The way I draw from imagination to realism is to first use gesture to determine the overall stance, movement, and proportions, and then loosely place the figures in space. I also loosely indicate the environment around the figure.
Then, the artist begins to “build” the form by adding outlines. I usually start with the foremost figure and relate everything else to it. I usually use photographs as references or sketches of people and scenes of their lives. I study the drapes of clothing to show and hide the underlying shapes, which helps me to convey form and action in my illustrations.
I’m going to get a little sidetracked here, but we draw from what we see and also from what we know. The more we know about what we see, the more compelling and imaginative scenes we can paint. We know how light and shadow combine to reveal form, how shadows follow the principles of linear perspective, how colors affect each other, the proportions, shapes, and textures of figures, and so on.
In other words, to draw better, you need to draw a lot. If you are not already keeping a sketchbook on a regular basis, I suggest it. It doesn’t matter what kind of sketchbook, pad, or application you use. Keeping a ledger is a great way to track your progress. At the end of this article you will find links to the three sketchbooks I use.
Make sure your drawings are not just accurate (correct proportions, correct shapes, correct values, correct contours ……) ), but also explore how to create a visual narrative (Narrative Illustration).
Narrative illustration is visual storytelling, in which figures are usually placed in a setting and are doing something within that setting. A setting is the surrounding environment that helps tell a story. If you have ever watched a movie, TV show, or streaming video, you will notice that there is always an environment. Even commercials are placed in environments where people, objects, and animals interact.
Look at the composition. The angles, the overlapping of shapes, the isolated figure on the left, how the angle of the dagger in the foreground mirrors the angle of the edge of the cliff and the seated group of pirates. These are all deliberate decisions made by the illustrator. Like writing, a good story does not come about by accident.