smieglitz said:
Of course it is. As a matter of fact we all started visualizing before we started doing. Babys know what they want to say before the meanings have words. As kids we all wanted to put the ball in the goal, make the song come out of the instrument, etc. before we knew how. It is the desire created by our visualization that is often at the root for many if not all of us.
I didn't first learn to draw and then decided what to draw. I dreamed of drawing things that i was years from being able to draw and went at it. Same with painting, sculpture, interactive/multi/new media, and photography. This is not to say good methods are an afterthought or that my experience is the only way this creative thing works.
For me I <often> imagine first, learn how as I pursue it.
<edit> I should add that I never dreamed of drawing/painting etc.. until I had a taste of what the medium could do. Once bitten my eye was far bigger than my ability. As my ability grew, my desires (visualizations) for the medium changed, but have always stayed ahead of my ability.