drawing

I was wondering when you draw should you always try to come up with things out of your head or is it okay to look at things and draw that

Honestly? I'd say both. Certainly right out of your head... but also, if you want to develop other styles, or if there are things you really need to work on, I'd also say to go and draw things that inspire you. (Me, I love pre-raphaelite art, and stuff that came out of the renaissance period, there are quite a few paintings I'd like to try to emulate to help develop my sense of texture and light, just as an example) One thing Davinci did, was he would say, drape a peice of fabric on a chair, sketch it out, complete the drawing, and then he would change the position of his light, and start over again.... and over, and over, and over. Same peice of fabric, same folds and creases, just a change of the light. One -huge- thing however, if you are drawing something from someone elses work, even if you arent showing it to anyone? Label it with the original inspiration peice's title and artist. You never know, it might wind up being a peice you really want to show off somewhere. It will: A) show respect to the original artist B) prevent anyone from saying you are trying to take credit for someone elses brainchild. C) Help -you- remember where you saw the original peice, who did it, etc so that you can easilly find it again Hope my little ramble helped :) Basically... Draw everything and anything. You never waste time drawing.

Do both. Personally if I am in a block I will draw something that has already been done. The more you do that then the easier it becomes to take those things and throw them together until it becomes your own. For a long time I hard difficulty coming up with my own stuff and it was VERY frustrating. Just have patience and it will come around.....J

thats great ...........everything has been done.

When it comes right down to it ANYTHING you draw will improve your skills....and they improve EVERYTIME you draw...practice don't make perfect but it damn sure does make ya better...subject matter is moot....just don't limit your drawing to things YOU like to draw...expand your horizons (and skills) by drawing things you wouldn't ordinarily be into...this applies especially if you want to tattoo....as a tattoo artist you must be able to draw damn near anything at the dorp of a hat... Anyway good luck and thanks for your post! If we can help ya just let us know...TAz, Painted Angel

There's nothing wrong with referencing objects if you're in a creative block. Many of the best tattooers in the world use multiple sources of reference. Blatantly copying or tracing other art on the other hand, then pawning it off as your own, well, that's a no-no.