With imagination you can draw whatever angles and proportions you want and have it look good. You don't have to worry about subtle angles of the head or likeness. I imagine you are able to draw better from imagination because you only do the things you're comfortable doing. It's like a musician learning a new song. They COULD just play the songs they know well, but if they want to learn new songs they have to go through the process of trial and error, which doesn't sound as good as the songs they already know. I call this phenomenon the "comfort trap," where you do the easy thing that gives you immediate results. But if you wanna improve, you gotta do the work that's harder AND looks worse, because you're still figuring it out. You are gonna look worse doing new stuff, but you will get better in the long run.

Hi, great sketches! I'm no expert by all means. However, the way I would approach this is to practice using reference from photos or life to break down complex forms into simple forms and shapes. For faces I study the Loomis method, Asaro head, and Reilly rhythms. I find that this helps me when trying to translate complex imaginary characters, objects, monsters, trees, etc. in my head on to paper. And study how light and shadows affect these forms. And understanding the subject your trying to imagine. Eventually, I would hope, you'd be able to see the simple shapes in your head without drawing them on paper real-time when creating something from imagination. I'm working on this as well. It's tough. I guess in its most simplistic way, draw as much as you can from reference, break complex forms down into simple forms, then try doing it without reference. Easier said than done, but it's all part of the process! Happy drawing!, Gino

Hey there! Good job so far. To answer your question: it is not reference OR imagination, it's reference AND imagination. It is immensely hard - especially as a beginner - to draw practically anything without reference. Whenever you work on something look for references for your subject. After that you can incorporate anything you would like, that's the place for your imagination. Nature has already done its thing, you don't have to reinvent it. Instead integrate it into your drawings. Even if you draw in a very stylized way you should always use some realistic elements to keep your drawings interesting. The reason you make more mistakes when you are drawing from reference is simple... You don't make more mistakes, but since you have a reference that is 'correct' you will notice your mistakes much more frequently, while if you don't use any you have nothing to compare your drawing to. Hope I could help! Keep up the good work! :)

Hi @eli_e I think Steve hit the nail on the head by pointing out that the structure of your head drawings should be made more solid by making sure the features are all lined up in perspective. Additionally I think doing a few loomis heads without any features (just showing the structure) could help remedy this. Also, you really did pick some difficult angles to draw the head from (especially that one of the figure looking straight up). It might be beneficial to work with simpler angles like looking at the head straight on, and then at a 3/4 view, etc. for the time being. I'm also curious which one of these are from reference and which one is from imagination? It's hard to tell right now (which I suppose is good because that means your work looks consistent either way) but I feel like I might be able to address your question knowing this, however I do find that to be pretty strange haha. I'm sure you already know that most people have the opposite issue. It could have something to do with your confidence in just drawing from imagination but I'm not entirely sure. In some ways that might not be a bad problem, who knows Hope you found this helpful! Let me know if there is anything that I can clear up for you

Hey eli e, These are pretty good for a newbie, you picked some difficult angles. The main problem your having is that none of your features are lined up. It would help if you practice the Loomis head, you can find them on line if you don't know what that is. Also Proko did a free video of it on his youtube channel. I did some draw overs so that you can see what I'm talking about. Hopefully this helps, keep drawing :)