how do you practice observing? do you usually practice drawing what you remember from memory or with references? i want to try to be able to draw more freely from imagination as well. i love your art!!🍃
When there is a piece of art that makes me feel a certain way, it motivates me to remember it. I have not had any issues with recalling things. I understand not everyone works this way, and is different.
Since I'm not sure how the majority of people work. It is hard to give advice on what to do to require a photo memory. While growing up, using a reference was seen as cheating. I had to learn this method, so I would not be seen as a cheater. I would see the image, reference it, then redraw it without using the reference ever again. This method was taking an image as reference, then recreating it again but without that reference as a guide. I would then check back to see how close I was to the original image. Moving forward, I would not use that image as reference again. But continue to recreate the image myself as I've stored it in my memory.
There was an image of a character named Sora, from an old Kingdom Hearts II manga. I really liked this panel as a child. I observed and copied it once. I took that memory and would draw the image again anytime I could, without having the reference. The last time I've seen this panel, or have drawn the image was over 10 years ago. Here are my attempts now on recalling my memory -
I want to make it clear that there is no shame with using reference! My method of learning came from a place of guilt and stress. I highly recommend that you use as much real life reference as possible, but I can understand feeling trapped. I'm always trying to watch and observe things as hard as I can, then draw what I can remember. I personally feel learning how to draw without reference is skill that takes a lot of work, but is very rewarding for freedom.