Talent – a natural aptitude or skill (Oxford American Dictionary)
I get tons of people coming to me asking for advice on how to get into the field of art. I use to get confused when self proclaimed artists would approach me for advice but when asked to see their work they only had old school assignments from years ago. If they really were artists, I thought, then where was the art? Anyone can be an artist if they love to draw. This person must not love to draw, so why was he asking me for advice on how to become an artist?
I finally realized these artists who don’t do art are approaching me because they think I have a natural talent and they think they might just have a natural talent too. Perhaps someone told them in the past that they are “a natural”. They think art is just super fun and easy for us gifted ones born with the talent to draw. Artists have the good life. It’s all about who you know. You sit back and draw a little here and there. It just flows from you like a river of gold. You can whip up something on a napkin to pay for your meal. Art is easy work. Art is fun.
Ever since I was a little guy scribbling with my crayons I’ve had people look at my art and say, “You sure are talented. It must be nice to be born with it!” I’d shyly say thanks and continue with my masterpiece while they move on after mere seconds.
Aside from my late teens, art has been my only source of income. I’m in my mid 30′s now and I’ve had a blessed career as an artist and it wasn’t until my mid twenties that I started thinking about what talent really was. Contrary to the dictionary definition, this is my opinion…
Talent is created and grows when you are overly passionate about a specific subject.
So committed that you spend large sums of free time studying a subject beyond what anyone else could stand. So interested that you try to decode what others are doing who excel in the craft. So obsessed that you will spend hours alone trying to meticulously perfect a nuance that only you will notice. Then, when the moment of focus is over, you have gained a small fraction of knowledge that only you were passionate enough to spend the time to understand.
Now, are you an artist?
A musician?
A chef?
A businessman? (Yes, even businessmen have the talent of being good at business)
Writer? Jogger? Halo champion? Fly fisherman? Snowboarder? Surfer?
Now days, whenever someone comes to me for professional advice in the field of art, I always start with this question…
What do you love to do?
This is a hard question for many people to answer. It’s not really hard but people make it hard when they replace what they love with what they think they should love. For instance, a friend asked me what programs he should learn next to help his career. My response was, “Only learn the programs that will help you achieve your personal goals. Don’t learn a random program just because you think it will help your career even though you have no interest in that program. But if a program will aid something you’re passionate about then it’s worth learning. Nothing launches your career better then a personal project that you LOVE. Remember, a client will most likely ask you for something you’ve already proven to do well.” So, in other words…
If you love animation, start animating your film.
If you love to draw comics, start drawing your comic.
If you love to make stuffed animals, make the best stuffed animals you can.
This may seem like lame advice. Most people want me to just hook them up with someone who will offer them a job. Some people just want to be told which school will guarantee their success. Reality check. Schools don’t make you talented. What you are passionately interested in creates the talent.
If you LOVE music, you will pay closer attention to it than the majority and in turn you will become more talented at music then the majority.
If you LOVE comic art, you will study your favorite comic artists and you will become more talented at drawing comics then the majority.
If you LOVE animation, you will closely examine master animators to see what makes them tick and in turn you will become more talented at animation then the majority.
If you LOVE amazing food, you will start to study what makes something taste good and in turn…
Get the picture?
None of this stuff is something you are born with. I don’t believe anyone is born with talent. I will say it again. Nobody is born with talent. Sure, I might have shown early aptitude as an artist even in preschool. You know why? BECAUSE I FREAKIN LOVED ART AND I DROOLED OVER IT WHEN I SAW SOMETHING THAT I LIKED I WOULD STARE AT IT FOREVER UNTIL I UNDERSTOOD IT A BIT MORE THEN THE AVERAGE PRE-SCHOOLER OKAY!
I still can’t draw feet very good. You know why?
I have a story to share about people who say “I wish I could draw…”
The answer I give people who constantly say that is: If you can catch a ball, or walk, you can draw.
Think about it on a purely physical level. Drawing, is merely hand-eye co-ordination. It’s no different than learning how to train the muscles in your hand to respond to what you’re eye sees. So if you’re drawing something from life, with enough practice and repetitive action, you should be able to recreate it.
That’s the physical aspect. After that, there’s imagination involved. I can understand if someone’s imagination bars them from drawing anything inspirational, but its up to the person to look at things that inspire creativity – whether its realistic or abstract. Eventually you’ll come across something visually or emotionally stimulating and want to recreate it.
Here’s my ‘case study” – I went to college with a lady who couldn’t draw at all; just stick figures and rudimentary shapes. She followed all the lessons in drawing class, learned basic anatomy and studied forms as she saw them – did EVERYTHING by the book. By the end of third year, she could draw better than I could. It helped that she was a photographer and had a good eye for composition, but based on the repetitive action and physical training, she taught herself to draw.
It’s not all about raw talent. It’s about practice and inspiration.
You know why she did so well? She was a good photographer. As you said, she had a “good eye”. Drawing is about looking – seeing. A conversation with the subject. Draughtsmanship I suppose is more physical.
Art colleges teach you – primarily – how to LOOK not how to hold a pencil.
But yes, what you say is in the main, quite true.
Spot on. I’m a mathematician and I’m good at it because I absolutely love doing maths.
I do have a small remark about acquiring talent (in your sense of the word). Namely, I think that for each subject, you need a certain trick, a particular insight without which you can’t get started. For instance, I could never draw and never understood how to do so until I’ve read Betty Edward’s book. In particular, there was this eye-opening exercise where you have to redraw a picture of a person by Picasso, but upside-down. The lesson was that you have to draw exactly what you see, not what the meaning you put behind it (“Draw this line and shade of black” vs “Draw this nose.”) Suddenly, it all made sense, the task is to train your brain into drawing only what you see!
I theorize that some people have stumbled upon such a trick by accident (must have been maths for me) and, with the undying passion that lets them endure anything, can grow this into talent.
Interesting point you have here about being taught a trick or insight.
I think these insights or tricks only speed up the learning process, not necessarily that they are needed to start. Sometimes doing something the hardest way possible and wasting tons of time is the key ingredient to understanding why something could be achieved better an alternative way. And sometimes finding that key and seeing that it’s not as hard as you once thought is motivation enough to give you the passion to start trying harder with new things.
Great thoughts!
I’m glad you brought up Betty Edwards’ book.
A friend just sent me the link to your blog. I’m currently learning to draw and everything you’ve said is precisely right. It’s not only supported by anecdotal evidence from thousand and thousands of people, it’s also backed by what researchers and educators are discovering. To anyone who says they can’t draw, I always recommend “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards. She discusses how drawing is a learned skill just like any other. It’s learning to see lines and shapes and spaces rather than the objects themselves.
There’s also the theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become a virtuoso in any field.
I still can’t draw very well yet, but I at least understand why. I’m probably only on Hour 612.
Thank you for posting such encouraging words!
Ha. Anonymous up there beat me to it.
Funny that you mention this – it was something I touched on myself in my blog recently. Then I heard a piece on National Public Radio in the same subject, yesterday. And I agree 100%. Talent is a myth. I only started to draw in anything like a serious way at about age 20. And boy it was awful. Nowadays I’m enough better at it that I have a job with an architectural firm as a designer. So, I mean…
Oh, by the way – your advice on the trace underlays and lightbox work for pencilling was something that had literally never occurred to me. And I do it every day to put together designs in my office. I had simply never made the connection that the technique was applicable to comics. I don’t know why. So thanks!
–M
I’m glad the lightbox suggestion makes sense. I’ve found that in different artistic careers artists do different things but rarely do they transfer a specific toolset to another artistic field. The whole idea of not inking my lines came from seeing that animators don’t ink lines anymore. They scan it and boost the contrast.
The tracing paper idea is something that storyboard artists about 95% of the time. I never understood why comic artist thought they needed to do everything on one sheet of Bristol board after learning about storyboards and animation.
Anyway, I was immediately 100% more satisfied with my work when I started crossing techniques. And it speeds up the process too.
Wow, I talking about a totally different subject then this post. I’ll have to write a post on this pretty soon.
Man, I have so many things that I want to say about this lol. Sometimes it just pisses me off when someone tries to make excuses for what they lack and just smudge all of the hardwork people have gone through to achieve that level with the word talent…
I don’t doubt that there are innately talented people out there but I sure wasn’t one of them, not in drawing at least. In kindergarten my alarmed teachers informed my mom that I couldn’t do anythign with my hands – I mean, how hopeless must one be to stand out as terrible in freaking kindergarten, right? I’m one of my country’s top illustrators now (I hasten to say there are only a handful of decent illustrators in this place so it’s not a big brag), but that took 25 years of obsessive and passionate practice and I’m STILL learning.
There’s a great line in the film “The Natural” (one of the greatest sports films ever made BTW)
“You got a gift, Roy. But it’s not enough. You gotta develop yourself. Rely too much on your own gift and you’ll fail.”
THANK YOU. I love this article. I’ve always hated people telling me I’m “talented.” It’s almost insulting for them to call my years of hard work talent.
I’m rather… self-centered when it comes to art. But not in a negative way. I draw what makes me happy, and if others happen to like it… okay, good! But my art’s for me. P:
Drezz, Anonymous, jg, Mr. Average, Dubu, Joumana Medlej, ck, squidmaster.
Thanks for your comments. Wow what a crazy chain of events. I was so nervous the last few days with this post because I thought I would hear a big backlash for some strange reason but it’s crazy how so many artists agree with this. It’s wonderful to hear all the examples you have.
Drezz – The lady in your class must have been really passionately trying to learn. I have similar stories about friends who never cared much to draw but then one day they got super inspired and practiced like crazy and completely blew my mind after a few years. It’s funny what one can achieve when driven.
I feel your pain Dubu.
Jumana, This is a great story you shared. It’s great to hear that your hard work has totally paid off and even though your teacher was so harsh you didn’t care and stuck with your dreams. Sometime people telling me I can’t succeed at something motivates me more then telling me I can.
Squidmaster – You are welcome! I’m the same way. It’s almost painful to draw something I don’t care to draw.
About the feet…same with me lol I started out as learning how to draw people’s eyes because I was fascinated by how different everybody’s eyes looked (I’m one of the weirdos who look girls straight in the eyes without thinking about it). Then I moved my way down the torso, head, shoulders, chest arms, hands, stomach and now I think I’m somewhere around the thighs and maybe the calf, but for feet…It’s kinda hard to stare at people’s feet…lol
But yeah, the only reason why most people can only draw like kindergartens is because that’s probably the last time they’ve drawn seriously. The brain has a way of arranging ‘libraries’ and their library on drawing has only developed that much. People pretty much have the same functionality when it comes to input and output but it takes practice to utilize it well. Even though we might think people see everything the same it takes practice to notice certain details of objects and likewise to develop how to output it back out. You first learn the shape of an object stick figure perhaps, now since you know how to draw a stick figure maybe you’ll draw some hair, then clothes, maybe boobs, and you increase ur library each iterations of that process.
But I don’t doubt that there are geniuses born with a higher sense of perception and mind to output what they feel into a form of art. There’s a difference between being able to draw well and drawing an art piece. If you wanted to be able to draw exactly what you see, there are things called cameras that do the same thing for you. To be able to express what you’ve felt and pass it on through your art is what’s really called talent.
Yeah and there are even artists who say they can’t draw. For instance, my friend Jon Klassen always tells me he can’t draw very good. But when I look at his work I am always blown away with his crazy ability to design a scene or put together some simple shapes that create the most amazing compositions to tell stories. Some of the things he does is completely confusing as to how he figured it out. He’s always pushing himself to solve problems and it shows.
I think what drives me the most nuts is when people don’t understand that I spent 20+ years learning to draw, and then offer me piddly sums of money to do extraordinarily large artistic jobs like having the skill to draw isn’t worth their money….Then they wrangle all creative control away from me, because they don’t care if it looks good, it just has to look the way they think it should look. (This may all be completely related to a project I subsequently need to drop tomorrow, due to low pay and a short deadline, on top of an impossible director, but hey.) The nerve of some people. I don’t really like my hard-earned skill being so casually devalued.
And now that that’s off my back, I’m always surprised by the little things I’m still learning after all of these years. I keep trying to cut out my shortcuts. I realized recently that I never draw the ear right. I draw lines that represent the ear, but they aren’t really that reflective of what a real ear looks like on the inside. So I fixed it. Lately I’ve been playing with the eyes a lot, and trying to fix my perspective there and make them more natural. Last year I worked on feet a lot. (Now I really love drawing feet. Not sure why I never did before.)
I think when you really love to do something, when you can’t keep yourself from doing something, then you’ll improve over time at whatever natural pace you take. There are no rules, there are no deadlines by which you need to learn things, and you’ll push yourself to learn what you don’t know by your own volition. And sometimes you may stagnate, and sometimes you may stop for awhile, but it’s fine. If you really love to draw, or play music, or whatever, you’ll come back to it when the time is right. Drawing is the most natural part of my life, and it always comes back around, even when I think it might be gone for good. I think that’s where real talent comes from.
I really love this comment. You said a few things that really hit home and I hope everything works out with the current project you are struggling with at the moment. It really its frustrating when all your life’s skill is so easily devalued on pointless jobs for big headed wannabes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to get out of whatever art field I was in for that exact reason. Luckily my current job is very respectful to artists.
The shortcut thing is a interesting point. I fake lots of stuff I don’t understand yet too. But when I do put in the time to understand something better, it seems like I always enjoy doing it from that point on. Just like you said about the feet. Man, I really need to just buckle down and figure it out. (feet, I mean)
Thanks for the thoughts! Very insightful.
Great post. I started to write a big long comment on it but you’ve got it covered, thanks.
It’s funny about this article. I felt like I was the only one….sort of. See, I have an uncle and for years would talk about how much better of an artist he was over me because he was more ‘talented.’ Then, when my skill caught up, he’d say that he was still more talented and that I had to work for my skill. WTF?
Then I read something by Mark Brooks where he said that he hated being called ‘talented’ because it diminished all of the hard years of work into a simple word.
I love the message of your post. Do what makes you happy. I got reduced from full time to part time and with the Mrs’s blessing, I’m not going out and looking for another job but using that extra time into my webcomic. So yeah, a lot of validation here so thanks!! XD
Haha I felt like I was the only one who thought this too. I was kinda nervous to even post it really. It’s relieving to hear all the similar supportive comments.
Fantastic words my friend!!!
John Lasseter once said in an interview – “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. Over the years I’ve learned that is very true. It doesn’t mean that you’re not going to work hard, because if you don’t think that art as a living is hard work you have another thing coming. It means that at the end of a hard days work you have a smile on your face because you LOVE it. It runs through your veins. You think it, eat it, sleep it and dream about it. Art, science, math… whatever it is, if you truly love it you’ll chase after it with everything you’ve got and at the end of the day crash on your pillow, satisfied and ready for more the next day!
So true :) A lot of people imagine that art don’t need a lot of work. But in other hand, most of them denigrate it because, for them, everyone can hold a pencil and draw a few lines…
(btw, it’s my first comment here, I must say that I’m eager to know the following of the story, this is just fantastic !)
I’m glad you commented! Thanks for the kind words on my story so far.
You have some beautiful illustrations!
Thank you ! :) It’s an honor for me to see that you like them. :)
Although I agree with you, some are born with better hand eye coordination than others, and it takes hand eye coordination to draw, among other things.
Also, some people’s brains are just wired differently. I put so much time into practicing, studying, etc because I love art, but I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as some of those pencilers that have worked for Marvel.
You probably could be just as good! Or good in a similar but different way. I couldn’t draw for Marvel, but I’m a still good artist. And as long as you love to practice and study art, that’s half the battle.
I think sometimes it helps to get feedback from other artists. Honest critiques really help you find easy areas to improve on that you wouldn’t find yourself. I’ve never improved so much as I did when I started asking for honest opinions. There are so many things that practicing alone won’t fix if you aren’t guided towards fixing your reoccurring mistakes by an outside perspective.
I look at the Marvel artists and see their pencils and I’m blown away with what they can do, but I’m not really very passionate about that kind of art either. I have other strengths that they may not have and vice versa. The subtitles of each style of art is so different. You could develop an ability to be a master in your own style. If you only compare yourself to all the other random styles out there that you are not good at then you will never think you are very “unnaturally” talented at anything. This can stifle your passion.
I agree that we are all wired differently but that might just play into what we may or may not choose to be passionate about. If it’s your passion to draw like a standard Marvel artist then I think it can be achieved no matter what. But if you think you are not wired that way then you will give up before the ability to even start takes place.
I have a great comment on this subject from my high school teacher which I’ll copy and past here later today.
I think that a good balance has to be struck between honest assessment and genuine encouragement. At the same time that gladhanding is not really constructive, there are also people who will automatically gainsay whatever you have done just for the sake of seeming like they know more than you. Proper critique is as much a nuanced thing as the art itself.
–M
Great point.
Thanks, that was exactly what I needed to hear right now. I haven’t drawn in a while but I remember in my high school days drawing all the time. Having this one point focus on art, studying the work of others I liked to learn what made it the way it was, what could I incorporate into my own. I do know now that I have this need to be creative, but there is a fear when I go to draw because it’s not as good as it was before.
I say alot of people ask you that question because right now there is this culture of ” I want it now without work” there is no magic pill, you have to practice. So, I just have to get in there without worry or attachment to the results and just draw.
Thanks for this very informative, very true article.
Your welcome Andrea! Your point about the current culture of “I want it now without work” is a very true one. In fact I see that every day at work with new technology and programs making creative projects easier and easier to accomplish. It’s a great thing to have software that makes work easier but the problem I am seeing it people give up being creative because they think their knowledge of a program or something could cover over their lack of skill.
If you flip the coin though and understand that you can still use the software but if you still put in the same amount of work and thought as before then your outcome will not just be as good as before but exponentially better. The ground rules of being creative are always going to be the same. Learn what you are passionate about and in turn you will excel in ways others would never have the patience to complete.
As far as not being as good as before. I think that might be true at the start but you will see that you will get back what you lost faster then when you first learned it. It’s almost like riding a bike.
I copy/pasted this comment from DA written by my high school art teacher who has inspired me in many ways to keep learning. He has some great additional thoughts I wanted to share here too. Enjoy.
____
After 33 years of teaching the “talented” and “untalented” alike the ways of art, I can tell you what I feel about “talent”.
I hate the word! I very nearly NEVER use it. When you say the word “talent” you speak of a mass of skills and intelligences hardened by observation, practice and experience and trial and error into an outpouring of products that either find an appreciative audience or flounder leaving the artist to feel that there must be something wrong with him/her that he is unable to connect with the viewers of his/her art.
We aren’t born with the ability to draw anymore than we are born with the ability to drive. However, we aren’t all equal in our ability to learn to create art!
Some things that I feel lead to improving your chances at becoming an artist, in no particular order are as follows:
Intelligence; within the brain there have been at least 7 clearly definable aspects of intelligence, (and it is postulated that as many as 20 or more could be conceivable.)
Of these 7, Spatial intelligence is important to creative visualization. Spatial intelligence can be taught and improved through practice. Some of us were stimulated early on to work on this on our own, as Jason states in his own experiences.
A second definable intelligence that is important for artists is kinetic intelligence. This is comparable to hand/eye coordination. Some people have a natural ability to coordinate the movements of their body with their thoughts. The ultimate expression of this with the entire body creates athletes, but the artist is one who funnels his kinetic intelligence into manipulating images to form art. This too can be improved with practice.
You artists out there who think this is a bunch of hooey, might want to stop and think about it for a minute… Is there some game or physical activity that you were good at but never pursued? I was good at dodgeball. Also I had a hookshot that got me a complement from a team member of the Harlem Thrillers when I put 3 consecutive baskets in from the top of the key over the heads of these professional basketball clowns. Now I was never robust enough to play on a team, but I did have some skills at least.
What else makes a person “talented”?
Patience!!!! Learning any skill including the skill of looking requires a large investment of time. And trust me, you only get better with practice. You will be working on doing the same drawing again and again and suddenly, your patience pays off like a bolt out of the blue (A bolt-mind you- that may take years to strike!)
But the biggie as far as ingredients that make up talent goes back to what you said, Jason. That is desire!
It is desire that makes you seek out all the “how to draw” books!
It is desire that leads you to bring a portfolio no matter how lame you think it is, to a comic convention.
It is desire that makes you continue showing your work to others at conventions even after your idol has told you your work isn’t up to par!
And it is desire that rewards you when one of your idols utters the single interjectory expletive “Wow” when he looks at one of your works!
Anyway, didn’t mean to meander so far down the “Talent” tirade, but there it is!
The word is a person’s simplistic explanation for why someone else can “magically” do or create something which they themselves cannot or will not take the time to learn to do.
And we don’t just float that lame excuse for artists! Some might say that Lebron James has a “talent” for basketball! That is a disservice to the many hours that he spends on the court and the many coaches whose every word he has listened to, to improve his game! He’s not the only 6 foot 8 inch fish in the sea you know!
Anyway, tata! See you later, ole buddy!
P.S. for all of you who compliment an artist on his/her talent, we appreciate the thought, really we do, but keep in mind the effort required to hone that talent as we politely smile and thank you for your kind words.
–
Quoted from *DrStrangebob on Deviantart.com
Hi, first comment but I’ve been reading for a few weeks. I love the art, and the story so far. Wow, so many great things said already. I can only add that I’ve experienced the same thing as a musician. And considering how much music is out there that I think is total crap, “talent” doesn’t equate with (financial) success. I’ve always thought that “talent” is something you work hard at, learn. Creativity, however, might be more inborn, or at least nurtured. I was lucky to have parents that didn’t yell at me when I drew on the bedroom wall (back in my day, they weren’t washable).
My ability to play my instrument is thousands of hours of toil. My ability to write a song that expresses something I want to say is less tangible and perhaps harder, if not impossible, to teach. You can also have one without the other, like the difference between Van Gogh’s Starry Night and the anonymous still life of fruit on the hotel room wall. Both require some level of skill, but I would say one is creative and one isn’t. Are they both art? I guess that’s up to each observer to decide.
On a related note, I’ve just started painting again, after a 14 year hiatus. I’m having a blast since I’ve lost all preconceived notions of what I’m supposed to be able to do. It’s just fun.
Spot-on article.
This ConceptArt.org thread might be very inspiring for the beginners:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=870
Compare the work on the first and last ten or so pages. It’s all in the dedication, people!
I completely agree with you, on every point.
People have come to me, too, asking for advice on how to draw or asking what my secret is. Every time, I’m just floored, because, really, I have no secret, no step-by-step way that I follow every time – I just do what I feel like doing, and sometimes it’s a hit, sometimes it’s a miss. Art is something I’m very passionate about, and something I have been working at from a young age. I agree on the ‘gifted’ vs ‘skill’ bit, in that.
Passion, I believe, is also key. I also believe that there is an art to everything; whether it be construction, bar-tending, painting, therapy, medicine, or what have you – to me, art is creation, and more specifically creation that invokes feelings in others and oneself.
When I see breath-taking art, of more skill than my own, it doesn’t make me disheartened and depressed; it makes want to work harder at honing my skill and find new ways to experiment. I feel a bit irked and a bit sad for people who see ‘more skillful art’ than theirs and get discouraged, because they haven’t found what fuels their passion yet, and I feel that is truly sorrowful. One of my favorite quotes applies quite happily to this;
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman.
Hi, really interesting article! Think I’ll just link it in the future when people go “i wanna learn how to draw too”.
I completely agree with people who’s commented, BUT one thing which i see as maybe what you could call talent is…..some people have a very special way of seeing things -or express them. Everyone can learn how to draw. It’s a matter of practice and blabla. You can even learn how to compose pictures by “formula”. But I’ve come across some people who just in general create stuff that has that extra “punch” which absolutely enchants people.
Is that talent or..?