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I also have it, I can draw a lighthouse because I know what it should look like. But if I close my eyes and try to visualize it, I don't have any sense that I'm

I also have it, I can draw a lighthouse because I know what it should look like. But if I close my eyes and try to visualize it, I don't have any sense that I'm seeing something, in the same way that I have a sense that I'm listening to a song when I play it back from memory. When I dream there's only a faint visual component, there's no color or detail.

magicalhippo 3y ago
Same. Also, when reading fiction, I never have any use for the long-winded descriptions of a place and a character. I don't picture the scene or character, but I create my own "space" where I can place the characters and the action, and I can feel beeing there. This "space" can have details, but usually not a lot. Recalling memories are similar. I can vividly feel the moment, and I can remember a lot of non-visual details, and often some distinct visual details. But I can't really picture it.
- dumbo-octopus 3y ago
  > I never have any use for the long-winded descriptions of a place and a character. Same, and oh my goodness did my teachers in High School chastise me for not wanting to produce those same strings of adjectives in my own works. I fundamentally could not understand why someone would want to read that much description about the appearance of something.
namtab00 3y ago
now that I think of it, in my dreams colors are not something I recall, but I definitely can say that I don't dream in greyscale..
the_af 3y ago
Would you be able to go beyond the abstract notion of a lighthouse (basic geometric shape, white with red stripes, etc) and without a reference know where to paint shadows, how to dither them, how to achieve some "weathering effects", marks left by the water, etc? My guess is that kind of "untrained intuitions" about drawing require two preconditions: 1. Having seen lighthouses or buildings and paid attention to how rust/marks/decay and the interplay of light and shadow looks like. 2. Being able to visualize this when drawing. Otherwise, how can the drawing (without a photo reference) be anything but idealized and abstract?

magicalhippo 3y ago

Same. Also, when reading fiction, I never have any use for the long-winded descriptions of a place and a character. I don't picture the scene or character, but I create my own "space" where I can place the characters and the action, and I can feel beeing there. This "space" can have details, but usually not a lot. Recalling memories are similar. I can vividly feel the moment, and I can remember a lot of non-visual details, and often some distinct visual details. But I can't really picture it.

dumbo-octopus 3y ago
> I never have any use for the long-winded descriptions of a place and a character. Same, and oh my goodness did my teachers in High School chastise me for not wanting to produce those same strings of adjectives in my own works. I fundamentally could not understand why someone would want to read that much description about the appearance of something.

namtab00 3y ago

now that I think of it, in my dreams colors are not something I recall, but I definitely can say that I don't dream in greyscale..

the_af 3y ago

Would you be able to go beyond the abstract notion of a lighthouse (basic geometric shape, white with red stripes, etc) and without a reference know where to paint shadows, how to dither them, how to achieve some "weathering effects", marks left by the water, etc? My guess is that kind of "untrained intuitions" about drawing require two preconditions: 1. Having seen lighthouses or buildings and paid attention to how rust/marks/decay and the interplay of light and shadow looks like. 2. Being able to visualize this when drawing. Otherwise, how can the drawing (without a photo reference) be anything but idealized and abstract?