is there ANY reason not to use a reference for literally everything? I see people talking about drawing from memory but I don't see any real reason why you should focus on that. It's not like if you're in a situation where you don't have a reference you lose all ability to draw
Looking for references is boring and time consuming. Not saying you shouldn't do it but if it robs you of the joy of drawing then give imagination drawing a spin
>>7936907It's easy to get stunlocked trying to find the perfect references for what you want to draw, even to the point of never finding something to draw. At some point you have to say enough is enough and just wing it. If all you're doing is studies this doesn't seem like a problem, but once you stop trying to draw 'anything' and start trying to draw a specific vision, it gets to be a real hassle.
>>7936907Sometimes you have a very strong idea for an image and looking for reference that fits that vision might take longer than just iterating. Of course, you might still want reference for the details.In general though, yeah use as much reference as you want, worst case it expands your visual library.
>>7936907https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h4-2HRHaHI
>>7936907Using your visual library quickly teaches you if you're actually internalizing and understanding the world around you when you observe. Most people don't! So when it comes time to draw from imagination, you get btfo. It's a skill.
>>7936907>is there ANY reason not to use a reference for literally everything?Depends on whether or not you enjoy drawing from reference. I believe Alex Ross draws almost entirely from references, as does James Gurney, and who's to tell them that their results aren't good?So the only real deciding factor is the artist themselves; do they enjoy it? If not, then it'd be better to draw from memory or imagination than to constantly look over at a reference.
>>7936933anyone doing construction or from "memory" or imagination while be forced to look at a reference at one point, either during the study of the subject or drawing something new and fresh. your imagination and memory is limited, otherwise you would know and be able to draw everything that ever existed, which is impossible unless you are god himself. not drawing from reference is the wrong path, it just depends how much you do it depending on what youve studied and know. /ic/ has a weird fucking boner for imaginative drawing for some fucking reason, but maybe i'm too new here to tell otherwise. i can for a fact say most of their favorite mangakas and animators will be constantly looking for references and use them effectively, wether it is for copy or inspiration or drawing it similarly but from different perspectives.
>>7936907What if there’s no exact reference for what you want to draw? Duh.
>>7936969I think there’s a misunderstanding over what “imagination drawing” is.“Drawing from imagination” doesn’t mean sealing yourself in an airtight chamber and looking at no references at all. It just means creating something original for which no exact reference currently exists. The more original your drawing, the more you’ll be forced by definition to rely on imagination. But you can still study and recombine existing references to help you. That’s not “cheating”.Imagination really just means doing original work as opposed to studies or photocopies, that’s all.
>>7936907There are no references for what I want to draw
>>7936995mmm nope pretty sure drawing from imagination is drawing from imagination anon. You can draw from imagination + use references which is what you're referring to. Which becomes more of an amalgamation. It's also the most common thing to do and there is nothing wrong with this. Drawing imagination means relying on your visual bank though, let's not stretch the definition.
>>7937006Then draw the references so you can reference them when you draw
finding references that answer my questions when starting to refine a sketch takes like 90% of my draw time, usually forces me to just discard the sketch and start working directly from the ref in an emotionless, analytical way, and sometimes i get lost finding refs and don’t even end up drawing at all. vs when i rawdog it, 100% of that time is used as active draw time, and the hours i clock are used in peak efficiency, all contributing to filling up a page, vs. the nonviable sad start then run out of time sketch alone in the upper corner i end up with when playing the ref game. also my imagination work is gestural, expressive, and conveys complex feeling, vs. the more heavily i reference, the more of that energy conveyance i lose in my work, consistently. i’m one of the your guys who have a boner for imagination drawing. just what works best for me, i guess. i do my studies in a separate time slot.
>>7937063Ok, then no one relies on pure imagination drawing. Whatever. The definitions don’t really matter. Don’t be autistic about this.
>>7937084Uhhh they literally do lmao. It's why it's called drawing from imagination. It's a very specific action. I'm not being autistic, you're the one trying to stretch the very literal phrase to fit your world view.
>>7936995I think it would be more accurate to say drawing from imagination is drawing sourced from an internalized library of references in your head as opposed to what is before your eyes. I'll leverage Caravaggio as an example of this.Caravaggio's later works, while in exile from Rome and headhunted by both the Tomassoni family and the Maltese Order of Knights of St. John, are markedly different than the earlier pieces he created for wealthy Roman collectors. Naturally, as a man on the run he did not have access to the time or money to rent a wide variety of models and as a result he drew pretty heavily from his imagination. That imagination was built upon his previous two decades of painting from life. Imagination in this sense is basically your capacity to visualize an idea in your head. Drawing from imagination is your capacity to realize that idea onto physical media. Your imagination is supplemented by your internal library of references and it is why we find it important to study and draw from life.
>>7937104You get it. It's very common for people to use both reference and their own visual library when creating. They compliment each other well because they're practically extensions of one another but both actions can exist independent of each other. Being able to draw from your own visual library is just an product of observation and studying references over the course of your artistic journey. There's always some elitism of not using reference because it is somewhat of an achievement to not have to use reference, but at the same time, you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who's actually skilled not using them interchangeably. Like someone earlier in the thread mentioned RossDraws. They use a mix of both reference and drawing from imagination since stylization requires you to have a visual bank and knowledge to draw from.
>>7936907real answer: if you don't use reference you are retardedfake answer to gate keep retards: draw from imagination
>>7936907here is a reason >>7933849
>>7936907because its a lot easier to draw something you have memorized. (no need to spend hrs looking for something in the specific pose you want for example)and because the very act of trying to memorize something forces you to learn how to do it, and practice the method of which you use to learn it a lot, which has many immediate benefits. basically, you learn it gooder when you learn it by heart. The true "big boy" effect is what I call "refinement", which takes time to bare fruit. Basically, if you've ever wondered how a person makes something and it just magically looks good and is done quickly and effortlessly, thats what refinement does, it makes things just magically work out every time. Memory drawing is naturally refining, in a way that reference spam just isn't.I would say after a month or two of loose memory study, you'll get 1 or a few somewhat refined methods that works well enough at making it look good whenever you do it. and by focusing on doing those few ways that work by simply using it in practice (as you no longer need to study it), it eventually goes magic mode. I have never gotten that from using a reference, it was always graduating from the reference that did that to me.
>>7936907it's not very cool likely all of your favorite artists can draw from imagination well
>>7936907I only want to draw original things, so if theres a reference for it then I don't want to draw it anymore.
