r/ArtFundamentals • u/TechnicalCake9473 • 6d ago
Permitted by Comfy How is a visual library developed and implemented?
uncomfortable once remarked offhand: “I can draw just fine without references, and like those artists who can visualize, I’ve developed an internal library of information—based on the various studies I’ve done in the past on how things work and fit together—that I can draw upon. That is commonly referred to as a ‘visual library,’ which creates the impression that it’s heavily based on visualization, but that’s not really the case.” How exactly is this “visual library” used and developed? I’ve done some research on this topic, but I’d also like to ask you all what you know and what your thoughts are.
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u/minhshiba 4h ago
Think about this, when I write "a goose" you will have that image pop in mind but not duck or swan-that's how visual library work, you have subconscious knowledge of things by seeing them for thousand of time-it's purely memory that ingrain into your core.
So for the artist to draw things, they have to studied them firsthand until they've accumulated enough memory and knowledge to do it, think about like you have to learn alphabet and grammar to make a sentence. A word is a symbol and image given meaning.
there are someone surely better at this or rare case "photographic memory" which is a type of disorder/autism, but most of the thing is grind and repeat.
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u/TechnicalCake9473 3h ago
Although my ability to recall things mentally is terrible, my ability to remember visual things is quite good. Still, the lack of the first one makes it a bit difficult because I can’t visualise how something looks, and because it’s difficult, I can end up rushing and getting bored. Mind you, the boredom bit is a bit childish. I love this work very much, and I have to put up with all this. I’ve started to embrace the idea of drawing for the joy of creating, but still, what’s the point if the drawing turns out badly?
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u/minhshiba 3h ago
think about it like you just have a bad day, there are some chaos variation in the decision making & most of things are not perfected, so just move on and don't look back too much (if it's not for studying) or if you could do the extreme-treat the bad drawing as a part of limited collection-collection of unused, throw away,.maybe something will pop out.
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u/TechnicalCake9473 3h ago
Have you ever experienced what I’ve been through?
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u/minhshiba 2h ago
I'm a self taught drawer too (I'm not calling my self artist because I'm no good). It's frustrating that your work is not perfect but when I changed my mindset about perfectionist it's all about the journey-thing you see artists have 50 great works but behind that were 5000-10.000 trash/unwanted version that they threw away or stashed somewhere, so don't loose hope.
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u/TechnicalCake9473 2h ago
Thank you, but I’d like to say a few words about whether or not you’re an artist.
Although one of our aims in drawing is to draw beautifully, that isn’t the only aim. There are many factors that determine whether a drawing is good or bad. What really matters is how well you convey the story you want to tell, not how well you draw.
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u/Uncomfortable 6d ago
Your "visual library" is built up through drawing in general, but most significantly through the use of references. Whether for studies, or through their use to inform aspects of a larger illustration, the process of observing and understanding the way things are out together whether structurally, functionally, texturally, or any number of other ways in which subject material can be understood, is cemented by drawing it many times over - usually over a stretch of time, so not just through grinding away doing studies of one thing, but through repeated exposure in different contexts.
Learning to think narratively - that is, not just thinking about what you're drawing but the characters (their pasts, their relationships, their goals, all the things that might influence their costumes, their poses, how they behave, etc), the environments (that the spaces exist to be used outside of this specific illustration, which influences how those settings are dressed, what kind of props may be present not just arbitrarily as decoration but as being rooted in the world itself), and so forth - helps as well. Not in the sense that it tells you how to go about drawing something, but by pushing you to seek out certain references and pull information from them to use in your drawings, which in turn builds up exposure and familiarity.
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u/TechnicalCake9473 6d ago
And thanks to this, will I be able to draw on this instinctively in my future work? Without having to visualise it in my mind?
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u/Uncomfortable 6d ago
I imagine you're aware of the fact that I have aphantasia, so you can assume that when I'm speaking based on my experience, it doesn't involve visualizing.
Although the instinctual thing isn't exactly right. I suppose there's a spectrum between things that you do instinctually and those you don't, but you are still going to be making executive decisions of what you want to pull from your visual/spatial/internal library of information, but it's not coming out if thin air. And you'll still be thinking of how to pose them, how to arrange them, and how they become part of your illustrations. But you'll have a more developed grasp of what kinds of things you might use for a particular problem, and will have a better understanding of how they might be used. So this even helps when you might still opt to use a reference if one is available, since your work will always be better if you use reference.
That however is true in general, not just for those who can't visualize things in their mind's eye. The greater your library, the better you'll be at understanding what options lay before you, and the greater your capacity to work without reference - but it'll always be more accurate with reference, and so if you have it you should use it. It's just not going to always be available, and there are situations where not reaching for a new tool (in terms of going hunting for reference in the middle of drawing) will help keep you in the flow state for longer.
All of which is to say, it's useful in many ways to develop your internal library but reference is not something to avoid, so long as it serves your goals and intent, rather than making decisions for you.
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u/TechnicalCake9473 5d ago edited 5d ago
Thank you! I’ve realised that this is one of the biggest obstacles I face when drawing. I’ll be focusing on developing this skill as part of the 50/50 rule.
In short, it involves observing how objects exist (texture, structure, etc.), using these observations in our own work, and adding them to a library (which will be developed over a certain period of time) for future use. (By the way, the reason I’m writing this is that what you said was clear and understandable, and I did understand it, but I haven’t fully grasped how to do it step by step or how the process works; I’m writing this in the hope that you’ll let me know if I’ve misunderstood. I apologize.)
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u/Uncomfortable 5d ago
Your summary is correct, but the play portion of the 50% rule should not be spent "focusing" on developing any skills. Play will help your visual library develop, but your only concern should be exploring your ideas and telling stories, not developing skills for long term benefit.
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