The reason I ask is that I think being an artist and the huge amount of visualization and utilizing of visual memory and imagination in order to make images in ones head and transfer images onto a physical medium makes Kanji learning considerably easier.

I only bring this up because in my Japanese class at school me and a friend of mine are both into doing visual art ( I do surrealism involving photo realistic animals with psychedelic swirling colourful stuff around them, he draws manga, but with an incredibly realistic shading technique ) and we both seem to be streets ahead of the other people in the class in terms of Kanji learning, memorization and overall calligraphic skill.

so do you guys think artists have an advantage at Kanji?
discuss...

I believe creative people may have an advantage.

As for me, I'm not an artist, per se, but I do have an interest in design and creative practices in general.

hknamida Wrote:I believe creative people may have an advantage.

As for me, I'm not an artist, per se, but I do have an interest in design and creative practices in general.

I believe that deisign would also help, but I'm talking specifically about artists, like I also play guitar in a metal band and while this is another type of art it is lacking in that visual element so I do not believe it is to any avail when it comes to Kanji learning.

I don't think being an artist is really the advantage here, I think just already being comfortable visualizing things is the advantage. I'm sure people that read or any other activity where you mentally visualize a lot would also have the advantage.

Learning kanji is a skill like drawing a building. Just because someone is adept a drawing buildings doesn't mean they can necessarily draw people or animals easier for example.

We all visualize stories and images from a young age. Comfort in imagination depends of each persons comfort level with the subject being imagined.

I am an artist/musician and I gave up on this stuff once, so I can attest to not having any sort of advantage whatsoever. Sad but true....

I am an artist, mainly video stuff: audio-visual art, documentaries, motion graphics, filming (digital video), concept/scripts etc. I work in a relatively low-budget, but fast moving production environment, so I do all kinds of stuff, which is kind of why small production companies like me.

I also make pen drawings, photos, and like to write. But not professionally.

I think being an artist doesn't help necessarily. It might be better to say that the qualities or desires that somebody has to be(come) an artist are the things that will also help you with Heisig.
It's like saying that people who go out and drink alcohol often are more successful in their career as a result, while it's more likely that their desire for social contact leads to both. So improved skills in Heisig is not the effect from being an artist, but both are an effect from something else, maybe a certain kind of personality. My 2 cents.

With other aspects of the language it doesn't matter much I think.