Using An assortment of random objects to create an end goal like a robot, Car, building eg. microwave, Hover, Blender, RGB-Light-bar, to crate a robot. Or is this not drawing from Imagination?
Photobashing is a tool. Whether or not one uses it to create from our imagination depends on how you use the tool, it is not inherently one way or the other. It is entirely possible to combine different photo assets (or even 3D models) to create something new (so long as you are making the decisions relating to the composition, design, narrative, etc. of the whole and not letting the photo assets force you in certain directions). One of the courses I took years ago had us come up with a loose concept for a story, and then use photobashing as an ideation tool, as shown here, to create several different compositions. Photos were used because they allowed us to get the idea down more quickly, but we still painted on top of those photos where they did not suit the scene we were trying to create. In effect, we used photobashing as a tool for the sketching phase here - that is, I'm using "sketching" to mean loosely exploring ideas.
Later, we chose three of those sketches to take further to completion, as shown here, although I applied further feedback from the instructor on those finals to update the middle one as shown here. I may have used a couple more photo assets as part of that process, although the bulk of this involved painting on top of the composition to unify the disparate photo assets, and further push things towards my intent.
All that said, photobashing is not something I would recommend to any beginner who is not yet comfortable with creating illustrations without photobashing (and the same goes for using 3D blockouts, which I also use where necessary in my own work as shown here). Reason being, an existing asset contains so much information, so much detail, that it becomes very tempting to try and stay very close to that photo in order to preserve it. As a result, they end up engaging with those photo assets in a very timid, cowardly manner, which ultimately leaves it to the photos to make the decisions regarding the direction the illustration takes. It stops being their creation, but rather just a derivative of the assets used within it.
In order for such assets to be used effectively, the artist needs to be fully willing to cover it all up in its entirety, if that's what it takes - and to that end, there are a lot of successful uses of photobashing where you don't see the photos that were used in the first place, in the end result because it's all been covered up. In those contexts, the photos are still a useful part of that process, by giving the artist a big mess to clean up, rather than starting with nothing.
The class I alluded to earlier was the first time I engaged with photobashing for years up to that point, but early on I did try to use a lot of photo textures and assets, as can be seen here and here. Eventually however I realized that it was holding me back from ever developing my ability to paint on my own, as I kept leaning on those photo textures as a crutch. From that point I avoided them entirely, thinking that they were harmful in any circumstance, but that class I took later on where we were made to use such things as a tool helped me see the clear value in their use.
So, short answer - yeah, you can absolutely use photobashing when drawing from your imagination, but you should not attempt to do so until you are very comfortable and confident in your ability to paint digitally on your own, without the use of those assets.
Is response cleared up a lot of confusion although one last thing I would like what about taking bits and pieces from a reference so unlike taking the whole thing with a bunch of different components like for example an engine interior would have a lot of interesting form shapes and designs to look at I'm not taking the engine as a whole but I'm only taking parts what seem interesting to me to put towards my own project with that still be considered photo bashing where is the concept inherently a photo bashing just taking any amount of components of an existing object and putting them together whether that is full or a smaller margin? Blake when I did a microwave I didn't just draw a microwave fully I took only a small amount of component put them on top any more made like a pyramid type building
What you described - taking individual parts of a photograph - is a normal part of photobashing, rather than a unique approach that would change anything I said previously.
A lot of folks have heard about Scott Robertson's "How to Draw" - it's basically a classic at this point, and deservedly so. It's also a book that a lot of people struggle with, for the simple reason that they expect it to be a manual or a lesson plan explaining, well... how to draw. It's a reasonable assumption, but I've found that book to be more of a reference book - like an encyclopedia for perspective problems, more useful to people who already have a good basis in perspective.
Sketching: The Basics is a far better choice for beginners. It's more digestible, and while it introduces a lot of similar concepts, it does so in a manner more suited to those earlier in their studies.
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