Alright all. I have been thoroughly engaging with all types of drawing and will give insight to what I believe are the critical elements when doing ANY type of drawing by highlighting what your primary goal is.1. Drawing from imagination I’ll start with what is considered by many to be the most difficult form of drawing. When drawing from imagination or from memory, your goal is to UNDERSTAND. It’s what makes it so hard, because many artists realize how little they actually *know* about what they’re trying to draw, or why certain decisions should be made. It’s less about visualizing and more about being able to make sense of every line. In some cases, you may have to research and read about your subject to draw it from imagination more competently, because I don’t think you can learn what is required about a subject to visually reproduce it if you don’t understand it . If you can’t explain your drawing decisions as you draw something from imagination, something is wrong, simple. 2. Drawing from reference When drawing from a reference, most notably a photo reference, your goal is to OBSERVE. Observe why the arm is in the orientation it is in this photo, how the lighting is impacting the mood of the photo or different forms, and observe ways you can change the reference into something you’re trying to portray through YOUR eyes. I remember reading somewhere “use the reference but don’t be manipulated by the reference.” Your goal is to put your eyes to work, observe understand the photo, and draw it to your hearts desire3. Drawing from lifeWhen drawing from life, your goal is to TRANSLATE. Life throws a lot of information at you. Drawing from life is about breaking down what you DO know and understand about your subject and a particular fundamental(s) and apply it to make it appear as lifelike and convincing as possible, despite having so much to understand. You should say “I put as much information into this drawing as I could.”
4. Drawing from books/master studiesLast but not least, we have drawing from books and master studies. There are varying goals with this (some may aim to just learn how to draw something like Loomis, some may look to learn a specific style from a book) so I will try to stay as general as possible. I believe your goal here is to REPLICATE. You’re trying to put yourself into the head of the artist you’re studying, so try to, to the best of your ability, replicate what you see and of course understand what you’re drawing above all. Ask “why did they use this line” or “why did they shade this form using this technique”? This allows you to make sense of the artist’s decisions and manipulate those to make your own. That in my eyes, is what you should get out of studying from books and masters.
imagine typing that all out instead of drawing
>>7368578>NO TALKING ON 4CHAN ONLY DRAW GO DRAW REEEwhy even have a board then
How many boxes do I have to draw to be able to write this much?
sounds great op, now let's see some examples of each in your work
>>7368606Here’s the typical thinly veiled cunty response from someone who is angry that someone is telling him to draw and thinks if OP posts his work and it’s bad then that means OP is wrong (he isn’t) and that he doesn’t have to draw. Either point out where you disagree or stop being a faggy little insect /nodraw/. Guarantee you would never post your work either.
>Here’s the typical thinly veiled cunty response from someone who is angry that someone is telling him to draw and thinks if OP posts his work and it’s bad then that means OP is wrong (he isn’t) and that he doesn’t have to draw. Either point out where you disagree or stop being a faggy little insect /nodraw/. Guarantee you would never post your work either.
>>7368620t.6 million boxes and counting
>>7368606>>7340588This thread has pretty much most of my life drawings. Any thing with a “B” at the bottom right or with a French caption is my workI just started drawing from imagination so I don’t have much to show for it, but these are some parts of skulls I drew. Gonna draw some more today so I’ll update
>>7368606Recent work from ref
>>7368606Lastly here’s a Bridgman study
what is it about /ic/ that produces these know-it-all schizos
>>7368620Brother, why would I want some nameless faggot who got up on their soapboax preaching to me when I have countless other much more skilled artists that are vetted by their work ready doing the same thing. Are you all this egotistical?
>>7368631Once again, point out where OP is wrong or just admit you’re a /nodraw/. Art academies will tell you pretty much the same thing. The schizo posting is because this is supposed to be a board about artwork and draftsmanship but for some reason most people on this board think that art=floating anime girls and so there’s no point of having a board titled artwork & critique if we’re not going to talk about artwork and draftsmanship, obviously.
>>7368622>>7368627>>7368629Also no offense to you OP you're doing great and I'm sure you're excited to share your knowledge you've gained, but making a thread purely to do so is going to get you flame for many reasons, some rightly so. Keep up the good work but dispense your knowledge through valuable constructive crits. The people who need them will listen. Don't forget this place is a crab bucket.
>People being this negative when all I’m doing is giving advice and insight as someone who has drawn a lotDid I say something insulting in my post? I’m confused
>>7368622you should not be giving advice if your work looks like >>7349860
>>7368636I hear you. I still know that I have a very long way to go, and a lot to learn. I don’t think, nor did I say I know everything. I just wanted to share what I have learned from everything I’ve engaged in since I want the knowledge to guide others in their journey. No intend to offend, I’m just trying to put what I know into a concrete setting
>>7368634>I deliberately entered a board titled artwork and critique and people are talking about artwork and critique. AHH IM GOING INSANE AHH
>>7368637it could be the most amazing advice everno one cares if it's coming from a beg
>>7368638Go draw a car from life and update me on how it looks lmfao. Also, that is one drawing, out of many, many others I posted. Try again.
>>7368638Haha still haven’t pointed out how OP is wrong and you still haven’t posted your work fucking /nodraw/
>>7368644Alright anon. I can’t change how you view me as an artist, as I know I still have much to work on. I am however, showing my work (something nobody else has done) and allowing others to assess the value of my advice. What I’m saying is less based on the quality of my work and more about the fact that I’ve drawn for a long time and made a lot of different artwork, so I have a lot of EXPERIENCE. That’s why I’m sharing what I have learned.
Just a reminder that we had a similar thread a month ago but it was filled with advice from Moebius but that one was well received. The difference? One has actually earned the right to preach about what it takes to get good. If I wanted a bullet point list of things to do when it comes to improving i could refer to literally any thread or book. Hell even chatgpt can give a better synopsis. If you can't see why OP is being met with so much disdain you're helpless.
>>7368638Guarantee it’s better than your “work” (if such a thing exists) and if you ever drew your retarded ass would know that sketching is different than finished pieces and that life drawing is a different game than what you do (floating loomis anime boxes). It’s called practice, and he will be better than you in a year or less because 1. He draws and 2. He draws from life.
>>7368656Screenshotted. I'll be back on November of 2026.
>>7368653>stop talking about artwork and critique on the board titled artwork and critique on the Bhutanese MLP board unless you are a 50+ year veteran of the industry.
>>7368662You ignored everything about what was said to maintain your retarded strawman. Go fuck yourself. I'm out.
>>7368658Well we need to see your work now to gauge your improvement obviously? Where is it?
>>7368666>still has yet to point out where OP is wrong.
>>7368668https://tr2ga.imgbb.com/There you go bud. Those are old studies but shouldn't tie back to me. I'll see you in 2 years.
>>7368565Youre going to look back at things like this post and feel so embarrassed. Your work looks like a highschool art class and youre typing out paragraphs of "critical elements." Have you ever gone to youtube or a library? There's an endless amount of content to consume and learn from - from actual industry professional artists. You are literally delusional. You see your own artwork and others in a way that's different from reality. If you could see things for how they really are, you would be too ashamed to post your work (rightly so)
>>7368685Sorry, these look like they were referenced from photographs. We can’t reasonably gauge your work or ability that way. We need to see your life/observational drawings. Referencing from 2D is basically tracing. >>7368690It’s so fucking fascinating that all of all these seething replies, 1. OP is the only one to have posted his work and 2.none have pointed out how OP is wrong. So yeah, I’m thinking you’re all angry /nodraws/.
>>7368696Oh two of those are of my exes so they're definitely referenced from real life playah.
>>7368690Here is all my work. https://www.instagram.com/billythomas.art/I will NEVER have shame in posting my artwork, nor will I have shame in sharing what I have learned. YOU should be ashamed at coming to such harsh conclusions when you haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg regarding my work. So watch what you say. >there’s an endless amount of content to consume and learn from - from actual professional artistsOf course there is, and I’ll add to it. I’m not a pro, nor did I say I was. If you read the post, you’ll see I said “I have been thoroughly engaging with all types of drawing”, which is to say, I have been DRAWING a lot. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. What yall should be embarrassed about is sperging on someone for sharing knowledge on a board that regularly has threads about sex, pedophiles, and social media instead of idk….DRAWING. Stay mad. No amount of negativity will cause me to feel shame in my art, because I know what I am, and what I am capable of with more and more hard work.
>>7368702Is this a troll? Is somebody trying to slander this person?
Forget the crabs. I believe you are correct. Drawing from imagination is the holy grail. I'd say drawing from life will help you the most with imagination drawing. It's hard to explain but peak imagination drawing is basically drawing from life, you're just focusing really hard on the mental image (or fractions of it) and putting it into paper, with the knowledge of artistry you've acquired so far.I always recommend studying Scott Roberston for perspective. He's great for simplifying things (a core principle of drawing from life and imagination). However you shouldn't neglect copying and reference work. My bane right now is that I have a decent understanding of fundamentals, and I'm a great sketch artist, but FUCK I can't make a finished piece to save my life. We're all gonna make it brah.
>>7368707>I'd say drawing from life will help you the most with imagination drawing.This is what Kim Jung Gi said and I think that guy was pretty decent desu.
>>7368707Nobody is saying OP is wrong, they're saying they didn't have to make a thread to repeat what's been stated ad nauseum.
>>7368701In that case, nice work. See you in a year.
>>7368713Yes; because no other thread on this board has said anything ad nauseam.Would you rather another thread about pewdiepie?
>>7368716I'll see you in a year Billy. I believe in your journey but find your preachiness annoying.
>>7368702I'm not being negative im being honest. I'm also speaking from personal experience. There's a huge tendency to gain an ego and start giving out advice once you've started to learn the basics. A lot of artists plateau there. You have to realize you fucking suck and maintain the student mindset to push past that barrier. Its an ego-trap
>>7368690>you would be too ashamed to post your workholy projection why so angry
>>7368728That isn’t even me?…
>>7368728I’m not OP lol. I’d post my work too but it’s already in the life drawing general and I’m too lazy to repost here.
>>7368729Anon, I know I am not a perfect artist and have a long way to go. I’m studying perspective made easy, Bridgman, and many others still. I never claimed to not be a student or be a pro. I did, however claim to be someone that draws often, and wanted to share all that I’ve learned. That’s it.I’m over defending myself atp. Just take with it what you all want
>>7368713Oh shut up. We know we should all be drawing right now. He's wasting time making the thread and we're wasting time shitposting here.Don't blame OP for YOUR procrastination, anon. Show us that WIP you're working on instead.
>>7368744Based
>>7368685This is nice work anon.
op is retarded, lurk moar
>>7368565> me asks, if you want to be a great artist, why are you dead after having lived for only 47 years ? I want you to think about it.
>>7368685These are digital paintings. Let’s see your DRAWINGS.
>>7368897This. Even if they were your-ex gf they’re probably still photo referenced I doubt you had your tablet out for an hour or more while she posed for you.
>>7368897>>7368932I drew a picture of your dad. Hope this helps fags
>>7368565this is so fucking stupid>>7368627also you are hiding poor perspective behind rendering.
>>7368702> he's been drawing for four fucking years to be somewhere around high begyou should probably not listen to OP, like at all.
The creation of this thread has been very humbling. I appreciate the brutal honesty from you all. My biggest takeaway from this is to go draw much, much more, stay humble, and go work on my perspective. Thank you all, even the ones who were critical
>>7368638The average tradcuck is so delusional it's crazy.
>>7369158Keep that attitude OP. You've just earned a lot of respect from a faceless anon.
>>7368565You're not technically wrong, but your mistake here is in being reductionist, it's not helpful to think of things in terms of absolutes like this. 'Understanding' *isn't* the most important thing to know for drawing from imagination. It's form, draftsmanship, perspective, fundamentals. YOU. NEED. TO. DO. ALL. OF. IT. You can be the foremost expert in cock morphology, but it means jack shit if you don't have the baseline skill to illustrate your ideal cock. You cannot skip steps.
>>7369333You’re right anon, I agree. I should definitely try to think of it differently. The cock example works lol>>7369272Of course. The criticism just keeps me going, really, since it just shows me I have a long way to go
>>7368992>>7368991Let’s see your work, both of you. Sick and tired of you snot noses fucks running your mouth on this website but being too pussy to post your own work. You have a lot to say about my work, now put your work on the pedestal and let others run their mouth about yours.
>>7369271I’m calling you out too. Let’s see some work to validate all that talking you’re doing.If you don’t post work, you’re a pussy. Point blank, and simple. I’ve proved myself to not be a pussy, you others still have something to prove.
I woke up pissed the fuck off because of this. I’ll take the criticism as I always have, but I’m not about to get dogged the fuck out for trying to just share what I’ve learned by motherfuckers too scared to put themselves in the same position.Quit making excuses for not posting your work. I dealt with the harsh words, now man the fuck up, deal with others, and post your fucking work.
>>7369869what now?
>>7369880This gave me a much needed laugh. Thanks.I think I’m gonna take a break and go draw. I’m getting way too heated over a 4chan thread.
>>7369880MARCO DJURDJEVICHCHE?!
>>7368961…thats not my dad?
