07-22-2024, 09:40 AM
The reality is that creating poses 'from imagination' is more like 'from memory' and 'from understanding'.
If an artist hasn't drawn an arm/leg/torso many times in a certain pose, then they will probably not be able to draw it without reference. The general shapes aren't in their memory. If an artist doesn't know what the bones, muscles, and fat are doing in that pose, they'll probably get things wrong, if only a little.
I'm certainly guilty of trying to draw from imagination too much, when I should have been drawing from reference. Nobody wants to be limited to using reference, but it's necessary.
I'm definitely in favor of trying to draw purely from imagination, but you have to be wary that you're getting a mix of practice with ref in there, too. You can't learn anatomy by guessing at it from imagination.
Also, there are a lot of 3D tools out there that can help somewhat. Clip Studio has 3D models built in. So you could either do a pose with the 3D model first and then draw from that, or do a sketch first and try to match the 3D model back to that pose. The issue here is that not even the best 3D models have correct anatomy in every position. They will help you get proportions and perspective correct, though, and that is certainly better than nothing.
If an artist hasn't drawn an arm/leg/torso many times in a certain pose, then they will probably not be able to draw it without reference. The general shapes aren't in their memory. If an artist doesn't know what the bones, muscles, and fat are doing in that pose, they'll probably get things wrong, if only a little.
I'm certainly guilty of trying to draw from imagination too much, when I should have been drawing from reference. Nobody wants to be limited to using reference, but it's necessary.
I'm definitely in favor of trying to draw purely from imagination, but you have to be wary that you're getting a mix of practice with ref in there, too. You can't learn anatomy by guessing at it from imagination.
Also, there are a lot of 3D tools out there that can help somewhat. Clip Studio has 3D models built in. So you could either do a pose with the 3D model first and then draw from that, or do a sketch first and try to match the 3D model back to that pose. The issue here is that not even the best 3D models have correct anatomy in every position. They will help you get proportions and perspective correct, though, and that is certainly better than nothing.