Can't say I agree with that. Drawing a still life from a set position will, assuming you aren't messing your angle up, be essentially the same as drawing from a photo. It's not like the photos don't show shadow or anything, because they do. And even if you are simply reproducing something that's already there (which is really what drawing is 90% of the time, whether you're drawing from life or your own imagination) it will help you learn and it will help you improve. When I was little I would draw things straight out of comic books, and later when I was drawing a character from my imagination in a similar pose, or with a hand in a similar pose or something, I could recall the picture I had drawn before and use it as a base. It really surprises me that your art teachers would say something like that. Then again, that probably means your art teachers won't force you to do master copies, and THAT I envy. Master copies are the opposite of fun.
einsam
Colbitzer
@ 3:32 PM Apr 17th