Tutorial to draw from imagination (Patreon)

Sorry in advance. This is a very deep context that nobody ever said before....(at least from what I witnessed). So there's no short explanation on this one. Please read carefully, and if you don't understand anything, I'll be more than happy to explain to you.

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When you ask how to draw from imagination, these are a common answer you will get.

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1. Build a visual library. And you can draw it.

2. Draw a lot. Practice a lot.

3. Use reference first and then you won't need it.

4. blah blah blah...

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Are these suggestions true?....I would say...absolutely.......BUT....it won't help me much because it doesn't give me any lead how to improve...

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Why is that? What is the hidden truth behind it.

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to draw from imagination, you need to accept these 3 facts first.

1. There're tons of micro-steps hidden in the process.

2. 1 shape can contains more than 10 information.

3. Observe where the line goes, the moment you draw, relate to others line. (Live-feedback)

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When you draw a box, the only information you need to remember is to make the second line perpendicular to the first line... after than, you can draw another parallel line to complete the box.

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But when you're drawing a head, the relations between lines are numerous, a bit curve here, a bit bending there, etc. No matter how others said, how few steps they claimed....all the information are still there. and like it or not, if you want to draw, you need to remember them all.

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But it's not that hard. Why is that?

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According to Neuroscience, when you do some task again and again, the brain will group the information into a one big chunk. that means, when you draw familiar things, you recall only 1 step instead of 20 steps. Thank to the chuck you already have.

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and when you draw a picture, as I said before, even a single picture can contains so many information than you think. That's why when you saw someone drawing without any sketch, how could they know where to start, where to stop...well, they already have all information in a big chuck to recall......automatically.

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Now, on reality, How to practice drawing from imagination?

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Not sure it will work for everyone, but it work for me.

1. When you draw things...try to get more connections by create your own procedure, new way of approaching, or your own's rule how to draw...a hypothesis... Start from this line, that line is equal to this line...or for some people can recall the picture in an imagination...to recheck the proportions.....the more you involve your thought in, the faster you can remember the shape of what you draw...it takes time more than just....draw from the ref.....(draw 100+ refs without creating any hypothesis....it's waste of time...I did it before.)

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2. Draw it again...and use your rules...as a guideline...instead of the reference. I would say, this is the most struggle phase I really hate. Draw the same thing again and again....and you will realize how few you remember....this feeling sucks...but it's necessary. (I'm still trying to avoid that til now....TwT)

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3. Try to start from the easiest shape you can remember....as you saw on the picture, you may see how many steps I draw from the box to the head. When you're a newbie, you focus on drawing a box, and then reshape it....but later, if you're good at remember a complex shape, you may able to start drawing from the curve one...that's what most artists able to do...they chunking all the previous steps in their brain. and they can remember all curves as natural.

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4. and last thing...always check where your pen goes...the relation of live feedback is the most important...drawing from imagination is to draw exactly as your conditions allow to. curve like this....how curve? Is it curve enough?, 2 by 1....is it okay? I think this one is too short....isn't it?

These are questions that always pop in my head when drawing.

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I know this article is confusing....most of them look.....obvious......too obvious...but trust me...it's a secret hide in plain sight... if you can crack it, i'm sure your learning speed will increase drastically.

and you'll able to draw anything from imagination faster than normal......but....it won't be easy and still take times....

so...goodluck.