Artistic ability: learned or inherited?

I didn´t vote, I always think everything is learned but smetimes some people like savants prove me wrong so I´m not sompletly sure

hyrueprince11

despite years of trying, and even going to school, i have no artistic ability.

I have something called dysgraphia. Which is caused by my autism. It's essentially a deficiency in my fine motor skills that causes involuntary twitching and stimming of my fingers. So i'm unable to hold a pencil steadily.

I also have a slow thought process. It's caused by me having less neurological energy in my brain. I'm unable to create images in my mind well enough to draw from. I have spent so much time looking at something and trying to analyze its proportions, then when i try to make it, i draw a blank, become confused over what i'm doing, and eventually give up. Imagine watching a movie on blu ray with an HDTV, then watching the same movie on a VHS tape with messed up tracking on an old non HD tv. big difference. That's pretty much what it's like.

I have spent my entire life trying to overcome this. I went to school a few years only to fail both drawing classes and have to quit. It's always been a dream of mine to be able to draw. Unfortunately i got the short end of the stick and must resort to being jealousof those who can. And relying on people to draw for me. It really angers me when i see people who can draw, but complain about it. I have another friend who's partially paralyzed in his right arm. He can't draw either. He feels the same way.

Needless to say, i don't believe art is something anyone can do. Some people have mental illnesses like me that make it much harder. Other people pick up a pencil and magically draw something in minutes. Sure, you can get better, but ultimately i think it comes down to a matter of natural born talent. Which in my opinion comes with luck.

Most people who are good artists are born with natural artistic ability, much like people are born with athletic abilities, outgoing attributes and high levels of intellect. However, like the other things I listed, people who don't have the natural abilities can still imitate it through practice, and those who have natural ability can lose it if it is not practiced

despite years of trying, and even going to school, i have no artistic ability.

I have something called dysgraphia. Which is caused by my autism. It's essentially a deficiency in my fine motor skills that causes involuntary twitching and stimming of my fingers. So i'm unable to hold a pencil steadily.

I also have a slow thought process. It's caused by me having less neurological energy in my brain. I'm unable to create images in my mind well enough to draw from. I have spent so much time looking at something and trying to analyze its proportions, then when i try to make it, i draw a blank, become confused over what i'm doing, and eventually give up. Imagine watching a movie on blu ray with an HDTV, then watching the same movie on a VHS tape with messed up tracking on an old non HD tv. big difference. That's pretty much what it's like.

I have spent my entire life trying to overcome this. I went to school a few years only to fail both drawing classes and have to quit. It's always been a dream of mine to be able to draw. Unfortunately i got the short end of the stick and must resort to being jealousof those who can. And relying on people to draw for me. It really angers me when i see people who can draw, but complain about it. I have another friend who's partially paralyzed in his right arm. He can't draw either. He feels the same way.

Needless to say, i don't believe art is something anyone can do. Some people have mental illnesses like me that make it much harder. Other people pick up a pencil and magically draw something in minutes. Sure, you can get better, but ultimately i think it comes down to a matter of natural born talent. Which in my opinion comes with luck.

dissonantblack

Well yeah, but I'd wager that actual clinical conditions such as yours are pretty rare.

Of course not EVERYONE is capable of artistic ability, but the average person can.

I mean, not everyone can walk either. But generally speaking, I don't think it would be fair to say that the ability to walk is "something that you either have, or don't have." That would certainly apply to some people, but it's far from true as a general statement.

Anyway, are you interested in any other kinds of art that don't rely on fine motor skills? I mean, you might never be able to draw, but I'm sure you can find something that you can get good at, provided that it's something that you're interested in.

Anyway, are you interested in any other kinds of art that don't rely on fine motor skills? I mean, you might never be able to draw, but I'm sure you can find something that you can get good at, provided that it's something that you're interested in.

MrGeezer

i tried writing a novel once but it never got finished.

despite years of trying, and even going to school, i have no artistic ability.

I have something called dysgraphia. Which is caused by my autism. It's essentially a deficiency in my fine motor skills that causes involuntary twitching and stimming of my fingers. So i'm unable to hold a pencil steadily.

I also have a slow thought process. It's caused by me having less neurological energy in my brain. I'm unable to create images in my mind well enough to draw from. I have spent so much time looking at something and trying to analyze its proportions, then when i try to make it, i draw a blank, become confused over what i'm doing, and eventually give up. Imagine watching a movie on blu ray with an HDTV, then watching the same movie on a VHS tape with messed up tracking on an old non HD tv. big difference. That's pretty much what it's like.

I have spent my entire life trying to overcome this. I went to school a few years only to fail both drawing classes and have to quit. It's always been a dream of mine to be able to draw. Unfortunately i got the short end of the stick and must resort to being jealousof those who can. And relying on people to draw for me. It really angers me when i see people who can draw, but complain about it. I have another friend who's partially paralyzed in his right arm. He can't draw either. He feels the same way.

Needless to say, i don't believe art is something anyone can do. Some people have mental illnesses like me that make it much harder. Other people pick up a pencil and magically draw something in minutes. Sure, you can get better, but ultimately i think it comes down to a matter of natural born talent. Which in my opinion comes with luck.

dissonantblack

I'm so sorry to hear about this. May fortune guide you and best of luck to you my friend. In your case, it is inherent but a problem involving motor skills. =( I wonder, if somehow you could steady your arm and (hypothetically) have your visual memory improved, if you could learn to eventually draw great. But of course there are physical problems, I was just thinking if those weren't in the way. Grr. Lethalhazard

the only way i've ever been able to make any drawings in the past is by relying entirely on image references. like, turning on a video game and using the character as a still life. It's the only way i can get past my slow thought process. Even then i still have my finger problems. so i have to use photoshop to fix it. I remove all the chicken scratches, eraser smudges, and fox the parts that look awkward and not proportional. Even this, as simple as it looks, took me all day to make and i got frustrated multiple times.

both

but tbh I find myself respecting those that learned their trade more than those that are simply blessed with it.

Michael Jordan didnt even make his high school basketball team, but with a lot of hard work he went down as one of the greatest, and most beloved, athletes of all time.

Also, the reason I feel it is both is because of my experience. I like to cook, and was a cook by profession, for a while. I was born to cook imo; I have an extremely sensitive palette, and I just know how to work in a kitchen and have a certain instinct while cooking most others lack. And yet I would not be half as good as I am now if I did not A.) watch cooking shows since being a child, B.) have a mom that was a good cook and allowed me in the kitchen since I was 3 years old, and C.) worked professionally as a cook

So yea, it takes a lot of both to make the best.

Artistic ability is learned. Good (or decent) artists start at a young age and get better as time goes on. That is, if they wish to continue practicing.