by John Devera

Created on: February 23, 2008

This question possesses its own answer. Artistic skill is learned. Artistic talent is natural. Anyone can learn to draw, be a craftsman, an illustrator. Being an artist, being great at it, requires more. It requires talent. Let us consider some examples.

Vincent Van Gogh came from a family with no history of artistic talent. He claimed that his youth was cold, gloomy and sterile. His exposure to art as an art dealer, is what stirred his longings to be an artist. He attempted a career in ministry, but it failed miserably. His brother Theo persuaded him to take art lessons. After much turmoil and perhaps a bit of a mental breakdown, he innovated the art world with a new and violent style. He was not born with artistic talent, and yet, he changed the art world. Lessons are what made him an artist. Talent is what makes him great.

Vassily Kandinsky may be the most important artist of the last four centuries. His art revolutionized the world. He had no knack for art as a youngster, had no family background that would presuppose an artistic temperament. He studied art and economics and did rather well until he took up art in his 30's. But then he went to an art school, learned the tricks of his trade. But his concepts of art, his brilliant innovations, in short, his talent, made him into a towering figure in the art world.

From the sublime to the ridiculous. I am certainly no artist. But I've read a few books and taught myself the basics. I don't have the guts to actually try a real art class. Now, my mother was very good at drawing, but then again I was adopted so I haven't the foggiest notion about what my biology says about my artistic ability. But, whereas my mother was a "natural" artist, my art was laborious, uninspired, stiff. It takes me weeks to do a simple piece. That's because I have no talent, only skill.

My daughter, on the other hand, put crayon to paper before she could walk. She soaked in comic books and fine art along with Clifford the Big Red Dog. Now that she's seventeen, you can tell her apart from everyone else by the notebook on her lap and the pencil in her hand. She's always drawing. And her art is spectacular. She excels in her collegiate art classes.

When she went to ComicCon San Diego, a few years ago, she met her favorite comic book artist Phil Foglio. Mr. Foglio examined her art and very harshly began to explain its flaws. He said, in a very stern and demeaning tone of voice, "Have you forgotten everything you learned in your class on perspective?"

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