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DamaiMikaz β Git gud
Published: 2019-12-24 12:58:28 +0000 UTC; Views: 5745; Favourites: 100; Downloads: 0
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It's so tiring to hear people dismiss the ability to create art as sheer talent, and tell me they could never do the same as I do. What do you expect me to answer? That some divine being came down and blessed me with the ability to do art? And you haven't got that divine skill, so you never could do it, and we should all pity you for it?Β
The truth is that there isn't much of a difference, except that I spend a lot of time creating art. I learned how to draw hands, because I've drawn hundreds of them over the last couple of years. I learned writing because I write nearly every day, and read books when I don't. I spend a lot of time creating art, and the rest of it looking at it. It's true, I enjoy doing art, and so it doesn't feel like 'hard work' to me, but that doesn't take away that it did take practice. A lot of it.
When I speak to talented people, no matter if they're artists, programmers, or whatever field they excel in... I always hear the same story. They spend a lot of time honing their craft. They often live and breathe it, and that's why they're so good. I see getting good as something similar as saving money for a big purchase. You have to work for the money, spend what you have to responsibly, and not give in to impulse spending. You won't save all the money you need in a month, just as you won't get all the skill you need in a month. You're in for the long game. Getting good at something isn't something that just happens. It's something that takes time, dedication, and persistence. It's true that there's some factor of luck and genetics involved, but no one ever got good at something without making it a priority in their life first.Β
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100% agreement with you. It takes dedication and perseverance to hone your craft / specialty. Doesn't matter what it is - something in the art, medicine, sports, and in my case, software engineering. 1000s and 1000s of hours go into preparation that folks don't see. And, it can be a tough road because you give up a lot of time (often alone) working on projects and opportunities that sometimes never come to fruition.
Everyone wants to be good at something, anything. They often fail because they don't prepare themselves to work at being good at their something.
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The thing is that those people are this stupid, they think everything goes fast, and we learned those things in one fuckin' eveningΒ Β
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Reminds me of the growth mindset vs. fixed mindset.
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Lol true. Apparently study and practice is an alien concept to some.
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You've said this before and every time you do it fills me with determination *insert Undertale theme*. There is always a way around something and anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it. A good example is me with maths and science. I didn't do so well with Maths as a kid but as I got older I gained more of a fascination with the subject and wanted to get better, despite me knowing I wasn't "naturally good at it". I think a lot of that is not having a strict teacher looming over with her face like a smacked arse. I got better with maths, learned faster methods of doing simple sums, and I even gained an interest in Quantum Physics. I don't think it's hard, easy, whatever. I just get on with it because I want it in my brain that much. I find a method that suits me, even if it means going to the "..for Dummies" website. I know some people think that because they don't achieve something in a week they've failed and they want it now. Some of that could be peer pressure. My dad used to think humiliation was the best way to get me to do better, and all it did was I became too hard on myself. That shit takes a long time to unlearn.
With regards to "not finding time", these days I don't have an issue organising my time to do something. What I do is I micromanage. I have a timetable in Excel with slots fitting everything into time blocks, usually hourly, and at certain times. I started with five minutes, then ten, because something is better than nothing. Now I can work a full hour no issue. I also don't overwhelm the timetable so as not to put pressure on myself. I keep it very simple; achieve a minimum five things a day and Bob's your uncle. As I have many interests I dedicate at least five mins a day to each of my "smaller interests", and prioritise my hourly slots to my "bigger interests" aka art, writing and languages. They never stagnate and in total, the smaller interests fill up one hour block. If I get physically tired to the point my head hurts I take a break and reassess my schedule. On another tab, I have list of art things I want to achieve and on which days I want to achieve them on, so I don't sit down and think, uuuurrr what do I do? I can just get on with it without losing time. I have to be organised as I am naturally a scatterbrain and I admit while I have no issue with motivation, I lose track of time. The Pomodoro Technique is a godsend. I'm also tired a lot, but everyone is tired and sometimes it is our own fault - plus we are all f'n overwhelmed these days, hence why it's best to keep things simple.
The other thing is some people just don't want to admit they don't actually want to do drawing/painting anymore. They may have loved it once but they cling onto it while making many excuses, not realising they're clinging onto nostalgia. Instead, they may love knitting, cooking, writing, making cards, or something else creative. As long as someone is creating, no matter what the format is, that is the main thing. We all change and evolve. There is nothing wrong with that.
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The simple but harsh truth is that you never "get good" unless you put in the workΒ
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Well said. It wasn't that long ago that I myself was guilty of this mindset, I thought that all of those other great artists got lucky and had "the good stuff"
It took me 3 years to grow, develop, and mature art wise and personally before I realized that was just my own little inner doubt twisting my perspective.
Part of that, if I can say, was watching your art actually. You have some truly amazing artworks, but you're always quick to point out just how much you practice at it. You've helped me see the value in sticking with it until I got good.
I would now agree wholeheartedly that ability is always directly tied into practice, and that all things become greater over time if you work hard at them. And of course, if you love what you do, and dedicate time to it, it will always prosper.
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I agree.
Though I'm guilty of it myself.
I don't like drawing cause it doesn't look too nice... but if I don't draw, I don't get practice in.
Then I complain about it, then I have to try and hammer it into my head that I NEED TO PRACTICE.
It's a vicious cycle.
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The trick is not to think too much and just draw
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To add onto all this truth; I think people underestimate/overlook the importance of observational skill, aka learning smart and not just hard. To me, 'talent' is the ability to observe things more naturally and quicker- but that's not a thing that everyone can just do (but it can be trained). So I see a lot of people going "but I draw lots!" and then they don't realise that they just draw the same thing over and over without looking for ways to improve, without looking at structure, without doing studies. Of course these aren't always necessary, but if you don't have the observational skill to just see a picture and deconstruct it to aid your art... of course just repeating what you already know isn't gonna magically help you advance. If that makes sense?Β
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Perhaps the only time I will get 'political' it is the result of an increasingly leftist mindset. X is for everyone. That is always the call.
What your whole rant is about is hey conservatism have you heard of it? Save for a big purchase, live off what you have, don't do extravagant things. Hone your craft, you have to work at things, work hard and maybe you will get the result you want.
Most people don't want to commit to something. I making a game and it is fucking hard. It's insanely hard. Take a look out there and see how flooded the market is. My goal is to be a challenger to Pathfinder/Paizo and then onto challenging D&D itself. That means I have to have an insanely good start. My way of doing this is having a high-quality production. I have spent 5 digits on art, over three or four years. I don't have the budget, job, or family to be able to throw around that kind of cash lightly. I have worked on perfecting my sheet I am never satisfied with my work, I am always reformating it. And I am >just< making a tabletop RPG.
That means I have seen only the Marvel movies at the movies because everything else goes to the game, I don't eat out, my last night out was... I just realise I drew a blank. I went to a friend's wedding a year or two ago. Beans are a staple of my diet. All of this to say.
I have put a lot on the line for this, and it is a huge gamble, I know it probably won't take off, I know someone will probably find something offensive or problematic about my setting or the way I word things... But even if I get all past that.
You know, I know, everyone in this damn room knows. Someone is going to say, "Don't you think that is too expensive? How can I get a free copy?" And so on...
Everyone else has it
It should be for me too...
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I second the person who commented before me (Supp8Amigo). Of course hard work is required to gain any skill, but natural aptitudes do exist, too
A personal example: I could play the piano before taking lessons, thanks to an overly analytical ear (no one in my family was a musician, though). I first started playing tunes by ear, then I tackled my first official piece: the piano version of Final Fantasy X's "Ending Theme" . Sure, there's a bit towards the two-thirds of the song that was too complex for me (and for my tiny hands and impaired motor skills 
I think it's the same thing for people who seem naturally good at drawing even though they have yet to learn anatomy and stuff - for example, they may have been very observant of their surroundings from an early age, which would explain why they seem to "get" things like values, composition, proportions, etc. right from the start.
TL;DR: Of course hard work is the most important thing when it comes to honing one's skills. But such natural aptitudes can help a lot in being good at something (at least for a start).
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Lol. Maybe I'm just an unlucky fuck that didn't have any natural skills then. I got most of mine by practice. Most of the creative stuff from an early age, as I've always been pursuing creative things. But I've still put in many many hours.Β Β
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Practice and hard work is the only way you can "git gud" and that's a good thing, if you just knew everything from the day you were born you wouldn't be able to learn and face the rewards of being a growing artist.
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Personally I believe natural talent does exist, but not in the way most people see it.
Let's say you as a kid always listened to your dad playing the piano, but at the time you didn't have interest in playing it yourself. Many years later, when you're older, you decide to learn it. Your teacher becomes impressed at how fast you learn, and tells you that you've got talent.
That talent is natural, but it's not just a random thing that happened, there's a *reason* for it to exist.
Here I made up a very clear and straight-to-the-point example, but it could be something imbedded in one's mind, something way harder too spot.
Anyways, that's what I think about natural talent
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I wholly agree here, as I recognize myself a bit from your example. Natural aptitudes do exist, even though they need to go hand-in-hand with hard work for any skill to blossom.
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Yeah, that's why I don't believe in "talent". It's called hard work. And saying that someone is good because they have talent is basically saying "Oh they were born with it, they didn't really need to do much" xD
I mean, there are quick learners and slow learners, but everyone that put their effort will reach high goals if they want to
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I think talent is an actual thing, but being good at art is 10% talent and 90% hardwork/practice.
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Yeah if you think of talent like the natural aptitude we have for some things (some to arts, other to maths etc.) then I agree with you! Nonetheless, yes, it's like you say, practice is what plays the most important part in improving.
Also, happy new year!
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Talent is like a knife.Β
If you don't sharpen it everyday, it will become dull and lose its function.Β
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very correct! the problem is that people forget things with practice and effort and then give up without even trying, and to make matters worse when they see someone who has persistently obtained their talent they go there and point fingers saying anything but the slightest effort which makes me hate this kind of person so much.
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As long as you apply yourself, you should be able to see progress.
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It's kind of funny to hear the other side of that. I've always been annoyed that whenever I make an offhand remark of "I wish I was good at this thing" people proceed to list all the ways I could learn. When I really can't. And I count my lack of will to spend hours and hours of my life on certain activities as part of the reason I can't ever be good at them. I would love to be able to draw my characters, but I don't have it in me to put in the same level of time and effort I dedicate to writing into drawing.
In hindsight, I think that if it hadn't been for some of the art teachers I had earlier in life, maybe that wouldn't be the case, but they managed to make me hate drawing at an early age. So I admire the crap out of people who can do it, and in some ways I wish that I could, but I also know that I can't.
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Well, if you're at least honest with yourself that it's a motivation problem and not a magic skill problem... That's a thing already. That being said... Motivation can be trained
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Probably the biggest excuse that I have heard (and guilty of myself) is motivation. I always tell people who ask me to teach em to draw is you need that motivation to learn and practice. Otherwise, what I say does not matter. It takes blood, sweat, and tears to get good at any craft.
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Yep. Participation trophy culture sure didn't help
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practice, practice and more practice
as one wise man say:
βTalent is a pursued interest. Anything that you're willing to practice, you can do.β
but i kiiiiiiiinnnnnddddaaaa not buying the genetics part.Β
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Well. There is some genetics involved. Not every runner can be Usain Bolt, after all. I assume the same goes for drawing. That the absolute top level artists have some generic predisposition. Then again. A predisposition doesn't mean shit if you don't practice
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YES. I get this shit from my little sister all the time! She's always telling me how she'll never be as good as I am, and I have to remind her constantly that I worked and practiced to get where I am today. And I'm not even necessarily that great of an artist either! Plenty of people have more aptitude for art, but at the end of the day, the skill you build and practice is way more important than whatever level of talent you start with.
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I hereby present you, with the Internetz Medal o' Truthz!
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Yes. I finally won a medal :')
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Uni is taking all my time T^T And I can't afford to fail it so...
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Thank you for the advice.
I know for a long time that I don't sketch nearly enough. I actually don't sketch at all, I've never filled a sketchbook. Maybe in primary school... I started, drawn over few pages and then I stopped.
I should probably be more organized about art like I am when it comes to school stuff. If I don't put down in my note that I have to draw that day (like I did for Huevember), then I won't. Because if I have any time to spare in the evening (big if!), I usually just watch something on youtube to get my mind off of worries. I guess I still find it easier than art. And a lot easier than reading.
Β
But yeah, it's really hard to set priorities if you have a lot of interests and commitments. At the end of the day, I usually feel too exhausted for drawing or writing. Obviously you don't improve if you don't practice, I get that and I know how little I practice. Maybe it's also a motivation thing. Maybe I'm just not so intrinsically motivated to do art but does that mean I should stop now? Or just look for motivation somewhere outside me (I tried that too, can't find it)...
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Thank you for being so considerate.
I'm okay, right now I a bit of a breather (Christmas and New year's holidays), so I can draw and even managed to do some pieces. But yeah, when uni starts again, I will be probably way to busy till the exams end in mid February. I also hope I know enough about burnout to save myself from it x)
So don't worry, I'll be fine.
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I'll admit, I've used the "I could never" line before, but I don't use it in a "I don't have the skill" sense. I use it in a "I don't know if I have the mental/emotional fortitude to do that" sort of way. When I talk about an artist's skill in comparison to my own, I instead use phrases like, "I can't wait until I've reached that skill level" or "It's going to take me a lot of practice to be able to do that."
I recognize that artists put a lot of work into their craft, and I don't assume they just have the ability or talent to do it. Some people have to work harder than others to get the same result, and I try to phrase my comments in such a way as to convey that I recognize that. Every artist works incredibly hard, regardless of how "good" their art is.
Case in point: I've been struggling to write lately. Some things I do well, like action. Other things are terrible, like dialogue. But maybe I struggle to get 50 words down on paper one day, while another day I write 1,000... The point is, it's hard work, no matter the end result, and a lot of folks don't realize that.
(There are a lot of folks who refuse to recognize that, and I've come to realize that the most critical people are often the ones who don't want to put in the work to better themselves. So they loathe their own perceived inadequacies and stew in jealousy while they take it out on the people who behave in the very way the critic wishes he could.)
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