A Tip for Freehanding

I can attest much of my growth on instagram to my freehand drawing ability. With instagram, videos garner a wider audience. I dislike this fact, but it's the case and we gotta figure out how to use it to our advantage. I used to think I was good at freehand drawing when I was actually not, and now that I think I'm ok at it, I have undoubtedly improved.

When fans would ask me how they too can improve their freehands, I'd tell them to do their studies using the freehand method. Boy, now I think that was the wrong thing to tell up and coming artists. I could see from all the art I was tagged in that I had given pretty crappy advice. Proportions were out of shape, there were random hatching on unusual places, and lines were wonky and unstable. If you're one of those artists I gave that advice to, I'm sorry.

For the past 5 years or so, I'd find myself having 2-4 week long freehanding spurts where I'd practice drawing without a rough underdrawing. Then I'd take a 2 or 3 month hiatus before getting back to it again. I now see what helped me the most. It wasn't the freehanding that made me better at freehanding. I mean, it definitely helped, but there was much more to it. It was actually the times where I was drawing my comic using clean, crisp lines, a very detailed underdrawing, and pulling up reference anytime I had a question that helped me become a better freehand artist.

The more time I spent drawing consciously; drawing with intent to learn and memorize rather than drawing for the sake of drawing and creating; the more I developed my photographic memory. As a kid, I was told I had photographic memory by my art teachers. I don't think I did because I was actually a very dumb kid. I did have a very observant eye however. If I drew a tiger when I was in elementary school, I kid you not, I'd count how many whiskers there were. I'd count each strand of fur visible to my eyes and aim to match the image I was copying. One could say it was OCD, and you wouldn't be wrong, but it was that sort of thinking that allowed me to draw many animals from memory at a young age.

I think you can build a photographic memory. You don't have to be born with it. When I was drawing the Hookstag piece above, I was thinking about every muscle when I drew it. Where are the insertion points? Is it flexed or relaxed? I ask myself hundreds of questions and I make sure to answer each and every one. If I can't, I pull up reference and find the answer and try to memorize it so I don't redo the same mistake again.

I've seen so many artbooks showing us how to draw. Honestly, I don't think they're that useful. I'm more interested in learning what to think as an artist. When I learned the thought process of Kim Jung Gi, I advanced further than by viewing his how to draw lectures. Similarly, my best art teachers didn't necessarily show me to how draw, but how to think like an artist.

TLDR; just freehanding doesn't make you a better freehand artist. Drawing conciously using reference, underdrawing, and crisp linework will help you more than you think at becoming a competent freehand artist.

Stay safe art monkeys.

-Roosh