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Art School

By: Qwaider

On:Saturday, October 28, 2006 9:03:30 AM
In:Thoughts
Viewed: (5701) times

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Rated 4.7/5 stars (210 votes cast)

I got into a little kind of discussion with my good friend Arrabi regarding arts. Where he's convinced that a person can learn to become an artist while I continued to argue that, it's a talent. You can't just learn it!

True, if you go to Art school and take art classes, you might learn many things. Among these, the ability to appreciate art. The ability to understand it and critique it. But would that make you an Artist? Not by a long stretch!

You might be able to get better at painting, you might be able to grab a musical instrument, but Art is not just a skill. There are people who have a knack for these things. It comes to them effortlessly. Sometimes even without formal education.

I have seen this so many times. People learn an instrument, or how to paint in a specific way. But when you look at their work you notice that it's Rules based and Mechanical, and FAR from the natural flow of a natural born artist. Their work might get better and better with time. But would rarely reach a master level ... Compared to others that are blessed with talents and art "Just happens" in their hands

I have a lot of respect for artists. I realise (do my personal inability to do the same) how difficult it is to paint, draw and create visually appealing products. I might be fantastic in making things functional, but not beautiful.

Education enhances the artists skills and talent. The more they know the better they become. And they're usually not afraid to experiment. Education is as important as the very tools that artist uses. Be it a brush, a flute or Photoshop! The better the tools, the easier it becomes. But never confuse that with the results. And never judge an artist by his tools.

Now I'm not saying that if you love something don't go and learn it. But when you come across some person who had no education and doing that artistic thing better than you, you'd know why

Personally, I think I'm painting challenged, I just can't do it! I love to see art, I love to understand it but I just can't (re)create it! With few exceptions, Music (playing the Oud), and Photography which is my passion (away from computers and what not). But it's one of those arts that talent and education are not all it needs. There is a lot that goes into creating a single image ... And of course can't be done without tools

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« Don't just take my word for it!

Dedicated to All Moms »

Memories....

#1
Summer
Said
On: 10/28/2006 11:41:40 AM

I agree..Talent overwrites education! if you are talented you will excel in arts even if you do not become famous.
Few years ago My husband decided that he wanted to learn how to play Oud, but he just could not grasp the basics of it. I told him flat out that he is just not talented and it will be impossible for him to learn...of course he was sad about it but he came to realization and just accepted his "fate" of just enjoying listening music and not playing it.

#2
Gdaameh
Said
On: 10/28/2006 1:25:20 PM

talent in the classic sense (genetic predesposition) is overrrated and applies mostly to an exceptionally mall minority of the population of achivers. In the real world, talent is acquired through learning, accumilations of observations, analytical thinking, and hard hard hard work, but more importantly talent needs an excellent financial and intellectual mentors. why mentors? because the world is full of talented painters, filmmakers, and writers who are working as plumbers, office workers, taxi drivers, and storekeepers. without someone to spot the talent and help nurture it and without someone to pay the bills, most talents fade away. In the civilized world (not just the West) the state may play the role of financial mentor. and depending on how corrupt the system, its choices may advance the arts and sciences or retard them, hence the sorry state of technology & culture in most Arab countries.

#3
Shaden
Said
On: 10/28/2006 1:25:52 PM

Talent without education is like education without talent. You gotta have a little bit of both.

#4
The Observer
Said
On: 10/28/2006 1:48:07 PM

I think the truth lies in the middle between you and your friend Qwaider.

A talented person find it easier to learn certain things than untalented one I guess, but a person with no talent can enhance his skills with education and hard work. He can even surpass a talented person who doesn't work on his talent.

I guess it is a combination of a hardware (the brain), and software (what you inject in it). Some hardware is just more efficient, but it can be outpassed by inferior hardware if it uses a better software that uses it to the max.

#5
Roba
Said
On: 10/28/2006 5:02:33 PM

To a certain degree, you are right. But you are also wrong. It is very easy to learn to paint/draw etc. It's a very academic notion with strict rules and strict ideas, just like physics. I personally believe that you can teach anyone art, but you can never teach someone to become an artist. An artist is inspired by life, and it is about ideas , rather than techique.

#6
Gdaameh
Said
On: 10/28/2006 6:12:10 PM

anyone can be an artist if they have the will and the intellect, with the latter being a prduct of an analytical mind and a vast repository of knowledge in the subject matter, both of which can be aquired by any one with interest. no such thing as a born-artist or a gifted-artist. that's the ongoing debate between classic theories of art vs. post-modern theories. there is a valid reason for the post-modern argument especilly the so-called cultural relativity. A "gifted" Indonesian artist bay not score high in the eyes of a French classic art critic. The opposite is true. There is also the time dimension. Many a great talent perished in the shadows of infmay only to be "discovered" decades later. Tastes change. Talent is in the eyes of the beholder. It's more complicated than saying someone is gifted or that talent not technique makes the difference. i can see how some artists might be offended by the thought that any one can waltz in and claim the title of artist.

#7
dozz
Said
On: 10/28/2006 7:21:14 PM

"Art is when one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them"

tolstoy

through that...its creating something new...or re-defining the old.

'dozz'
B)

#8
Qwaider
Said
On: 10/28/2006 8:28:38 PM

Summer:
Apparently it takes many years in this life for people to understand that, "No, you can't be the next Michael Angelo, no matter what you try"
Gdaameh:
Love your name :) Very creative. Talent might be overrated, but I strongly believe that it is essential and some people are blessed with it more than others. Some go on to become the next amazing artist, while others just don't do anything noteworthy. And I totally agree with you on the nurturing system. But no one can nurture non-talent!
Shaden:
Absolutely, they are both two main pillars of art. But there are more, as many have pointed out. But, you're ABSOLUTELY correct
The Observer:
I love the way you gave that example. It's really good. You need both software and hardware to do a specific task right.
Roba:
I totally agree with you that many of the art principles can be taught, but becoming an artist has to do with creativity. And no one can teach that. It just happen, sometimes all by coincidence.
As for academics go, well, even though it's possible to teach people art, I don't think it's like physics, Physics don't just come naturally to people. While art does. Appreciation and enjoying it come naturally. But I really can't remember seeing anyone who said they used to solve physics when they were given crayons in KG
And yes, learn art is one thing, becoming an artist is another and being creative and inspirational is a totally separate thing
Gdaameh#2:
I really do love your name :)
I disagree, I doubt that it's possible to become an artist just by wanting it. I am sure MANY people do want to be rich and famous like artists (sometimes) live. But the fact of the matter. Only a select few, every generation would achieve this level of Artistry. While other's work who might be brilliant goes unnoticed. and there are those who may be able to certain things with art, but it would never be their forte
Dozz:
lovely, seriously. I think you can find Art in anything you look at and everything you do.

#9
Lisa
Said
On: 10/29/2006 4:08:48 AM

I agree with you that artistic talent...TRUE artistic talent...can not be learned. I was blessed with the ability to draw anything and everything, which was apparent by the time I was three. I did not "learn" it; my brain just always worked that way. Although some people can learn different art forms, and even be good at them, talent is definitely inborn. These people may not have had any influences growing up that promoted the talent that they were born with. In this case, only through their education does their talent emerge...but it was probably always there, they just didn't know it. My brother can not draw anything more than a stick-figure, and we come from the same parents!

#10
Hasan
Said
On: 10/29/2006 6:51:42 AM

Art is waaaay over rated. There is no such a thing as "Art". There is only beauty.

Talent is a misunderstood word. Talent is not magic. Any person who has great attention to detail, and is a competent being in which if he isn’t satisfied with the result of his work, he will not sleep unless he reaches a satisfying result, then you will have a master.
Talent simply means that a person has so much interest in a certain field that he enjoys spending hours and hours doing it.

You can call it talent, I call it practice, practice, practice and a bit of intelligence.

What differentiates a master from the rest is his ability to understand the elements of beauty and thus replicating them in more accessible forms.(when it comes to visual art)

There is not such thing as original. Unless you have been to an alien world and seen a different form of liquid and light, your "art" will be influenced by the same elements influencing every other "artist" on this planet. So it's a matter of what influences you and by how much.

If you can recognize competence, then you will be competent. That is why most confident people are incompetent. They don't realize how "off" they are :-P It's true.

Read this : http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794/index.htm?postversion=2006101715

And this :
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/01/18/MN73840.DTL

#11
Qwaider
Said
On: 10/29/2006 9:20:59 AM

Lisa:
Yes I agree with you
Hasan:
I really have to disagree with you. My view on these things is that there are people with original Talent. Education/practice helps hone these skills, but will not create something out of nothing.
Recognizing beauty is another thing by the way, that is huge in the research arena these days. People are trying to explain it ... and come out with formulae that will always be true. I think success on that field is limited. The definition is like a moving target, in addition to the human factor that defies quantizing.
Now I came to accept personal limitations. I doubt anyone in the world has had more encouragement to become an artist as myself. Since I grew up in an artistic family. Yet, all these efforts were not successful. However, I was able to play the Oud the very first time I held it in my hands. When people spend many years just practicing how to hold it.

A while ago I said, people need to realise their limitations. They might love to be world's best artists, but there are many factors that come into play and talent is an important one of them that defines how far an artist would go.

Working Hard, Training Hard, sharpening skill and education will eventually yield what appears to be a better art from that person. But will it strike genius and talent? I highly doubt it.

#12
Jabha
Said
On: 10/29/2006 1:16:32 PM

the world is full of "talented" persons who will never realize their potential. those who do, make it not because of their exceptional talent but because the gate keepers have selected them for whatever reasons out of millions of other qualified talents. for every Najib Mahfouz, there are tens of thousands who would have succesed had they found mentors and had the gatekeepers opened up the way for them. We see this today with the explosion of TV talents when just a couple of decades ago we had the same shellah of actors and singers that were shoved down our throat again and again.

We thank the West or this democratization of talent. before, we had the arab regiems telling us who is funny, and who is a great actor, and who is a great writer. with the rise of the internet and the sat TV, we now CHOSE what we want to see and listen to. This gave rise to a new generation of talents, with a short half-life, but at least now more and more talented people will find their audeince. Blogs are an excellent case in point. without the web and blogs, we would not have met so many wonderful writing talents. heck my non-technical readings are 50% blogs and 50% print.