Glad its not just me wondering about this!


I remember I used to feel that what I saw when trying to picture something was very vivid, but when I've tried to draw from it I've found that the information I'd look for in a still-life or photo isn't actually there. (I think also that learning to draw has changed the way and my definition of 'seeing')

For me its a lot like the experience of a memory and I'd liken it to them the most, sort of a feeling, sense and interpretation of what I'm picturing, knowing rather than seeing - a lot like what you've described.
It can be mostly spatial, with more effort required for more complex things or to rotate them without them going fuzzy or losing detail. (note that this is something we're being taught as engineering students, to try to picture how stuff moves or breaks as a learning exercise to develop intuition)
Trying while writing this, I can sort of picture light and shadow (though don't quite know where it goes haha!), but can barely picture colours.


From the way (as I'm aware,) people spend ages developing skills, strategies, techniques, insights etc. on things like depicting forms in perspective, building anatomy out of forms, lighting, colour, texture, composition etc. - and then work simple to complex (like starting with rough sketches or storyboards) and use lots of references as part of their process, I get the impression that what I (we?) experience is normal, and that drawing/painting is largely a problem-solving process.


I'd think mind's eye is at least partly skill-based, so I'm excited to see whether it does get more vivid/detailed over time with practice.

Sorry for the long-ass comment haha! I love your work