Imagination

"Figure from Back-Reclining"    SOLD

oil on board, 2009

15" x 20" (38.1cm x 50.8cm)

Here's a figure study done recently, but without benefit of a model. Sometimes I will work from a previous drawing or do thumbnail sketches until I find something I want to work up in paint.

Even though it is better most of the time to have some kind of reference it's good to challenge yourself from time to time by working from your imagination. Many artist occupations require working this way since posing a model in true action poses, for instance, is almost impossible. Automotive designers are another example... there is no reference for what hasn't been done yet. And their designs must actually be built.

Either way, using your imagination uses a different set of skills than direct observation or working from a photo. I don't even want to lay any claims about which way is better, only that each is different and has it's own pros and cons. I will go so far as to say that working in one method helps improve the others. So that each time I work from direct observation it also strengthens my visualization skills or helps in 'deciphering' photo reference later. And though it may not seem so, working from imagination even helps improve working from a model, it teaches me to not always be so literal. They are just different disciplines.42

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