Damn, I can't draw from imagination anymore!

[Spaggen]

Hello fellow CA members.
I think I'll recieve more comments here so I copied this from my sketchbook:

I've problems I've never had before - I've got problems with drawing from imagination since I started studying. I think like "I want to draw a big badass demon! Or a fat soldier with gasmask! Or a sexy warrior lady! Yeaaah! ... Um oh no, I'm not good at anatomy so the bodies will end up wrong, ugly and flat, and the faces too. I must learn anatomy and figure drawing perfectly first or I'll not be happy with the result".

Does anyone recognize this type of thinking? Any tips/suggestions to how to break this and draw monsters like a lunatic? Thanks all!

[Liffey]

Just don't even worry about ending up with a good result. Have fun with it, and evenutaly start to put a little more polish into your drawings as you go.

[Spaggen]

Just don't even worry about ending up with a good result. Have fun with it, and evenutaly start to put a little more polish into your drawings as you go.

But that's the problem for me. I can't have fun when I know I'll not be satisfied with the result. It worked fine some years ago when I didn't bother about anatomy and stuff but now when I'm studying I know how much I must learn to make my drawings look a little realistic. Gaah! :(

[fantasyartist]

I totally recognize this. I think the first step is to realize that a drawing doesn't have to be perfect from the start. Like Liffey said, just start loose and polish as you go. When you come across something that you have trouble drawing from imagination, go find some reference and study it before you continue with your drawing. Just free your mind and go with the flow. Good luck!

[Noah Bradley]

Technical excellence ain't everything.

Yes, you're going to need to be very, very technically proficient to make it as a professional artist, but technique alone is not the goal. It's important to keep working from your imagination to grow that side, while also developing technique so that you can better express those ideas. Leaning too far to either side will get you in trouble. ;)

Go draw something!

[Spaggen]

Thanks for your answers, it means a lot!

fantasyartist - Good (or bad) that I'm not the only one who thinks like this. Yea, I think I've problems with realizing that. I want to do everything correct even in the sketch (and it's hard to do everything great if you don't know how all your body parts looks). I'm studying a lot at the moment (figures, anatomy etc), but I don't draw imagination stuff at all. You think I should take some time between the studies and draw a character for example, and then look what I'd done wrong (a leg/arm/something) and correct it?


Noah Bradley - I don't really know how I can grow the imagination side when I'm studying. I've tried a lot of times, but it ends up I'm using posemanics to sketch my characters and it feels so wrong. What a dilemma! Haha. :P

Thank you again for helping me guys!

[twistedfish]

probably you seening from others eyes an not yous

[Lamp]

One of the best pieces of art advice I ever received was: "Don't be afraid to draw bad."

So... yeah. Don't be. Just draw. Balance out your studies with lots of disgusting, eye-searing imagination drawings, with flat, lifeless forms and the most pathetic anatomy you can churn out. Is it so bad that it makes you want to puke? Great! Keep going! Then go study some more. Then more imagination drawing.

Come back in a year and THEN tell us how you're doing. :D

[Elwell]

I want to do everything correct even in the sketch


Well there's your problem...
Also, since it hasn't been brought up already: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

[Spaggen]

Thanks a lot everyone for helping me. I love this site!

I've realized that I've just been drawing to improve lately, not because it's fun (okey, a little, but not much). It has been like 99% studies and 1% imagination stuff (that I loved before). But I've promised myself, from now on it'll be 50-50. And I'll definitely buy that book!

Thanks again!

[Ryan K]

You can try to extend upon the studies you draw. Just add random shit in (or modify), keeping with the perspective of the original figure or object or creature or whatever.

This way you're working first on studied reference, and following with imaganitive additions. Two birds one stone.:)

[Bruce Pluto]

Spaggen ….I do identify completely with what you are going through right now. The only thing I can tell you is what I believe may be the solution. ART is an abstraction and in certain forms must be treated as such. Maybe something that can help you through this is to practice two or three artist illustrations ( not for viewing but only for yourself) in this way you can break down form and movement and move on.

One of the problems with art is that creators in the beginning think and worry too much. The goal is the perfect illustration and that goal in itself can lead to destruction. Don’t beat yourself up. Leave some things up to the viewers imagination. This is something I fight with too.

Hope you see what I’m saying and go forward….

Bruce

[PsiBug]

Don't be afraid to draw crappy! It's better to do 10 crappy drawings and 1 good one than to do no drawings at all.

If you start each drawing with the expectation of creating a perfect finished piece you may end up constantly disappointed or crippled by fear of failure. The only way to improve is to draw draw draw! Enjoy the successes and learn from the failures.

Keep lots of drawing materials around you. Carry a sketchpad. collect scrap paper. Don't be afraid to do "throw-away" sketches. Fill pages with rough ideas. Get the creative juices flowing.

[darkwolf29a]

I'll second PsiBug's comments here. This a very good idea. You never know when something will strike you, and carrying a pad will allow you to put the thoughts on paper, so to speak. Sure, they may not come to anything now, but you might find that one gem of an idea that leads to a masterpiece.

[Nibras]

Thanks for the book link elwell.

For you Spaggen, drawing from imagination is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more you apply what you learnt from the studies into it, well the better it gets.

I can't draw as well as I want to from imagination either right now, so i'll practise but the best thing to do, is to draw from imagination more. Find new creative and funner ways to draw from mind.

Have fun and good luck

[Spaggen]

ChokeUp - Very good idea! I'll try that.:)

Bruce Pluto - I definitely see what you're saying! Great and helpful post. The illustration tip sounds really good. I'll do that when I've the time.

Yea, I've realized that I worry too much and have too high expectations. But from now on I'll force myself to draw without thinking "the anatomy must be perfect and realistic or it will suck".

PsiBug, darkwolf29a and lilnebo - You all have so right! Thank you so much for the help!

A big THANK YOU to you all! It really means a lot to me!