Do I Have Potential As An Artist If I’m Good At Drawing From Life/photograph, But Not From Imagination?
August 18th, 2009 | 
Author: I’m 18 and have only taken introductory art classes… two years of high school art and one college-level “Intro to Drawing” course over the summer. I’ve done well in those classes and am respected as a good artist, but I feel like I’m only good at copying (and stylizing) things rather than drawing without reference. For example, if someone told me to draw a dog, it’d be reaaaally bad (probably worse than what the average person my age would come up with), but if I were looking at a reference picture, it’d probably come out really well.
When I copy pictures and draw things from life, I don’t just regurgitate what I see; I try to use unique shading techniques and what not. I’ve been told that I have a really recognizable artistic style. This makes me feel a little bit better, but I’m still uneasy about the fact that I really can’t draw from imagination.
Is this normal, and is it possible that with practice, I’ll get better at producing “creative” work of the same caliber as my copied stuff?
Posted in digital photography | 
Tags: Artist, Drawing, From, Good, Have, Imagination, Life/photograph, Potential
Most professional artists use models for their figurative work anyway, and there are several fields that actually require you to accurately copy reality. Artists like Chuck Close made careers out of hyper realism and the a lot of the work form the watercolor society is realistic and makes extensive use of reference. Artists that work in the medical field are expected to be extremely accurate in their work. Artists generally use reference if the accuracy of the subject matter is at all important to the artist and/or client. It is important, however that the reference is not copied from someone else’s photograph, only ones taken by the artist. So no, if you can’t work without reference, it’s ok.
Well there is no doubt here that you have the skills.Actually the graphite drawings are very good. The ability to manipulate materials and creativity can be two separate things. One is a manual skill the other is an intellectual skill. Understand that there are different uses for art. Some requiring more imagination then others. With that having been said the imagination is something that has to be developed just as any other skill would be. You may do it and not realize it. I can do this, can you? When you read a story aren’t pictures formed in your head? Can you transfer.those images to paper? This is a legitimate sources of ideas/inspiration. It’s your interpretation of the written words/description.. I can’t do this but some people can,visually represent music. Spend some time looking at what other artist have done. Read up on art history biographies.Look at art on the internet, there is tons of it. Go to the library and read why the different artistic movements did what they did in the art history books, read books on individual artist, and look for contemporary art magazines to look at the current work being done. . Art magazines, they can be expensive but they are available at news stands. Seeing what other artist have done will give you food for thought as they say. Who ever “they ” are. Look to other artist for inspiration it has always been done through out history. It will as it did for me long ago give you an understanding as to what is done in the art world Ideas can run from the simplest to the most complex. So you have a skill that a lot of people would envy, The ideal is to develop it into your own individual style and then do something with it. Think of it like this if it helps, we’re all different stories And for you, there is a means of telling yours. Life’s.experiences will give you the ideas, recognized them for what they are Good luck You can and will do very good work…. if you want to.
I would imagine that even a great professional artist only draws from their imagination subjects that they have drawn so many times before that they have that particular subject memorized and draw it with some variations. It is a little like a great violinist. If they are a professional it doesn’t mean that they play from imagination, unless they are playing a Jazz improvisation. Most of the time the violinist is basically copying from from someone else’s written work that they have committed to memory, but they play it with a little slight variations. Isn’t that what you are doing?
I can sympathize with you though if you feel like a human copying machine.I suggest that you might enjoy moving on to the composing phase. Use your photos as a reference and combine them in arrangements or scenes from your imagination.
Here is a scene that I drew in perspective without using vanishing points, but instead I drew everything in this scene in the perspective and scale as it would appear from a single point in space. I did this using a method based on the cone of vision and a little formula I came up with myself. I made up the scene and even the clothes myself. That probably sounds really hard but you can find an approach that works for you. There’s lots of way to do it.http://www.artwanted.com/imageview.cfm?i…
Art is all about visual thinking. Visual thinking can mean an awful lot of things. If you look at Chuck Close he prefigured modern interest in pixels. If you go back to the thirties and forties you will find an equally fascinating artist named Francis Picabia who prefigured Jeff Koons and most of Post-modernism. You are certainly talented. If you have the right attitude you may become an artist.
Read Gertrude Stein’s the Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.