Hello!

[UselessPotato]

My artistic level (I think) would be that I know how to copy very well and also use reference to base my art off of something. I'd love to be able to draw more from my imagination though and not have to rely so heavily from reference but I don't know exactly what the next step should be. Up until now I always felt like I have been moving forward but now it feels like I'm slowly going into a rut of some kind. If anybody has any feedback or advice on what to work on, I'd love to hear what you think. Any studies or drawing exercises would be incredibly helpful as well!

Hi, and welcome! I mean that's kind of the hustle of drawing... figuring stuff out, am I right? I think in order to leave reference aside you have to build a reliable visual library. That is to study a subject matter (the thing you want to draw, say like fish or knights) so you have a visual representation (kind of like a 3d model inside your head) that you can refer to without the need of references, However, there's only two ways to get this stuff done... and those are: 1 you study that thing (like seriously) or 2 you draw it a lot... and since they are basically the same thing I guess that makes it the only way xD But in all honestly I wouldn't say using references is bad or shameful at all (God knows I used them, and even pros use them) so don't an loser and look for references if you need them... The more you draw the thing you want to learn, the less references you'll have to use, but as always it's a matter of time and practice!