The Three
Kinds of Memory
1.
Memory knowledge of what things look
like. I refer to this type of memory as
a Mental construct.
2.
Technique. This is acquired knowledge and memorized
processes which enable the artist to enhance the believability and reality of a
drawn object or scene
Both
of these types of memories reside in the Left-brain memory storage bank.
3.
Muscle
memory. This is the kind of physical
memory you acquire by repeating a physical process over and over. Think doing a one and a half flip off the
high board, tying your shoe or simply dashing off your signature.
I have come to understand that most of the problems that
plague the artist trying to accurately represent objects or scenes arise in the
acquisition and refinement of Mental Constructs.
We all have stored visual memories of everything we
encounter. In the case of most people,
these visual memories are fairly undeveloped.
You can test this hypothesis by grabbing a pencil and drawing a tree. Deciduous (leafy) or Coniferous
(needles)? Or more specifically, Maple
or Willow, or Hemlock or Sequoia? You
see where this is going. For most of us,
for the most part, we only have rudimentary knowledge of tree shapes and
details. If, on the other hand we were a
botanist we probably would have gained enough stored knowledge (mental
constructs) to create more accurate drawings of specific trees.
Drawing things from memory is a test of the stored knowledge
you have of particular objects. If you
attempt to draw things you must try to reproduce those details and
characteristics that define the subject.
By doing this you are enhancing your stored knowledge (mental
construct) of the subject. Thus when
you try to reproduce the subject again your result will be better able to
achieve an accurate result.