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What is talent? Do you need it for a career in art?

What is talent? Are you thinking about an artist career? This is a rather long article, but it says something that any beginning artist thinking about an artist career should consider closely! Really, don't get hung up about what most people say about talent.

What is talent? It really is, NOT about the talent! Read on....

(below the article are your quick nav table of contents box)


How Much Artistic Talent Do You Really Need to Become a Painter?
By John Mackinnon

Do you need talent to become an artist? In almost no other human endeavor are so many people so hung up on the need for talent. There seems to be an almost universal agreement that artistic painting is only for those rare individuals that are born with a mysteriously God-like ability to create art. We lowly mortals, should never even try to understand art let alone try to create it. Give me a break.

For most painters, talent refers to how easily and how quickly someone can acquire the necessary skills and understanding to make art. There is another facet of talent, (this is the one that hangs us up), that deals with creatively choosing what to paint, how to arrange the elements, what style to use and sometimes experimenting with completely new ways to represent a subject or idea.

So much of being successful with art has to do with your goals and expectations. If your goal, for example, is just to enjoy the process of learning and improving, then achieving this is more a matter of attitude and getting started then it is with having talent.

If your goal is to paint something that is good enough to hang in your house, give away to friends or to sell at a local art fair, you need to develop enough technical skills to not look amateurish. Talent will certainly help at this level but it is not yet a requirement.

What if your goal is to become a famous artist recognized the world over for transcending all works of past art with something new and great. Do you need talent at this level? Absolutely, you will need a truck load of talent. What is interesting, however, is that so much of what a master painter learns on the way to greatness involves the same set of skills that a talent challenged amateur is capable of learning. In other words, only at the very top of the art world is talent an absolute necessity.

So how do you become a good artist despite a lack of talent?

1. First and foremost, learn to see like an artist. This is the process of learning to shut down the normally dominant side of your brain that wants to identify, name, organize, filter and basically make sense out of what we see. This actually gets in the way of processing raw visual data needed to make art. Artistic vision is extremely important and yet relatively easy to accomplish.

2. Learn to paint with a child-like attitude. Do children worry that they will look silly painting? Are they saying to themselves that they must create a perfect piece of art? Do they have anxiety from fretting over what others will think? Of course not. Kids just enjoy the experience as they learn. As adults we often paralyze our natural gifts and talents with worry. Relax.

3. Have endurance. Think of becoming an artist as a lifetime adventure. There is no hurry to get it right.

4. Develop a broad knowledge base. Expose yourself to lots of techniques, styles, mediums and other artists.

5. Do not try to reinvent the wheel. Before you develop bad habits learn painting from a gifted instructors. This does not necessarily have to take place at a university. It can also be learned from a local artist that teaches weekly classes or from a top video painting course on dvd. Be sure to look for a painting course that offers a full systematic approach to learning all of the technical skills in a logical progression. Some art lessons are so narrowly focused that they will leave huge gaps in your training.

The bottom line is that you really do not have to have great talent to have great fun and be productive as an artist. Now that that excuse has been removed, shouldn't you get started today?

John Mackinnon, having grown up in an artistic family, has had a passion for art for nearly 50 years. If you wish to find a good set of video painting course dvds, John has posted a series of detailed reviews and comparison charts to greatly simplify this process for you. Learn which Painting and Drawing lessons are gems and which to avoid before you buy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Mackinnon
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Much-Artistic-Talent-Do-You-Really-Need-to-Become-a-Painter?&id=3249434



Well, what do ya think?

What is talent? difficult to define isn't it. Do you really think an artist was born with something nobody else can possess? Well? Do ya? Then, what is talent?

The author kinda reiterates what I've talked about throughout this web site!

If you have the drive, you can make it in an artist career. If you are stubborn, you can make it in an artist career. If you enjoy painting, and most of us do, you can make it in an artist career.

The skill I use to produce my work are all learned skills. Some have told me it is talent, but really, what is talent?

I delve even deeper into this subject, what is talent, on a different level here: How do you know if you are really an artist? Till next time....

Oh, before I forget, if you serious about your art, and you want something that will help guide your efforts, let me recommend this to you.

How to sell your art without selling out!

This is not some get rich quick scheme, but a step by step process that explains dozens of methods from "how to approach a gallery", to "selling your art work on eBay!" I especially like his eBay idea's. I use them even now! His "how to sell art online" chapter is but 1 of 27!

And his teachings don't just stop there! Every so often I will get an email from him that has a link to an interview. And not just any interview, but one with a successful artist! They discuss exactly what steps the artist took to achieve success, not mediocre success, but big money success! This is a real bonus that he doesn't even advertise. Real Over Delivery!

Check out his course! As our economy improves, now is the best time to become established, and these methods are proven!



to top of What is talent?

I hope you've enjoyed answering this question with us about "what is talent". If you would like to comment further, there are so many places on the web site that you can contribute. Look around to find a spot, or contact me! I enjoy hearing from folks!

Better yet, answering this question "what is talent" can help you find your passion too! And you can turn your passion into GOLD!

Table of Contents for Art Articles:

www.dickblick.com




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