Is Artistic Skill Natural or Learned?
Art is something that is notoriously tricky to define, so it seems natural that the source of what we know as artistic skill would be equally difficult to put a finger on. Speaking as an artist myself, I personally believe that while natural talent is certainly a big help, such talent isn't worth much if the artist doesn't make the most of it. Talent is inborn, but skill is something that is learned, honed, and developed. Practice, patience, and dedication are much larger determining factors in how skillful a given artist will eventually become than natural talent is.
I really wish I had a dollar for every time someone who enjoys my art has made a statement to the tune of: "I really wish I could make art as well as you can." My immediate reaction is to ask them why they think they couldn't learn. More often than not, they tell me it's because they tried to draw once... maybe twice... and their work came out looking horrible, so therefore there is no way they could ever be a really good artist. I then continue to ask questions. Did you ever try again? Have you ever thought of signing up for classes or lessons? Did you try a different style or medium to see if it was a more comfortable fit? The answer I receive to all is almost always no, because the majority of people really do seem to feel that artistic skill is something magical and divine that you are either born with or are destined to never possess at all.
I personally do feel that I was probably born with some measure of natural talent, but I also remember what my first paintings and drawings looked like regardless. They were not good by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm not just being hard on myself. They were really, really bad... but you know what? I am willing to bet that so were Salvador Dali's and Pablo Picasso's. I may not have been cranking out masterpieces right off the bat, but I was dearly devoted to the idea of becoming a skilled artist, so I refused to give up. I started taking art classes, listening to feedback from my instructors, and taking their advice. I read books on how to be a better artist written by people who were once where I was... and most of all, I practiced until I thought my hands would fall off. Then what did I do? I practiced some more.
Eventually all that hard work and dedication started to show and pay off. I started entering my art in contests... and winning. I eventually became one of those people whose art almost always stood out in formal art classes I was taking at the time. Eventually I even found that people in general liked my art as well, sometimes enough to pay to own a piece of it. Still more people have told me since that my art actually inspires them, and that a piece of my art that hangs on their wall brightens their day every time they see it. I can't even begin to express how much all of those things has meant to me over the years, and none of it would have been possible if I had given up after churning out those first few embarrassingly bad sketches.
Even as far as I've come with my art at this point, I still don't consider my learning days to be over and I sincerely doubt that I ever will. I still strive to develop continuously and make each piece I create better than my last, and I firmly believe that that attitude will ensure that I continue to grow as an artist in the years to come. The fact of the matter is natural talent will only get you so far. It's what you make of that talent through hard work and dedication that will ultimately determine whether or not you are destined to possess true artistic skill.
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