The ability to picture an image clearly in your head until you go to draw it, and then as soon as you start trying to put it on paper, the image in your head distorts and then fades away, and you can't get it back. Does this happen to a lot of people? Is there a word for it? Ways to overcome it?
Some people are really good at remembering visually some aren't. There probably are terms for that but it's really just that people have dominant senses or ways of thinking.
Try visualising onto the paper rather than in your head may be one option to help improve.
You have to push through these sorts of obstacles with deliberate practice. Hard to start with but it becomes easier and easier over time.
To add to what Scoobyclub said, Uncomfortable has recently published a video in collaboration with Proko that talks about this issue and how he worked around it.
I don't think aphantasia is what I'm talking about exactly -- I have a vivid visual imagination.
...Until I try to draw. The image I dream up in my head only disappears when I put pencil to paper, whereas I believe aphantasia is never being able to imagine the images to begin with.
His video is interesting, though.
Did you know how to draw what you saw in your mind or you weren't familiar with those subjects?
You could try to write down notes of the scene or block it immediately on paper with big, simple shapes as placeholders. Maybe this would help your brain to go back and forth between drawing and visualizing.
I suspect the same approach will benefit you regardless of the exact nature of your current issues.
All good points. I take it this is not the norm then.
I too have the same problem
I have a very wild visual imagination but it's only when I'm about to sleep on my bed
but when I want to draw
& I have my pen on paper all I see is just blank
I still don't have a solution
but I have some methods I'm trying to use to fix this
Just scribbling in lines & shapes until something happens (either I'll see what I'm looking for or something completely new to draw) this is called practicing pareidolia
I try (when I have the clear image in my head) to draw it without any pen or paper all completely inside my head
by breaking it into lines & shapes turning it in 3D space & basically doing a study of that thing inside my head & trying to draw it line by line inside my head
so when I actually have a paper in front of me all I have to do is repeat what I just did in my head having a better idea where to start & what to do
just to aid the process
doing purely visual studies (no pen no paper just my eyes & a hand drawing on air) to enhance the vividness of my visual library
like when you enter a room & forget why you entered the room in the first place
a method to refresh your and try to remember is to repeat what you just did from before you got the idea
example: I was doing (x) then I got up to do (x)
walking by (x) and getting distracted by (x) for an embarrassing 2 minutes
at which point I unlocked my phone & opened (x) app and that's when I saw (x) which reminded me of (x) and that gave me the idea to draw (x)...
and you get the idea.
it doesn't matter how or where just start
it might come back to you, it might not, it might look bad in the end or not.
if it looks bad then redraw it again having your visual aid & experience of the first.
hope I helped in some way or another
This is interesting, thanks. The "just scribble until something happens" is typically what I end up doing and nets me a whole lot of frustration and not a lot of progress.
I have found (weirdly) that if I listen to music while drawing (certain music evokes very strong visual imagery for me when I am not drawing), I can "hold on" to the image just a little bit longer before it slips away (sort of like holding on to cupped water running between your fingers) and can very quickly get down the major shapes etc before it falls apart entirely. As long as I can get enough down on the paper in time, then I can just use the image on the paper to "revive" the image I had before to an extent since I am looking at it.
I'll have to try some of what you suggested. Looking at other images of the thing I want to draw actually makes it worse sometimes, because the thing I am looking at completely erases my own version that I had in my head before. I am generally speaking about things that are already in my visual library -- I can still certainly draw a generic version of that thing without a visual aid since it's in my library, but any kind of unique variation that I had previously envisioned just sorta dies.
Best of luck to you as well.
This is a remarkable little pen. Technically speaking, any brush pen of reasonable quality will do, but I'm especially fond of this one. It's incredibly difficult to draw with (especially at first) due to how much your stroke varies based on how much pressure you apply, and how you use it - but at the same time despite this frustration, it's also incredibly fun.
Moreover, due to the challenge of its use, it teaches you a lot about the nuances of one's stroke. These are the kinds of skills that one can carry over to standard felt tip pens, as well as to digital media. Really great for doodling and just enjoying yourself.
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