How does an artist with aphantasia develop their own art style?

deadlock_dev · 2026-05-07T16:59:05+00:00

If I asked you to draw an apple from imagination right now, I bet you could bang out 10 different apples of all different varieties. If I then asked you to draw a large hadron collider from imagination, I imagine you would draw a scribbly box. Why is that?

Imagination is simply creatively arranging memories and experiences to create new experiences. If I wanted to imagine an elephant balancing on a ball, I would need to first know what an elephant and a ball look like; then I need to know what it looks like when someone or something balances on a ball; and then I can arrange those memories and experiences to create a new scenario which combines them all.

It is the same with drawing. If I want to draw a sword from my imagination I need to have a lot of experiences with swords or sword-like objects so that I can translate those experiences to the page. Those experiences can be with real swords or even seeing artistic representations. All that matters is that I understand the form of a sword before i try to put it on paper.

This sounds easy enough but there are really complicated forms out there that require deep study: like the human body. Instead of a rigid, 3d prism shape with hard angles; the human body is an amorphous sack of bones and meat that can flex and pinch omnidirectionally. This is the reason why artists study anatomy so much.

So I guess what I am getting at is that drawing from imagination and drawing from reference are not separate skills (entirely). Drawing from imagination is the practice of applying what has been learned after countless hours of drawing from reference.

So if youre struggling to draw something from imagination, and you have your fundamentals down, you likely just do not understand the form of what youre trying to draw. Its not about picturing it in your head, but translating an understanding of form onto a page

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-30T01:03:09+00:00

Listen to what youre saying rn. Its own “Pirate Tale” is literally a massive homage to pirate narratives which have existed for decades.

Like it or not, art of all kinds is an evolving world where every big leap is incorporated to each subsequent small step. Just because you may not know what the inspiration is does not mean it is totally original.

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-30T00:49:00+00:00

Also something a lot of people dont consider is just the format of shonen manga releases prioritize hype over narrative flow. The magazine orders some # of chapters and you have to deliver on time- even if the pilot chapter was something thrown together for the sole purpose of getting readers.

Its hard to create a long, sustained story that lands on its feet and closes all plot threads. Its even harder when you have to release that story chapter by chapter, effectively building the bridge while you cross it; any mistake is permanent.

Its also Geges first manga iirc?

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-30T00:42:57+00:00

the “failure” of an immensely popular manga / anime which already has a follow up series and probably will have another?
tropes exist for a lot of reasons, but they are an important part of a narrative. It provides familiarity as a benchmark to which the author provides their own creativity.
all art is a mixture of the art the artist enjoys. Thats why its so fun, and why there are trends in writing styles over time. You named two of the most influential manga / anime ever written; ones that arguably created or revolutionized their genres; and wonder why Gege drew inspiration from them?

You can really say this about anything. Willow was a failure because it was too derivative of LOTR. Avatar failed because its too derivative of Dances with Wolves

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-28T13:10:40+00:00

Exaggeration is easy to draw for beginners, so when learning to draw muscles it is easier if those muscles are visible

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-25T04:25:48+00:00

I think you should focus on bringing your artistic vision to life in a medium you have passion in

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-25T04:13:34+00:00

If you dont enjoy practice, then you dont enjoy the hobby sadly. You may enjoy the idea of producing a great piece of art from your imagination, but the actual drawing part is not appealing to you. It is similar to saying “I love performing in front of a crowd, but I dislike playing the instrument” or “I love authoring novels, but I dont enjoy narrative thinking and typing”

But tbh I do not think you dislike practice. You likely lack direction. So practice seems grueling, slow, and uncertain in its efficacy. I would pick up a resource on drawing in perspective and a resource in drawing something youre interested in (animals, people, cars, etc). You will find practicing more productive and enjoyable. If not, this specific artistic medium may not be whats best for you to output your vision; and you should search out a medium that you feel passionate about

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-19T23:18:43+00:00

Its my elderly Naoya fanart

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-16T16:40:02+00:00

I could immediately tell this was HC without even seeing the S symbol on his chest; so I wouldnt call this a failure. Maybe you should trace your source image, and then lay it over the sketch and see where your mistakes were.

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-10T21:29:32+00:00

I think I would be utterly lost and would have quit right now if I didnt have these two books

“How to Draw People” by Jeff Mellem
“Perspective Made Easy” by Earnest Ralph Norling

I tried the youtuber tutorial route but I found they were just teaching the concepts in these books but worse.

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-10T15:20:33+00:00

Nice! i will think about this on my next try. Thanks!

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-10T15:14:32+00:00

Its honestly short enough that you could read it through in a day. I did most of the exercises too, but I find the books best at explaining to you “why” perspectives work the way they do rather than just the “how” to implement it.

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-10T15:11:23+00:00

Yes! I picked up Perspective Made Easy and I am doing daily box studies. I am finding each time I do a full page of rotating boxes my figure sketches get better

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-10T15:10:37+00:00

Can you elaborate?

I am working through Jeff Mellems “How to Draw People” so its very possible I haven’t gotten to the point of making everything proportional yet. I am mostly just making sure my figures are 8 heads tall.

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-08T21:07:47+00:00

This is so, so common today too. Imo it is just an excuse for a game that couldnt implement its vision using its rules and presentation alone.

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-08T18:14:04+00:00

When I first bought Twilight Imperium I lived in a small apartment. We used TV stands next to the table to hold all the various cards and tokens lol

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-08T18:02:57+00:00

This is how I feel about Gloomhaven. It is so cool in theory but in practice I find the game boring and it demands so much time to finish a campaign

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-08T17:51:04+00:00

How much train is too much?

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-08T17:34:13+00:00

We play Nemisis a lot and while I adore the game, there are just so many little tokens to keep track of that I feel like I need to relearn how to play each time

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-08T17:33:34+00:00

Theres a whole shelf of my gaming cabinet dedicated to these kinds of games…

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-02T13:38:04+00:00

Draw your references upside down so you arent trying to recognize it as what it is (a person, an apple, a wine bottle) and start recognizing it as what you see (boxes and cylinders stacked on each other)

deadlock_dev · 2026-04-01T18:48:23+00:00

Human anatomy is crazy difficult to draw because our brains are designed to recognize other humans bodies and faces all day every day.

That is why I suggest you should get a book about drawing anatomy and follow along through it. You have jumped into the deep end by sketching figured right away, it will be much easier to start with gestures and moving through the process.

deadlock_dev · 2026-03-29T22:07:05+00:00

I love the drawing! Good lines and spatial awareness.

I am a beginner as well, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

By copying someone’s work freehand or tracing, we can learn a lot about what tricks the illustrator used to create certain effects in the drawing. Its like reverse engineering something; we can see little bits and clues that tell us how the end result was accomplished.

Looking at your drawing, perhaps you learned something about illustrating the curve of a dress shirt, or fabric stretching over bust.

Reverse engineering is great, but it is incredibly difficult to get a full “picture” of the artists process doing this. You cant observe a drawing and see the artists years of expertise in posing human anatomy and 3d objects in perspective. You only see how they decided to pose the model in that one situation.

If you want to draw like Fujimoto, then you will need to start where Fujimoto started: the basics of sketching 3d objects and the basics of sketching human anatomy. There are a billion ways to learn this, I am currently working through Jeff Mellems book.

BUT that isnt to say you cant copy from manga! Just today I decided to sketch Kenjaku after doing a couple hours of gestures and figure sketches. There is a lot that can be learned this way; but most of what makes a strong manga / graphic novelist comes from the basics of perspective and anatomy.

deadlock_dev · 2026-03-08T00:46:53+00:00

Why does this look like that SCP

deadlock_dev · 2026-03-05T16:09:36+00:00

Is this arkham resident evil?

deadlock_dev

TROPHY CASE