03-14-2014, 11:26 PM
Nice hands and eye. I've been struggling with being imaginative myself for a while. I've realized however the best way to improve it is to look at references rather than avoiding them like you said. The key is to observe everything and make notes on their design. Referencing things if you dont know how to draw it is not a sin. Its the only way to actually learn and grow your own design language skills.
Think of design as a language, with basic shapes and lines as your alphabet and building them up into complex sentences. Use compositional choices that lead the eye to intended focal points. Try to figure out how to make every inch of a drawing interesting. Learn how to move the viewers eye through it without being too busy.
You can do this by looking at other artists designs and doing very basic information sketches to understand the design choices and why they're appealing to you. Also studying real life objects to understand how things actually look and how they work. Dont just copy reference, either. Draw it from a different angle to force you to understand its 3D form. Draw an object from reference until you can draw it purely from imagination is key as well.
Hope you find this helpful and Im not just coming off preachy :D
Think of design as a language, with basic shapes and lines as your alphabet and building them up into complex sentences. Use compositional choices that lead the eye to intended focal points. Try to figure out how to make every inch of a drawing interesting. Learn how to move the viewers eye through it without being too busy.
You can do this by looking at other artists designs and doing very basic information sketches to understand the design choices and why they're appealing to you. Also studying real life objects to understand how things actually look and how they work. Dont just copy reference, either. Draw it from a different angle to force you to understand its 3D form. Draw an object from reference until you can draw it purely from imagination is key as well.
Hope you find this helpful and Im not just coming off preachy :D