus on letting those creative juices flow. Don't focus on the cleanliness of your lines. We're sketching, and when you post your assignments, please include the photos you found and all your experimental sketches.

If you'd like to have a chance to be included in the upcoming critique videos, you must submit your drawings below by March 9th 2023.

And don't forget to have fun!

@toph

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12h

I saw a couple of foxes on here and for some reason this was the image that manifested in my mind haha. This was honestly so fun! I don’t normally draw from imagination, definitely want to start doing that more often.

@lucky_dog

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10h

So cute!

Anthony Barros

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The breakdown and simplification has given a lot of structure for translating 3d shapes from a mental image to a line on the page. Looking forward to progressing with more of these

@schmal

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i made that funny monkey and a little octopus

Maris

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Alaskan malamute doggies! Would love some feedback!

@toph

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10h

These look good, but it seems like you drew true to the photo rather than draw inspiration from them

Michał Staniszewski

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Tree frog with a hat :). After posting this i notice that down legs has 3 "sticks" not 2. Lets asume that my drawing has 2 becouse its simplified :D edit 2: Now i notice that someone earlier had the same idea :D

Michał Staniszewski

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I decided to do this again:

Wesley

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Sorry the sketches are hard to see

Aubrey Hannah

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My intention was to make a cartoon frog with a top hat. This one was certainly more challenging since I'm not used to drawing from imagination.

Wesley

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nice

Gara

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Tried doing the praying mantis. Would love any feedback! Loving the course so far!

Nicole

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11d

Deer with Louboutins

Melanie Scearce

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11d

This is such a cute idea! It would be fun to keep exploring -- maybe you could try one with long unstable legs like a baby deer? Or make it a more self assured, stylish fashion model deer. Lots of ways you can do with this idea. I like it a lot!

@gecko_cs

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12d

I decided to create a grumpy vulture. I have always enjoyed drawing simple characters with emphasis on shape and expression, so this project was right up my alley. This was a fun challenge as vultures have such a unique look, and it was fun incorporating his natural slouch into his personality. I struggle with perfectionism and tend to overuse my eraser, which can be seen in some of these, and I know the point of sketching is to explore, so I want to get out of the habit of that. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

@harrow

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13d

I drew a grumpy squid. I honestly think this is a much better exercise for learning sketching than doing it from existing drawings. At least it is for me.

Rachel Dawn Owens

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13d

The eyes are so expressive!

Rayden

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14d

Did some manta rays.

@christalynn

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15d

Found another squirrel. I am working between pencil and my iPad, so it it’s hard to stay organized.

@christalynn

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15d

Coquettish squirrel-I am definitely not there yet on line quality—but this was a fun project.

Melanie Scearce

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14d

I like the facial expression you chose out of your sketches. I think it matches the theme of your coquettish squirrel the best!

Ben

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15d

This is my evil moth! I have much more respect for the intricacies of insects! This is my first assignment post and I have been really enjoying the course :)

@luc_

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16d

Introducing: Ciri The Rat!! yeah. The one from the Witcher. Cause she was a part of a crew that called themselves “Rats”. Get it??? Anyway. I’m really happy with how it turned out, but if anyone has some advice or critique I’d love to hear it!

Brando Gould

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15d

Wow, these have so much personality! Beautiful renderings. I love the line weight you've chosen, but if I were to be picky, maybe the drawings could have more diversity of line weights. Specifically on the characters with clothing. I think you could tune down some of the bolder strokes on the clothes and choose to go bold only on the areas where you want to bring the viewer's attention OR in moments where there is one form overlapping another to give us a sense of depth. But I love your creativity with these! solid understanding of the forms and proportion. There's an amazing book by Patrick J Jones called Drawing from Photos that helped me understand how to correct for camera-altered proportions. In the Rastafarian mouse photo, the lens is clearly foreshortening the mouse too much, I found that if I can correct those proportional things, I can have a better drawing. For that one specifically, the far leg and the lower body should not taper quite so much as the photos suggest. The lens that was used created a stronger taper since it was likely shot on a wide angle while very close to the subject.

Joe Burris

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16d

Im definitely not level 2 skill wise but this assignment sounded fun so I figured Id give it a try. I chose an alligator and the only two things I wanted to accomplish going into it was showing off their silly fat pouch on their necks as well as their tiny arms. I think I may have gone too small on the arms. Its sloppy but I tried to keep it all loose. Hopefully I succeeded somewhat but at least I had fun.

Franck

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16d

What kind of drawing were you aiming at ? realism or more goofy ?

Dylan Jagiello

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17d

This was a lot more difficult than I thought. The first two drawings were from observation and the third one was from imagination.

Rachel Dawn Owens

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17d

These are really fun drawings and I love your reference. You did great simplifying the strange little critter. You could probably even take the simplification a step further on the the head. I love how you drew the bony hands. I love the pose that you went for. He still looks like a primate although his ears may have gotten a bit to big and his arms too skinny. I went over your work with my own drawings. Mostly because I also wanted to draw a Tarsier. Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing and keep going!