Project - Learning to Sketch from Imagination

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

inDrawing Basics

10K

Assignments 1.6K

Downloads 5

Project - Learning to Sketch from Imagination

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

10K

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!

Christian Ruiz

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I had the idea for a manga Recently about a cat hitman so I tried to make him here, he looks a lot like Johnny from guilty gear with the black trench coat, wide brim hat and katana. I would have done some different angles but I wasn’t sure how but i think the concept still came out okay

Rachel Dawn Owens

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He’s really cool. A Maine Coon is a great reference for this too. They already sorta look more like a person. Some variety in the fur design could level up your design. Try adding some more rhythm to the fur.

@toph

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Just wanted to upload my assignment again because I realized I didn’t show my exploratory lines. Which was the whole point of the assignment

@araka

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Hello, here is my work. It was really challenging; I find it easier to copy than to create. But I suppose that's the point of this exercise ^^ I'll stop with this drawing. I could keep struggling, but the upcoming lessons should help address my weaknesses. Issues I see in my drawing: misunderstood of volume, back legs of the wolf, and the head.

@toph

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Idky, but your take on the paws being boxy is my favorite part

@robkam

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Only ever drew from observation, so this was quite hard!

Sita Rabeling

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This morning warmups from imagination. I’d love to be able to let the magic carpet dance, move in various ways and express recognizable emotions.

@abstract83

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Nice, I feel your flow. Your curves in the flying carpet are expressive and full of energy. Nice work, thanks for sharing.

Tommy Pinedo

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Amazing! :D

Melanie Scearce

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These look awesome! The flatness of the carpet is a difficult quality to manipulate. The flour sack is used as an animation exercise -- it could be a good tool for you to explore weight, poses, and expressions. It's a bit more forgiving than the shape of the carpet but your explorations can be translated into that shape.

Mr. Renso

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Last one for today. Had a lot of fun with this lesson.

Mr. Renso

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Mr. Renso

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I will definitely have nightmares tonight 😭

Mr. Renso

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My cursed references

Mr. Renso

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Bears...the "polar opposites of a racoon" I suppose...polar bears...not seals or alien bears...or the ones in china people though were humans in costumes...but polar bears... I'll try cats or rats the next time...

Mr. Renso

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I forgot to attach my references 😅

@maetran09

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Decided to sketch an exaggerated borzoi :) I'm trying to find the balance between too loose & too rigid lines

Mr. Renso

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A very simple blend of a racoon and agent 47....

@greenbdg

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Would definitely consider myself a Level 1 student but took a stab at this. Felt like I couldn’t really capture it in a quick sketch. Struggling to balance between contours and flow and shapes. Any critiques and advice is much appreciated!!

Melanie Scearce

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Keep going with it! The best thing you can do when you're learning to sketch from imagination is to practice. You're at a really good spot now because you've built up your visual library -- challenge yourself to use your observations to exaggerate or simplify the features of this critter to give it personality to your tastes. There is no wrong answer so free yourself to experiment without expectations :) These are looking good, keep going!

@toph

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Decided to do a second one because I had so much fun with the 1st. I think I’m realizing that my line work is something that could definitely be improved. Critiques would be greatly appreciated!

Melanie Scearce

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I really enjoy these animal drawings you've been doing! I think staying loose and doing multiple iterations of your ideas would be the move as you practice drawing from imagination. It's easy to get stuck on one drawing you like, but the danger in that is it can become stiff and overworked. Doing multiple quick sketches and choosing one -- elements of multiple to combine into one -- to bring to finish can help you work out any kinks before you get too invested.

@juliusobermair

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I chose an ermin for this exercise. The first sketches (in purple) I did copy the references, because I wanted to get a feeling for how to draw an ermin first. The second sketches (in blue) I drifted a bit into character design. For the final sketch, the first one I did was way messy, a lot of ‘searching lines’ & maybe hiding my mistakes like he said in the video. I cleaned it up in the 2nd attempt, but it was missing the features from my character design so i changed it a bit in the 3rd attempt.

Melanie Scearce

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These are great explorations -- keep it up!

Illia Cherkasov

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10d

Learning to Sketch from Imagination

Melanie Scearce

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Great pose! I really like how his little feet are sticking out, very cute. the right foot feels like it's coming out of the tail a bit so maybe you could extend the end of the tail out a bit to separate them?

@toph

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10d

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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10d

So cute!

Anthony Barros

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14d

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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14d

i made that funny monkey and a little octopus

Maris

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15d

Alaskan malamute doggies! Would love some feedback!

@toph

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10d

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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15d

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