Mastering Figure Drawing from the Imagination???

[NessIllustration]

@Coreyartus I get what you're saying, but like @nyrrylcadiz said, when there's a gap you can find creative ways around it. It is probably impossible to find the right reference of the correct fabric in the correct pose with the correct lighting in the correct time period, but you CAN find references of the specific fabric to learn how it behaves, and other references of the time period, and other references of similar poses, and from there form the image you need. My point is that you should get the knowledge of how the thing you want to draw looks like (whether it's from reference photos, real life objects, video, encyclopedias, etc) instead of just filling in the gaps in your knowledge with "imagination". Once you've learned something and can recreate it, you no longer need a reference for it. As time goes, the gaps in your knowledge become smaller and the number of references needed reduces.

Today I drew a large illustration of a forest getting hacked away by a tractor machine and becoming agricultural fields, and was able to draw it all from my head except for the piece of heavy machinery, which is a gap in my knowledge. If I had decided to make something up instead of getting a reference, it wouldn't have been nearly as successful (whereas for trees and fields I had the required knowledge and needed no reference). I also don't think if I'd just tried drawing the tractor over and over and over again without reference, that I would have gotten any better at it no matter how long I practiced it. If I don't know what it looks like, I don't know. That's why I said no amount of just drawing from pure imagination is really going to make someone better at drawing from imagination - what they really need is fill the gaps in their knowledge, and then they're free to fly

[chrisaakins]

I find that the most important way to draw from imagination is a keen eye for observation. I am constantly studying people, their faces, features, shadow and light, the ways their clothes fold, etc. The reason being, I don't want to be a copy artist. I can copy the heck out of a photo reference, but I want my portraits to breathe, to capture that living essence. As a comic book artist wannabe I have drawn so many figures I have internalized what the muscles are doing. There are exceptions of course when it comes to lighting and such where photos help, but you will get there with practice and lots of observation.

[NessIllustration]

@chrisaakins Very true! I remember going through a phase after high school where I didn't draw for a good 6 months, yet when I picked up my pencil again I had improved. It baffled me for a while until I understood that even though I'd stopped drawing, I hadn't let go of the habit of observing people, objects and landscapes around me, and I had learned and internalized some of that during my hiatus.