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grahamguitarman
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27 Jul 2013, 9:50 am

I've been thinking about my visual sensitivity, and how I react to different visual stimulation.

Like many on here sunlight is often too bright for me, and can overload my senses. I also seem to see the world in too much detail sometimes. But not all visual stimulation seems bad to me, specifically colour. I love strong vivid colours, and often find I have emotional responses to colours and colour combinations. Its not unusual to see me in strongly coloured clothes, and as an artist my colours definitely tend to be stronger and more intense.

One of my favourite places in the whole world is Burano in Italy. It is a small island near Venice and every single house is painted in bright vivid colours, its an amazing place.

Warning, could cause visual overload:

Burano

You'd think I'd be overloaded by all those primary colours, but It actually makes me feel good. Its almost like the ultimate visual stim to me (if that makes sense). Every time I go there it feels like I'm buzzing with happiness from the colours, and just want to stand there soaking it all in forever.

Am I the only one who gets an emotional response from colour, and enjoys the stimulation that strong colours provide ? Or am i just a weirdo :?


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WerewolfPoet
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27 Jul 2013, 11:41 am

Only certain colors are pleasant to me at a high intensity; green and purple, for example, as well as "Earth" tones, are enjoyable for me when vivid, but red, yellow, and blue, especially when combined, hurts my eyes when they are too vivid.

Wind Twisters were always one of my favorite forms of visual stimulation.


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Marybird
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27 Jul 2013, 11:59 am

I have been aware for a long time that color has an effect on mood. Some of those houses in Burano are too intense but I like it any way. I am drawn to colorful festive looking places, they make me happy.



Robdemanc
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27 Jul 2013, 12:34 pm

That village is too colorful for me. But I do like soft color lighting like traffic lights. In the UK we have green, amber, and red but I would be no good as a driver because I would be captivated by the lights and probably wouldn't go when the light turns green so the other drivers would be pressing their horns to make me move.



skibum
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27 Jul 2013, 1:20 pm

I LOVE colors. I love vivid and bright colors. The village of Burano is Awesome. It has a very happy feel good feel to it. I would love it. I would love Tuscany as well. I can either get excited by the colors or very soothed and calmed by them. It's interesting how they can have both effects on me. I don't know what makes the difference.



Jasper1
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27 Jul 2013, 1:44 pm

I love vivid colors and sharp detail. When I had the resources I went out of my way to research and purchase the best HD TV I could possibly get at the time. I don't know how many hours I put into trying to get the best picture out of it. It's got an insane amount of menus and settings too. I generally have the colors jacked way up, and only recently realized it was too much and "unnatural" looking.

My girlfriend won an HD TV that is about 15 inches bigger so we moved my TV to the bedroom and it annoys me. I've stopped playing video games and watching TV. I've spent a lot of time trying to get this new TV to have even close to the same visual punch that my old one has and it's not even close.

My girlfriend, doesn't really seem to notice and I think she suspects that I'm jealous of the new TV since it's "hers" and she generally seems to have issues with ownership and even the mention of such, which is a bit bizarre and unsettling in it's own right. I know it was a free TV but I'm genuinely just disappointed in the quality.

I want to enjoy my games and entertainment, but I don't like doing it in the bedroom, so I've been mostly just using the computer, and just going into the living room when I need a break from it. Then coming back when I find I'm not really into whatever she is watching. or staying for a bit when I do get into it. I think I understand more about the disruptions in routine thing cause I'm going through it now with this TV issue.

Aside from that, I really enjoy the beauty that nature has to offer. I love to just soak it in, and wish the experience wouldn't end. I find I'm particularly drawn to beaches lately. Plus they generally provide me with a good experience, and just about the only physical activity I currently and genuinely enjoy.

Also, the drive across country was great for me because it was such a visually exhilarating experience much of the time. That was an experience I had a tough time letting go of when our trip was over. I just wanted to keep going.



grahamguitarman
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27 Jul 2013, 2:48 pm

skibum wrote:
I LOVE colors. I love vivid and bright colors. The village of Burano is Awesome. It has a very happy feel good feel to it. I would love it. I would love Tuscany as well. I can either get excited by the colors or very soothed and calmed by them. It's interesting how they can have both effects on me. I don't know what makes the difference.


Yes Tuscany is on my bucket list of places to go - especially Florence! but then I want to see the whole of Italy 8)

It was quite funny that the first time I saw Burano I was with a group of my art students (I teach private art lessons to mature students). And we were all so taken with the amazing colours on our day trip there, that for the remaining two days of our visit we didn't bother with Venice itself, we just kept returning to Burano! Somehow Venice, though beautiful just seemed dull and grey after that 8O


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Jasper1
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27 Jul 2013, 2:56 pm

Actually, in light of doing some on-line aspie tests the other day a question about colors being intense and then fading....or something to that effect...was one of the questions. I said "never true" cause I frankly just didn't get it.

I've had experiences where I thought colors or an image in particular was really intense, and came back to it later and realized hmmm it actually isn't that intense after all and I didn't get the same intense experience from it. Is that kind of what the question was aiming at? If so than I think I took it too literally.



skibum
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27 Jul 2013, 3:14 pm

Jasper1 wrote:
Actually, in light of doing some on-line aspie tests the other day a question about colors being intense and then fading....or something to that effect...was one of the questions. I said "never true" cause I frankly just didn't get it.

I've had experiences where I thought colors or an image in particular was really intense, and came back to it later and realized hmmm it actually isn't that intense after all and I didn't get the same intense experience from it. Is that kind of what the question was aiming at? If so than I think I took it too literally.

Those tests are hard because they never seem to have the exact question or answer to choose from. I find that lot of times I don't completely understand the question too and I end up answering in a way that I did not meant to.



skibum
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27 Jul 2013, 3:17 pm

grahamguitarman wrote:
skibum wrote:
I LOVE colors. I love vivid and bright colors. The village of Burano is Awesome. It has a very happy feel good feel to it. I would love it. I would love Tuscany as well. I can either get excited by the colors or very soothed and calmed by them. It's interesting how they can have both effects on me. I don't know what makes the difference.


Yes Tuscany is on my bucket list of places to go - especially Florence! but then I want to see the whole of Italy 8)

It was quite funny that the first time I saw Burano I was with a group of my art students (I teach private art lessons to mature students). And we were all so taken with the amazing colours on our day trip there, that for the remaining two days of our visit we didn't bother with Venice itself, we just kept returning to Burano! Somehow Venice, though beautiful just seemed dull and grey after that 8O

I wish I was good at art because I would love to be able to draw what I see. But I am completely rubbish at drawing. I love taking pictures though. And I do love coloring with colored pencils. I like children's coloring books because the pictures are more interesting and fun. Adult coloring books are more like kaleidoscope pictures so you can't really imagine a story going on while you are coloring. But I find coloring very very relaxing.

I wish the water in Venice was cleaner, you don't want to fall in there!



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27 Jul 2013, 4:30 pm

Yes I prefer colour. I hate neutral beige decor.



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27 Jul 2013, 6:29 pm

I have a visual stim I like to do

if I press on my eyes long enough its like flying through a tunnel inside my eye lids



gdgt
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27 Jul 2013, 6:56 pm

WerewolfPoet wrote:
Only certain colors are pleasant to me at a high intensity; green and purple, for example, as well as "Earth" tones, are enjoyable for me when vivid, but red, yellow, and blue, especially when combined, hurts my eyes when they are too vivid.


This is me, exactly.

Colors produce emotion in me, too; and I have a very good eye for them, combining them, et cetera. Give me a ton of nice paint swatches and I am in heaven. When I paint my house or furniture I spend a lot of time just staring at the colors and "soaking them in." I also find it very pleasant to touch objects that are certain colors, specifically antique whites and blues.

I am perfectly happy in sunlight and natural settings (as long as it isn't extreme heat!), it is the artificial stuff that bothers me. Under artificial lighting things are too sharp; I feel like I am seeing every possible detail simultaneously. While that is very overwhelming, I sometimes get the same feeling in nature, yet I enjoy the intensity in that case.


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27 Jul 2013, 11:10 pm

When the light is at the right angle and it is shining thru the tree leaves,I love that.And if a breeze blows it is this lovely flicker,like a Monet painting.The same for light on water and the shadow of trees on the road from a moving car.
Some times things are too intense,the other day in the store all the packages of stuff seemed too bright.


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Mindsigh
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27 Jul 2013, 11:14 pm

chris5000 wrote:
I have a visual stim I like to do

if I press on my eyes long enough its like flying through a tunnel inside my eye lids


I used to do that when I was little. I called it "fireworks" because of the bursts of color I saw. 8)


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27 Jul 2013, 11:36 pm

I prefer muted colors, preferably in earth tones. I love sunsets, and rainy days because everything is less stark but there's still so much contrast. When I visited Florida, the colors of the buildings were sunbleached and faded into beautiful pastels. :D