[dwalker]

I remember an old saying, "you are what you eat"..

Wait that's not right, hmm.

All success comes from hard work, talent is more like the word love than anything else.

Just my two cents.

[robster24]

I think it's a case of practice makes perfect! my tutor once told me, all artists started out crap! it's true, you dont just pick up a brush and are good! time, paitence (spelt that wrong) and dedication!

He also told me no matter how much you polish a turd, its still a turd!!

Thought that was brilliant!

[AlexTLe]

Well thats a good question. Im not sure about the other posts, but in my opinion, being born with it certainly gives you an advantage. The rest of it is a matter of hard work and practice. I was born with it and i have been self taught throughout my life, so that could be an example, not that im professional or anything. Anyone can learn art, but you have to be dedicated to execute it onto a work.

[Cada_Vez]

Barrington Barber in his books indicates that everyone as a child learn how to walk, talk, read and write...and drawing is easier than that. It is a skill that can be learned, but as said above practise is very important.

[clo-haven]

It seems to me that everyone can learn how to paint; painting techniques; fundamentals; etc. But I guess what differentiates artists are their visions (or the lack of).

[Lotsaluvin]

IMO, drawing/painting is a technical skill. Therefore it can be learned by anyone willing to devote time and practice to it. I don't believe in artistic talent as anything more than a title you assume after a long hard road of practice and determination.

I think the real question branches in to who has the 'vision.' An artist is a person who uses a technical skill, like drawing or painting, to convey his or her own 'vision.' Thus the final product is dependent upon the artist’s ability to 1) envision new evocative ideas and 2) convey them through the use of his/her technical abilities.

Unfortunately for people like me, working 2 jobs, going to school and trying to find time for my wife and 3 kids, it is hard to find enough time and energy to develop my technical skills to a level that is satisfactory to me. In other words I suck lol. But I am determined to improve, it will just take longer!

[Radirgy]

One thing I learned working at a local art gallery as a volunteer over the summer is that everyone is good at something and once they find the thing they are good most of them will stick to it, live by it and die by it. There are probably mediums and techniques that some people are naturally better at than others but at the same time hard work can take a person far.

[Jorj-X-McKie]

Originally Posted by LGrey

... With art there is that extra need though... the ability to see... to look at a flower and see worlds and... well you will hear stuff like that worded a thousand ways... practice and learn to see and you will be fine.

Reminds me of a story my dad told me ... he was in art school with another student Geoffrey Lewis, who later became a fabulous and successful painter. Geoff was really struggling in life drawing class and it was pointed out that maybe he needed glasses. After that, his drawings went from good to awesome practically overnight. So "seeing" can be literal too. That "drawing on the left side of brain" book is still useful for breaking down barriers to "seeing".

[MauryRuiz]

I refuse to believe we are born with an innate artistic skill. There has never been an artist savant like there is in music. All of us have to learn how to create the 2D illusion from 3D forms. Only practice will achieve that.

On another note, what you have to say once you acquire, after much practice, the language of creating images, is an entirely different conversation. Skill and creativity are two sides of one coin, but as where skill can be acquired rather directly through practice, creativity cannot. Some can only recreate what is set before them while others are overflowing with ideas that seem to resonate from within. We are all creative, but developing that relationship with your creativity starts earlier for some than others. The question you ask holds more fodder for debate if we are discussing an innate creativity rather than artistic skill. With this observation, it has to do more with how one sees the world, how one expresses themselves, how one forms associations and develops ideas about our reality. Such potency in ones disposition to perceive a unique perspective of perception can have an incredible impact on what that person chooses to create, and hence, from which the world judges such creation.

The bottom line - there is no replacement for a strong work ethic. If you work harder and smarter for as long as it takes, you can achieve amazing results. Three years is a long time if you practice everyday. It doesn't take a lifetime to get really good, but once you get good enough, you realize the masters practice an entire lifetime, but never feel like they've arrived. I find this reassuring because it makes the point to hold yourself up high to your own standards. Never be satisfied! It's a scary thought to believe you have nothing more to learn.


Many good posts here! Work hard.... harder than those around you.....surround yourself with people who are better than you and try to learn something new everyday. Be selfish with your time. Squeeze every moment for its potential....

[oozeslime]

Originally Posted by irawan

this is very common question.
the answer is really clear.

drawing skill is grow up the same with your knowledge,logic,experience,fantasy and so on with learning or excercise you will get there.

the most important point "love it" without that you will never be a great artist

i am sure 100% the best artists here on cghub are before not so great like now, and i am sure 100 % they like/love drawing.

talent i would like to say the same like an interest,
some people more interest into drawing,singing,writing,reading and so on...bla..bla.

there for if people has interest more into drawing they would achive easily then people who doesnt has interest at all or just because somebody push you to do it.

the step:
1.start with loving it.
2.do rutin exercise or study.
3.reading and to do some research.
4.listening advice from the expert(if you get possibility).
5.never give up.

one they you will be a great artist.
enjoy drawing!!!!!!!!!

Exactly what I think, better written than I would.

[ifriteg]

Anyone can learn to a certain extent. if you dedicate enough time, you will improve in many ways. Creativity is another thing in its self though.

[Lutherniel]

I always believe that talent can be learned and nurtured. I know quite a few great artist who couldn't draw much and improved up to a professional level within just 3 years.

[lclark]

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”

Some people may or may not be born with advantages, but it takes passion to learn new things and get better

[Eliwi]

I think the 'talent' part is just the vision of the artists- how he/she does certain things. Sometimes some people hit the mark perfectly, and think outside the box... they're always on different tracks and their work is always interesting. That, I think, is talent- but at the same time, everyone can learn and improve their art skills with practice and a lot of effort. Being talented doesn't mean being a better artist than someone else; it's the effort that counts. A talented person can be really lazy, and where will that take them?

[spiteyourface]

Interesting question. When I was a kid, and up to my mid teens I could draw better than everyone else in school - everyone told me so, even the bullies, so I have to accept this as true. Sure I drew all the time and it was all I cared about, so you could say I was practicing, but really I wasn't even trying - stuff just came out right and I could mimic the styles of a lot of adult artists then in print.

Whether you would call this talent, or defer it to my dyspraxia or some mild undiagnosed autism is your choice, but it was there - an indelible synaptic head start in one particular direction (probably the wrong one).

Then suddenly I hit a wall, and the next step up required some serious investment in life-drawing that I just hadn't been doing. And it's been an up hill struggle ever since. Which is a longer way of saying 10% talent 90% work.

But it's important to recognize how you define work. Work doesn't mean putting the hours in, or even how bad you want it. You can put 1000 hours in and still be no more than a mimic. You can learn and copy techniques and styles but that's not the same thing as being able to draw. Sure, you got that manga head down, but now go draw me a giraffe!

WORK, real work, means applying your mind to the task, changing your mind to the task, looking around you all day every day and studying everything you see, real or manufactured, building up a critical discipline and a manifesto, becoming truly original by having an answer for everything, a take on everything and applying that to a study of form through line.

My 'talent' is that I was born with my brain in upside down, what came out through my hands was just a result.

Learning and copying other artists can only teach you technique and facade. Jack Kirby is a plugin, Mike Mignola is a render setting if you don't understand what lies beneath. Don't delude yourself that they got that way just by trying really hard, they were born with upside-down brain.

But you CAN turn your own brain upside-down, even if you don't think it was set up that way. You can teach yourself to be the right sort of crazy. I've seen it and I've helped people do it. But don't think that anything less than a complete system reinstall is going to do it!