I can’t answer any of your questions directly but there was a stud the other day that might interest you a lot, *thread

https://reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/sr62d6/what_is_your_favorite_textures_my_favorite/

I'm not an artist but I think I get what your after like an raised topography map how you can feel it. Maybe try adding texture to the paint sand and different brushes for texture maybe even add different materials resins for a smooth?

I also enjoy the thought process you are using. My only point would be was your brother born NLP (no light perception) or what some refer to as totally or 100% blind? If so he will not have any reference for anything he has never touched, such as stars, clouds or sunsets. Even if you have verbally explained to him what these object look like, he would have know idea what the image he is touching.
I also create images in my head of my surroundings if in a familiar surrounding. It’s only when I am in a unfamiliar place I realize just how blind I am.
A thought would be maybe shadow box a xylophone.

So, I was born fully sighted and went blind in my early 20s. I’m very intrigued by all your questions, but I’m not sure the answers are what you’re looking for? For instance, when I think of a favorite place, whether I’ve been there before going blind or not, I have a visual representation of it. This seems kind of opposite of the point you’re trying to get at, yes? I’m still going to think about your questions and try and come up with some answers. I really really like your thought process and intention!

*If you try to think of things that you cannot touch, hear, or smell, or*
*cannot grasp fully through these senses, what comes to mind? Examples*
*might include clouds, stars, mountains, etc.*

Gamma rays, dark matter, subatomic particles like quarks and leptons, solar winds, x rays, love, fear, perfection, intelligence, the background radiation of the universe, zero point energy, the internet, truth.

*If you imagine an object that you are familiar with, do you primarily*
*imagine its shape and texture, or other features like its smell? What if*
*you imagine someone else's face or hands?*

I haven't been blind very long so it's mostly shape for me. The curves of my wife's body, the rectangle bulk of the fridge, the funny shaped grip on my ergonomic toothbrush. Same with faces and hands, although more and more I'm associating my wife's hands with their texture. She's a nurse during a pandemic so she's a compulsive hand washer, leaving the skin on her hands dry and cracked.

*If you think about a particular place that is important to you, what*
*kinds of features do you focus on? Is it different for spaces that are*
*indoors or outdoors?*

Again, visual appearance. There are biking and running trails all along the river where I live . My wife and I have walked and ridden them for years. I might not be able to see much anymore but I can still picture exactly where I am on those trails just by the grade of the slope of the sidewalk, the sounds I can hear, and the turns on the path. I'm still a visual thinker, picturing my surroundings in my head. I don't think that will ever change, even after I lose the rest of my vision.

Your questions weren't stoopid at all, and your brother is lucky to have you. I'd love to hear what you decide to create so please drop me a DM when you're finished.

This is an interesting idea.

If you try to think of things that you cannot touch, hear, or smell, or cannot grasp fully through these senses, what comes to mind? Examples might include clouds, stars, mountains, etc.

If I was being completely honest, I thought about love right away. This is by your phraseology alone.


I would argue that honestly you can touch a mountain and get an idea by walking up a hill or understand it’s a mount of ground or rock just judding up.

Technically no you can’t feel a star or a cloud, but people have always kindly depicted that in art form many times already. We see star shaped things all the time. I’ve seen many toy star especially stuffed ones.

I would say cloud could be more classified that way, though so many people have described this phenomenon too. I think of a cotton ball or something, but you’re correct in saying this one is definitely harder to picture and less commonly so.

If you imagine an object that you are familiar with, do you primarily imagine its shape and texture, or other features like its smell? What if you imagine someone else's face or hands?

Yeah, basically, but when I thought more methodically about this I do almost imagine picture it if I was to be honest or imagine it held in my hands and me holding the objects. I am pretty kinesthetic as a person though.

A face I don’t really imagine so much not particular individual face, a generic face maybe, if you will.

Hands are much more memorable, but I picture it also held in my hand If I do imagine them. The fleshiness or warmth of it or smoothness of skin. Sometimes how the other person smells in general. Some hands are more boney and cold for instance. Some hands are extremely small and some are larger.

If you think about a particular place that is important to you, what kinds of features do you focus on? Is it different for spaces that are indoors or outdoors?



Actually I imagine being there, remember what I said about being kinesthetic? I use proprioception here. I almost think of it spacially if I may say. I put myself back there in a sense.