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 pa

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?