The ability to document well is no small skill. Many of us spend a lifetime looking at our world, ourselves, and learning how to better render, as someone once said, 'the wealth of the visible.' And the ability to render figures, likenesses, objects, and landscapes in a way that's recognizable and relatively realistic is also essential to drawing the same kinds of subject matter from the imagination. So if you can draw well from life, from photographs, etc, you're already halfway there.

Starting as fast and loose as possible works for me. If I'm going to draw a tree, I'll likely begin by throwing down a quick line that may become the trunk, and adding a few lines that may be limbs. If I want the tree to be a White Pine, then I'll draw on the things I've learned about White Pines- How their limbs grow, the texture of their bark, their overall shape, etc. I'm not documenting a particular tree I've seen- I'm drawing on what I've observed about the look of elements common to White Pines, and combining them in a way that will hopefully lead to a cohesive and unique whole.

It's about acquiring a visual vocabulary, then building on that. It's also about what you want from your art. What do you want to draw? What interests you, attracts you most? If you like landscapes, what kinds of places would you like to visit? Try making drawing from your imagination a process of exploration and discovery. Throw down a couple quick lines. Do they suggest a tree? A path? A mountain range? Pick one, develop it, see what else happens. Let one step help determine the next.

Some kinds of subject matter lend themselves better to this kind of process than others. But anything you can draw from life or from reference photos can be at least begun this way as well.

© Mark Reep 2004

On Drawing From The Imagination

Awhile ago, a young artist  asked me how to become better at drawing from the imagination.  Not an easy question.  But the best ones never are.