ALWAYS Work From Reference! Observation, Or Memory
Practice Drawing This Draw-along. n a few interviews, Kim said he would memorize things he saw during the day and then draw them later. He also mentioned somewhere that he’d memorize a stack of photos and draw them from memory.
n a few interviews, Kim said he would memorize things he saw during the day and then draw them later. He also mentioned somewhere that he’d memorize a stack of photos and draw them from memory. Sergio Aragonés models tiny physical objects he wants to draw. After that, he understands it and draws it from memory.
Kim Jung Gi drew in a more realistic style, and Sergio Aragonés in a more cartoon style, but they both worked from reference. Drawing from memory is still drawing from reference.
This doesn’t just hold for visual art. Don Quixote is one of the most widely read books ever, and Cervantes based the characters on people he observed around him. Life is far more fascinating than our fantasies or memories can ever conjure up.
Our brain is bombarded with a barrage of information and is constantly filtering, simplifying. It reduces visuals to essential symbols we use to grasp the world around us. In the process, it throws away the details we need if we want to draw something well.
If we see a lion, our brain simplifies that concept to “predator, strong and fast, wants to eat you,” and it discards the anatomy details, poses, way it moves, the way the sunlight reflects in its fur, et cetera—precisely the things we need to notice to draw a lion well!
Always work from reference.
This Week, Practice Drawing This Entering The Fourth Dimension!
I created a new 3D model: a box inside a circle. A member requested it on the Discord server. I had also seen this video a while back and thought it was a clever way to visualize how a box would look if you rotated it. I also considered creating 3D models that allow you to step through the construction and view it from different angles. And so I made that.
There are arrows at the top that allow you to move through the demo step by step as a 3D object is constructed. I created a demo page explaining how to do it.
This could be instructive, as you can examine how things are constructed from various angles and even adjust the model’s dimensions to see how that affects it. So the 3D models are entering the fourth dimension, time!
On a whim, I created a new long-form video that takes you on a tour through the website, showing all the drawing practice resources on the website, or most of, anyway, I realize I missed a few.
The video explains how you can use them for your drawing practice. There's a lot on the website today.
I expanded the interlocking models a bit. These interlocking models showed two primitive forms added to each other, but now you can also subtract one from the other, and see the interlocking form: the space inside both of the primitive forms. This allows you to create many more interesting forms to copy for drawing practice and to use to construct other, more complex forms.
The models can be found here. Just go into the Controls panel and play with the Operation selector. You can choose between Add, Subtract, Reverse Subtract, and Intersect.
Another 3D model was added: with this one, an extruded shape inside a box moves along a line. This is useful if you want to start practicing drawing objects inside boxes that move through space, as the extruded shape is a simple form to begin with.
Yours sincerely,
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