"Help! I can't draw from imagination!" Formulas for creative thinking

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"Help! I can't draw from imagination!" Formulas for creative thinking. Drawing from imagination, formulas for creativity and using reference. What phase of development are you in with your art? In this video I discuss probably the biggest thing that stops people from thinking creatively and formulate a suggestion on where to get inspiration to begin developing your creative muscles.
Games I've worked on -
Fortnite (Environment concept art)
Overwatch (Environment concept art + Sprays artwork)
League of Legends (Character design + Environment concept art, UI + Icons)
Diablo 3 (Character design + Environment concept art)
Hearthstone (Illustration)
Burning Crusade(Character design + Environment concept art)
Wrath of the Lich King (Character design + Environment concept art)
Indivisible (Environment concept art)
Final Fight Streetwise (Voice Acting + Character Design + World Design + Cutscene Direction + Co writer on script)
He Man GBA (Pixel Art)
Terminator 3 GBA (Art Direction + Pixel Art)
CannonBallers (Character + World design)
Ikeda: The Scrap Hunter (Programming + Art + Design)
Goblins and Gnomes (Concept Art)
Books available-
CreeD Re:Imaginary (2021) - 2 part Comic series
Twilight Monk - Return of the Ancients (2021) - Illustrated Novel
Twilight Monk Secrets of Kung Fulio (2020) - Illustrated Novel
Escape from Giants Crown (2019) - Illustrated Novella
World Of Twilight Monk Vol 1 (2019) Art Book
The Man and the Moonken (2019) - Illustrated Novella
The Beast of Tuksa (2018) - Illustrated Novella
Twilight Monk (2012) - 2 Graphic Novels
Nova Colony (2009) - 1 Graphic Novel
CreeD (1993-2007) - Comic Book Series
Ghost Rider (2000) - Comic Book Series
The Fuzz (1997) - Comic Book

[@KimmoTheArtist]

Great video. I've trained my imagination by utilizing "chaospainting". Which is basically adding marks and textures to a surface and finding interesting forms in it. I've noticed it's great when I want use my coffeebreaks at work for drawing because I don't have to get an idea, the idea comes when I see an interesting form in the mess. I personally use just plain pencils, I "pre-mess" the pages of my sketchbook with graphite powder so I can just dap at the page with eraser to find forms. I've read about this in the past but I tried it when I came across an artist named Eric Messinger, who's a real influence to me in using imagination.

[@HauntingSpectre]

I used to be much more imaginative as a child, and the older I get the more I am stuck with referencing other things. Anything I can see, I can almost perfectly recreate, but the whimsy and colourful creatures and characters I used to make up as a kid are long gone.

[@marijekern8699]

For people who are struggling with "creativity", a really wonderful book that's helped me practice being creative and not copying work is "Designing Creatures & Characters" by Marc Taro Holmes. The book gives you a ton of cool ideas, and ways to be structurally creative. It's really helped me look at being creative in a different way!

[@An.Unsought.Thought]

"Let the needs of the drawing become the creativity." - Trent Kaniuga, 2022

[@kommandokeks]

When I have a certain struggle and suddenly see a video from mah boy Trent about the topic. On point.

[@AscentArt]

Another great video Trent! I got lucky by stumbling upon guys like you and Feng Zhu basically day one of my art journey, so I feel I've been hearing this advice for years from you guys (which is a fantastic thing!) Thanks for reinforcing it and yet again giving me that creative push I crave. You're a legend bro.

[@Sourinksoda]

Thank you Trent! Ive been developing creating in this way for awhile now, its really good to hear it more concrete with extra tips! Ive found really thinking about the environment has helped me be a better character concept artist, using refrences of more abstract things like moulds to help base shape language, colour and patterns from. Not necessarily making a character or environment that is mould but letting that inspire visual decisions to get the ideas flowing.

[@uskidsknow19]

Trent! I love your content, you've really inspired me to actually pursue my goals as a career artist. It'd be really cool to see a video about what kind of workspace setups you'd recommend for people new to the digital art process. I currently just have a wacom tablet and a laptop. I make it work, but it can be really physically awkward and uncomfortable sometimes. If you'd ever wanna make a video with tips for how to set up your workspace/office, that'd be super helpful! BTW if anyone who sees this has tips or links, pls share B)

[@amnesia9231]

Was a pleasure watching your timelapse and and hearing your thought process as a concept artist. I still need to work on muscle memory and technique

[@fatmanicus275]

Man I have struggled with pulling my imagination into my art, somedays it'd go easy others yeah no, but listening to you really helped me find that missing piece in the puzzle for this. DING level up baby! THANK YOU so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. Once I get my landscaping classes in, I know what I'm taking next! lol Keep rocking out man! and just truly thank you sir for all you do!

[@mentalbreak]

This is such good advice. I was having this same problem but I recently got a mentorship and he is having me do fundamental assignments (still-lifes, figure drawing, design practice) and creative assignments where I write a story and then make original designs for that story.

[@myronballard1520]

Thank you Trent for another great video! The story is key when designing anything. You should continue to do a lesson on imagination. I believe artists (and people in general) don't understand what it really is and how powerful/effortless it is. I listened to a scholar who studies the concept of imagination from biblical days and he said "Imagination is effortless. You do it at rest. If you're struggling that's not imagination." Basically, how I work is the story first and then references to help develop the story further. The vision then research. Thanks again!

[@lehfeldt1]

Picked up the Hearthstone Illustration Workshop. Thanks Trent!

[@mgtowgear6169]

As a fellow junior artist i know how to draw but my Fundamental skills suck balls which i need to drastically upgrade upon. I have interesting design skills, i have a very creative imagination i just lack the Fundamental to create a fantastic Concept/ Painting piece like this Sporebreaker Character from Wow.

[@CallMeCamTV]

Oof it felt like a jab to the face when you so kindly reminded me 17 years have passed since Burning Crusade. Time flies when you're having fun 😭

[@greeneggsandham760]

I needed this thank u Trent

[@user-dq7ep3oz7o]

I have been watching your video since very long time. It's really helpful to improve my skill set in many different aspect. Out of all your videos this video eager me to think a lot and concentrate on design in my work. Can you please make an in depth video or gumroad tutorial about how we can come up with a unique design for environment or character and what are the ways we can improve our creative design skill set for concept art?

[@TrentKaniuga]

Yeah. I have 2 environment workshops and 2 character design workshops. Www.gumroad.com/trentk

[@peacemaster8117]

Very cool Trent. I've got a pretty visual imagination, but I've always wondered about methods people can use to come up with visual concepts when they don't have that. This pretty much answers my question.

[@draw_ki_]

great video! I will definitively come back to this one. Also, FZD school talks a lot about form follows function.

[@TrentKaniuga]

Yep. Feng actually worked as a concept artist for many years.

[@al1c348]

Wow, I really needed this video! There is always that talk about "being talented" and how some people are 'born creative" and seeing how you can actually build up that skill is really motivating. Thank you trent!

[@cory99998]

Ty!

[@SilentTrip]

Thanks, I hope to God this will bring back my creativity 🙏

[@Badartist888]

I have a spreadsheet I've made with a number of categories filled with keywords. Then I can hit refresh on the document and the categories will randomly pull up more keywords. So the first is genre, then gender presentation, then class, then some that inform what they are doing. It is a good way to get me out of a blank page rut and really didn't take too much time to make. Just a few random numbers and look up tables in Excel. But you could easily do it with paper and a dice or paper cut up and put in a hat. I made it by converting a 'plot seed' generator I used in TTRPGs. I work far better with limits.

[@kylechristianmolina8667]

Wow!!!😍 Im also a starting artist and I use this channel to share my arts...❤️❤️❤️ HOPING SUCCES FOR ALL OF US!!!🙏🔥❤️

[@angelbracero4053]

Please, do a video on the difference between Inspiration and Reference and how to go about drawing from both. Thank you! I love your channel.

[@TrentKaniuga]

Reference is when you are dissecting the construction, form, or features of a part of another image. Inspiration seems like it is just a vague starting point, but ends up looking nothing like the source material.

[@DouglasAvilaArt]

Thanks for that amazing video and advices! It really helped me a lot

[@blakemarsee4801]

Could you please make a video about how to start a career in UI Art? What skills will I need to learn? What can I expect when I start to work in this field? What needs to be in my portfolio for this type of art? I would really appreciate your advice. Thank you and God bless. Keep making awesome videos.

[@TrentKaniuga]

Have you ever redesigned the UI for an existing game with bad UI? That would show potential employers that youre thinking about the user experience and know how to do the job.

[@blakemarsee4801]

@@TrentKaniuga Thanks for the advice. I'll do that.

[@blakemarsee4801]

@@TrentKaniuga There's a difference between UI Artist and Ui Designer isn't there? I thought they were the same thing.

[@pup4301]

Don't draw from you imagination. Draw from your restraints and restrictions you place on your imagination.

[@Dragon_Brand]

How do I do that

[@Kokose]

@@Dragon_Brand evaluate your work. Think about what made you struggle. What part of the process was the most challenging and study that area until it gets easier.

[@AndrewMaksymBrainNectar]

This is solid

[@pup4301]

@@Dragon_Brand Think like an engineer. You want to draw something anything. Pick one then write out what it should and shouldn't be or think about it. Then use your set of processes to construct the object or scene. Change the creation if it does not fit your your restraints. Repeat the process for every drawing.

[@robihamdani5385]

thank you

[@Lizard1582]

Did what Marc say about you on his top art youtubers video inspire you to use brighter and bigger text for the thumbnail?

[@jodyangel]

I happened to be in the Badlands doing Elemental Invasion for Dragonflight PrePatch.😅

[@ithilweenshadowsong8151]

Trent, could you do a post mortem of the Dracthyr?

[@lukemckay547]

I was one of the 25% of the population who had hyperphantasia. (super vivid imagination / visualization) - I used that to my advantage as an artist. But I caught covid and that all went away (and some other neurological stuff) . it killed my imagination and ability to visualize in my minds eye. I've heard the same from some other creative folks I know. I still have an art job, I can still move the stylus across the tablet, but man it's so much harder now. I've never needed as much reference material as I do now.

[@LeaveShun]

Question: can you make a podcast

[@Markerton]

I still miss“ ouh yeaaaahh” part

[@cpjworks]

Loving the Swamp Thing on steroids.

[@mosamaster]

great 👍

[@Hadri_ART]

Thank you🙏 you sir never cease to be super useful for us beginners, you work on the platform is an incredible resource for all of us, thanks❤️

[@fuzzydragons]

a viking take would look cool!!😀

[@Manicca]

Vikings literally developed into the modern era and designed things: Its called Sweden and Skiftnyckel. (Wrench). :)

[@samuelusifo8046]

Thanks

[@OfficerBlowFish]

I've been drawing for almost 4 years and its still hard to draw without reference. Idk if I'll ever be able to.

[@marschallart3493]

I've been doing mostly drawings from reference where I can just color pick from the photo and then I noticed when trying to paint from imagination that I have a big gap in knowledge. I'm a little unclear regarding the concept of how light affects a subject with various local values. For eg. a person wearing a scarf and a shirt. How do I choose the value of light to use when all three objects have varying degrees value? Sorry if this is not the correct space for this question.

[@williammclean6594]

Drawing from imagination it's like the last level of being an artist you should only do it once you know how to draw something because you drawn it so much from memory you know it by heart if you don't know how something works you should use reference. So don't be afraid to use reference if you don't know how light works you should try getting James Gurney's book on light. Color and Light every artist recommends it

[@weronikawisz7011]

what do you think about CG SPECTRUM? is it worth it to go and pay 8k for 9months? what are some good courses for learning concept art?

[@TrentKaniuga]

Www.gumroad.com/trentk my courses teach you the concept art process. I recommend the facility or dark fantasy ones.

[@nannarart]

Hey Trent, Love your videos, tutorials! This is a quite random question but I am not sure who else to ask. I just started to experience that my art improves with every peace so much (which is great don't get me wrong) that I literally cannot build a portfolio that represent my skill level. And I was wondering if that's a problem and If it is how to solve it? Because I cannot just always have only one project in my portfolio, but they just don't fit together. And I tried to revisit my older works but I feel like there is no point in that after a certain point because I can just do better if I start it over. Also, I wonder if anyone else experiences this or it's just me.

[@TrentKaniuga]

You should have about 12 pages in your portfolio. Each time you do a new piece/page/character design/turnaround/environment with callouts... You go through your 12 pages and decide which one to replace with the new one, and keep applying until you get a job.

[@IceMaverickX]

i have the opposite problem: i have to much imagination but can´t draw ^^

[@bstoloch]

Trent, hello Can I ask you to do new video or bout jobs , because I watched your video about another jobs in game industry and I'm interested how things are now) Are 3d artist still in demand or maybe a lot of another cool jobs appeared. I'm asking because I think game industry is fulfilled with juniors in every popular field with no job and they (I) don't know what to do If I skipped the video I'm talking about can you guys give me the link or something Sorry if I wrote it aggressively or rudely, i'm not a native speaker

[@hobistinyheartbag]

Ohh I’m too late to use the code (T-T) dang it I should’ve found you 2 weeks ago

[@TrentKaniuga]

Just use the current one. WINTER22

[@hobistinyheartbag]

@@TrentKaniuga thank you so so much! I’ve just used it! 🥰

[@lukemckay547]

with this speed paining, and many other digital paintings on youtube, I see that you are switching colors often and consistently, but I don't see you using the color dropper, or a swatch table. How are you selecting colors so fast?

[@samuelusifo8046]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@apfelninja]

If you could, and gave someone an answer for what their recipe would be, you'd get 25K views again, and it would be the secret sauce for 25K people, and then it wouldn't help anybody lol

[@jacquiewiegand6323]

AI drew that hand LOLOLOL

[@neilray8427]

😬 p♥r♥o♥m♥o♥s♥m

[@nitrogamesstudios5276]

Is right now are still sending portfolios to you?? you are retired now

[@rolsonDotcom]

Every artist has a different path to achieving their goals.

[@Dumb-Comment]

Or you can use randomly generated ideas from AI

[@mgtowgear6169]

To my fellow artists if you do not have a imagination, you are unable to think of things to draw why not download the Draw with Jazza app. Another great idea is use this concept which Trent, all other artists use. What if Elmer Fudd from Looney Tunes was a Baby or a Elderly Hunter. What if a Goldfish was combined with a Gorilla? What if there was a mechanical Sledgehammer wielding Goliath Rabbit Carrot Creature? This is basically how creative minded people think use this method. Now as a Junior Artist i got zero frickin clue how i am supposed to draw this thing as i personally lack "The Core Fundamental Skills." Now if i did have those amazing fundamentals i personally would be able to come up with a wide variety of concepts but i am still not sure i would get a finalized piece as im still not at Trents level yet. First i just need a Job so i can make some $$$$ so i can purchase some cheap courses to start my journey of upgrading my Fundamental skills.

[@williammclean6594]

If you don't have an imagination I don't know why some people choose to become an artist. like those people who only draw photo realism probably because they can't think of anything to draw so they just copy a photograph to be hyperrealistic. I bet they couldn't draw anything else even if they tried because they don't have any ideas. plus a camera I would just do what they're doing but better so what's the point