Mastodawn

Some time ago (it was at least 4 years so I had much less experience with digital #drawing, I started at all in June 2020) I mentioned strange phenomenon I was experiencing. When had some model photos on sight I was able to draw with so much better quality than normally my average skill allows to. To the point of basically being able almost "copy" a photo even then. I mean just looking at photo could "switch" something in my brain to give me a skill bonus, like in game...

It happens automatically and I still cannot explain how it works. One time someone here suggested I could try to draw looking at picture upside down, to check if it would "block" or somehow affect some process in my brain.
Well, I still didn't try that but I noticed I could as well "copy" mirror reflection of photo I look at. Sometimes I did it even accidentally, so it don't affect anything. More consciously I also tried something like "I have photo of red cat in one pose, draw cat in similar pose but with gray fur like on other image" and while it required more focus it still didn't affect that automatic skill bonus effect.

So now I think maybe some day I really should try to draw from upside down picture to check if it change something :BlobCatThink:

#art #artist #creativity

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Mad Argon

3d ago

I just wonder about how context-dependent could be some weird brain processes... One day I watched short video about grapheme-colour #synesthesia. They talked about how it is in fact more connected to meaning of symbols in given context than just shapes and changing context could affect perception.

Well, for me it could work parallelly in most cases. E.g. if I look at other alphabet with partly the same or similar symbols, not always the same meaning, like Cyrillic or Greek. I noticed for some symbols I could "receive" two parallel "signals", one more shape-related, other meaning-related and it doesn't even make it "harder to feel", maybe it was slightly confusing until I realized these two signals can just exist at the same time.

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Marta 3d ago

@madargon Interesting. I have noticed similar boost of skills when I draw from a photo compared to drawing from original model or from memory. I think it is because photos are frozen in time - especially important when I draw animals. And because a photo is already a projection from 3D to 2D and my brain doesn't have to do it on its own. And drawing from memory is harder for me as I don't have a photographic memory. I often think in images but they are somehow simplified, I cannot recall a particular detail unless it has caught my attention.