How to draw the figure from imagination

[NuriaGomis Berenguer]

Hi!

My long term objective is drawing a comic book series. I’ve been practising figure drawing for almost 2 years (here: https://www.instagram.com/nuria_s_flow/ you can see some of my drawings). But I am not able to draw the figure from imagination, neither a figure with cloths on. I don’t know if I should continue drawing figure from reference or try to draw it from imagination (even they look awful).

I don’t know where to continue on. Should I continue drawing figure from reference or should I keep trying drawing it from imagination? or both of them?

[Nathan]

Hey mate,

I just checked out your instagram. Great stuff. I love your recent work on the skulls!

Regarding figure drawing, don’t be so harsh on using references. Everybody (even the best artists) use references, even when detailing a character concept.

If you wish to draw the figure from memory, it will come in time and with practice. I recommend going through the some of the figure drawing classes here.

The way I learned to do the figure from memory is to start with simple shapes. Like the basic lines and cylinders for the body and then refine your shapes as you go. Much like a sculpture would refine his shapes as he carves his marble.

So in short answer, do both. Use references and put aside time to build a pose from memory. You will learn either way and both with impact your overall figure drawing.

[mauribarnett]

Nice work on your instagram…

[sambraithwaite]

Some artist break anatomy down to simple shapes to make it easier to sketch ideas out.  George Bridgeman has some pretty good drawings making the human body into simple shapes.  They are also really blocky so they’ll translate well to comics.  Another method is learning the major bones and muscles in the human body. Muscles have 2 areas they connect to so if you know where those points are the bones can be twisted any which way and you’ll just have to connect those points for each muscle.  For studying do some studies from a source you like eg. fave comic book artist, old master, ect. then grab a blank piece of paper and without your drawing studies or the reference images draw what you remember.  It will be pretty clear what you hadn’t learned yet and will show you what to focus on.

[theokatzman45]

These are some great tips here! I as well have the ultimate goal of drawing comic like things from imagination, so figure drawing is very important! While it’s very difficult And at times near impossible for me to draw a decent figure out of imagination at this point, I try to keep in mind what Steve Houston teaches, gesture and structure. The figure drawing corse by Glenn Vilppu also really goes in depth on gesture. Another book that really helped me understand gesture In a really dynamic way is Mike Mattesi’s book Force.

There’s shouldn’t ever really be shame in using reference, that’s what is going to build your skills and actual understanding. But, I think drawing from imagination gets easier with lots of practice! Like a muscle, you have to train it and build it up. My goal is to try and draw something from imagination everyday, not necessarily an exact picture in my head all the time, (though that is a skill) but just making it as I go, or changing something from the reference, like an arm or leg to avoid tangents. A very difficult exercise that I need to try more is drawing a reference from a different point of view. That one can twist your brain!

But I just know for myself I have to be careful not to get too carried away with drawing everything from imagination, because things start losing validity real quick lol. Just keep on at it, with studies of great artists and fundamental training. Hope this helps, writing this has certainly helped me. 🙂

[Author]

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