<p>Apparently at least some are able to portrait people realistically, some like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Close" rel="nofollow">Chuck Close</a> even photorealistically:</p>

<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.slhuang.com/blog/2012/12/19/prosopagnosia-a-tale-of-someone-with-face-blindness/" rel="nofollow">http://www.slhuang.com/blog/2012/12/19/prosopagnosia-a-tale-of-someone-with-face-blindness/</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>One of the weirdest things about all of this is that I’m an artist—a
  pretty good artist—and when I draw a portrait, it looks like that
  person’s face.  So I’m clearly able to see distances and features the
  way I would on an inanimate object.  But for some reason, the
  “recognition” part of facial recognition in my brain is broken.</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/faceblind/conversations/messages/1648" rel="nofollow">https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/faceblind/conversations/messages/1648</a><br>
Unfortunately, the linked GeoCities image of the drawing seems to be unavailable, at least not on <a href="http://archive.org" rel="nofollow">archive.org</a> and the GeoCities mirrors I consulted.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/faceblind/conversations/topics/3012" rel="nofollow">https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/faceblind/conversations/topics/3012</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>I draw really well, even though I can't necessarily remember a face.
  Drawing it helps. [...]</p>
  
  <p>My life drawings don't emphasize the face, though, and what I usually
  do with a face is the significant gestures of the nose, eyebrows, and
  mouth, rather than a full rendering. I would hate to do a lot of
  portraits. My flower portraits, however, are right on!  </p>
</blockquote>

<p>This post also seems to indicate that drawing other people <em>might</em> help face-blind people to better / more quickly recognize characteristic facial features by training observation skills <em>(assumption mine)</em> although the author admits to struggle with considering <em>all</em> features as I understand it.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/blog/invisible-man-self-portrait-chuck-close" rel="nofollow">http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/blog/invisible-man-self-portrait-chuck-close</a></p>

<p>A famous example for the assumption above is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorealism" rel="nofollow">photorealist painter</a> Chuck Close who himself says that creating portraits of people helps him <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment-july-dec10-close_07-06/" rel="nofollow">remember faces better</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>CHUCK CLOSE: Yes. I have a great deal of difficulty recognizing faces,
  especially if I haven’t — if I have just met somebody, I — I — it’s
  hopeless. I will never remember them again, unless it’s reinforced
  over and over and over.</p>
</blockquote></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T02:52:03.780Z
This is the start of a very good answer.  It would be better if you could back these up with something from the literature.
Chuck Sherrington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T07:32:07.467Z
Well, I haven't found those yet, which is why I asked this question and googled the links above. Might be interesting to conduct such a study oneself...
Arc
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T09:27:28.907Z
There's no rush. :)  If you run across some in your own searches, they will help strengthen the answer.  I think we can agree that the content in a Yahoo Groups post is mainly anecdotal.
Chuck Sherrington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-19T21:35:00.197Z
2014-09-20T16:15:50.973Z
2014-09-20T16:15:50.973Z
Arc
<p>According to Bruce &amp; Young model (1986), face recognition is composed of 2 main sub-processes, one more "perceptive" (called structural encoding) and the other one more "associative" (fru, pin, name generation). <a href="http://www.cell.com/cms/attachment/551174/3919027/gr5.jpg" rel="nofollow">Bruce &amp; Young model</a></p>

<p>A person with "apperceptive prosopagnosia" cannot create a precise percept, that is a mental representation of who he's looking at. He's unlikely to be able to draw other people face.</p>

<p>A person with "associative prosopagnosia" can create a percept of who he sees, but he cannot understand who the person is, deficit is semantic not perceptive. In this case, he is able to draw other people face, even though he cannot recognize it.</p>

<p>This subdivision can be found also in object recognition process and its related impairments: apperceptive agnosia and associative agnosia.</p>

<p>It's important to note that all this stuff is heavily theoretical. Reality is much more complex and sometimes unclear.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.psicologia1.uniroma1.it/repository/13/Bruce_1986_copia.pdf" rel="nofollow">Bruce, V., &amp; Young, A. (1986). Understanding face recognition. British journal of psychology, 77(3), 305-327.</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T12:08:14.717Z
Welcome to cogsci.SE, that's a great answer!  It'd be good to include citation/DOI info if you have it handy, since finding "Bruce & Young 1986" without any further info can be a bit of a bear.
Krysta
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T10:51:34.530Z
2016-10-10T09:08:10.550Z
2016-10-10T09:08:10.550Z
stefano_italy
<p>Is it possible for people with face blindness / prosopagnosia to draw other people (whose faces they cannot recognize) such that non-face-blind people can recognize the people being drawn ?</p>

<cognitive-psychology><perception>
Can prosopagnostic (face-blind) people draw other people recognizably?
Arc
# Can prosopagnostic (face-blind) people draw other people recognizably?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-19)

Is it possible for people with face blindness / prosopagnosia to draw other people (whose faces they cannot recognize) such that non-face-blind people can recognize the people being drawn ?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, perception


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-09-22. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

According to Bruce & Young model (1986), face recognition is composed of 2 main sub-processes, one more "perceptive" (called structural encoding) and the other one more "associative" (fru, pin, name generation). [Bruce & Young model](http://www.cell.com/cms/attachment/551174/3919027/gr5.jpg)

A person with "apperceptive prosopagnosia" cannot create a precise percept, that is a mental representation of who he's looking at. He's unlikely to be able to draw other people face.

A person with "associative prosopagnosia" can create a percept of who he sees, but he cannot understand who the person is, deficit is semantic not perceptive. In this case, he is able to draw other people face, even though he cannot recognize it.

This subdivision can be found also in object recognition process and its related impairments: apperceptive agnosia and associative agnosia.

It's important to note that all this stuff is heavily theoretical. Reality is much more complex and sometimes unclear.

[Bruce, V., & Young, A. (1986). Understanding face recognition. British journal of psychology, 77(3), 305-327.](http://www.psicologia1.uniroma1.it/repository/13/Bruce_1986_copia.pdf)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Welcome to cogsci.SE, that's a great answer!  It'd be good to include citation/DOI info if you have it handy, since finding "Bruce & Young 1986" without any further info can be a bit of a bear.  

---

### Answer by username_0 on 2014-09-19. Score: 2

Apparently at least some are able to portrait people realistically, some like [Chuck Close](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Close) even photorealistically:

* <http://www.slhuang.com/blog/2012/12/19/prosopagnosia-a-tale-of-someone-with-face-blindness/>

  > One of the weirdest things about all of this is that I’m an artist—a
  > pretty good artist—and when I draw a portrait, it looks like that
  > person’s face. So I’m clearly able to see distances and features the
  > way I would on an inanimate object. But for some reason, the
  > “recognition” part of facial recognition in my brain is broken.
* <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/faceblind/conversations/messages/1648>  
  Unfortunately, the linked GeoCities image of the drawing seems to be unavailable, at least not on [archive.org](http://archive.org) and the GeoCities mirrors I consulted.
* <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/faceblind/conversations/topics/3012>

  > I draw really well, even though I can't necessarily remember a face.
  > Drawing it helps. [...]
  >
  > My life drawings don't emphasize the face, though, and what I usually
  > do with a face is the significant gestures of the nose, eyebrows, and
  > mouth, rather than a full rendering. I would hate to do a lot of
  > portraits. My flower portraits, however, are right on!

  This post also seems to indicate that drawing other people *might* help face-blind people to better / more quickly recognize characteristic facial features by training observation skills *(assumption mine)* although the author admits to struggle with considering *all* features as I understand it.
* <http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/blog/invisible-man-self-portrait-chuck-close>

  A famous example for the assumption above is [photorealist painter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorealism) Chuck Close who himself says that creating portraits of people helps him [remember faces better](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment-july-dec10-close_07-06/).

  > CHUCK CLOSE: Yes. I have a great deal of difficulty recognizing faces,
  > especially if I haven’t — if I have just met somebody, I — I — it’s
  > hopeless. I will never remember them again, unless it’s reinforced
  > over and over and over.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is the start of a very good answer.  It would be better if you could back these up with something from the literature.  
> **username_0**: Well, I haven't found those yet, which is why I asked this question and googled the links above. Might be interesting to conduct such a study oneself...  
> **username_1**: There's no rush. :)  If you run across some in your own searches, they will help strengthen the answer.  I think we can agree that the content in a Yahoo Groups post is mainly anecdotal.  

---

