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.