[Ditroi]

and peoples and the business world's attitudes, perceptions and treatment of art and artists...

http://news.deviantart.com/article/101256/

Yeah... I'm having my moment lol.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

You still need to have a certain aptitude though, wouldn't you say? I could dedicate tons of time into working on my drawing for instance, I would probably improve a great deal at it too, but I would never be a great artist. Talent in any field requires work and dedication to truly flesh out inate potential. That's true in business, athletics, music and art, or anything else in life.

[Ditroi]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

You still need to have a certain aptitude though, wouldn't you say? I could dedicate tons of time into working on my drawing for instance, I would probably improve a great deal at it too, but I would never be a great artist. Talent in any field requires work and dedication to truly flesh out inate potential. That's true in business, athletics, music and art, or anything else in life.

Attitude is way more important than aptitude. You have to like playing with colors, shapes and lines. Also you can't give up even if you never win any contests or people around you tell you to stop because its not going to amount to anything... that is what I had to put up with. You don't have to win... you just do it. Do it because you love to do it and you like working hard to get better. How many smart, capable or physically endowed people you know around you who never live up to their potential... its attitude.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

Originally Posted by Ditroi

Attitude is way more important than aptitude. You have to like playing with colors, shapes and lines. Also you can't give up even if you never win any contests or people around you tell you to stop because its not going to amount to anything... that is what I had to put up with. You don't have to win... you just do it. Do it because you love to do it and you like working hard to get better. How many smart, capable or physically endowed people you know around you who never live up to their potential... its attitude.

I think we agree on this for the most part. You see it in sports all the time for instance, the guy who has natural talent sometimes gets beat out by the guy that puts in the work. It's why for instance the draft in the NFL is such a crapshoot. The jump from college ball to the NFL is huge and tons of incredibly gifted guys get washed out because they aren't prepared for the amount of work it takes to be succesful. Dedication can get you far in life in all fields.

[Ditroi]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

I think we agree on this for the most part. You see it in sports all the time for instance, the guy who has natural talent sometimes gets beat out by the guy that puts in the work. It's why for instance the draft in the NFL is such a crapshoot. The jump from college ball to the NFL is huge and tons of incredibly gifted guys get washed out because they aren't prepared for the amount of work it takes to be succesful. Dedication can get you far in life in all fields.

And then you got your Kobe Bryant and Shaq... one physically endowed... the other... a little guy in comparison practicing basketball at an early age to a level we would call obsessive.

[horatio]

I think it is a bit more complicated than aptitude vs. attittude, skills vs. work. When you have a natural talent for something, it is easier to get started than when you have none.

Suppose there are two kids, one with mild musical skills, one with mild problems to understand music. The former learns to play an instrument whereas the latter does not get involved with music in any way. Once they are 20, one seems like a natural talent and the other believes he or she has absolutely no skills at all. Even if he or she tries to, it is much harder to start from scratch now with 20 than as a kid.

So I believe that any natural talent we have gets amplified over time. Let's also not forget that interest and skill often go hand in hand, you rarely do something you are not very good at unless you have to.

By the way, there is a guy who has taught his three daughters to play chess at an early age and they all became good chessplayers, two of them are at the top of female chess. So initial talent seems to not be very crucial, but as we choose to invest our time and curiosity just in some fields as kids, we don't end up as little da Vincis later but only train the areas we had some talent in.

[Ditroi]

I drew a lot because people told me I was good every now and then since kindergarten... that was the one piece of positive attention that came my way. I was a runty, quiet girl lacking in social and language skills(I grew up in a house of people that only spoke Chinese) that was pretty much ostracized for most of my life. I look back on my old stuff... I'm like wow... they thought that was good??? I did it for the positive attention... and gosh darn it I'll find a way to keep doing it because I've got nothing else going for me.

[horatio]

I agree that effort is most important, but to get started you also needed the positive feedback and initial skills. I doubt that you would have enjoyed to draw without any natural talent.

[Ditroi]

Originally Posted by horatio

I agree that effort is most important, but to get started you also needed the positive feedback and initial skills. I doubt that you would have enjoyed to draw without any natural talent.

I found out I liked playing with colors, lines and shapes since what... kindergarten because there was nothing else to do during the free hour. I gravitated to the paint easel where I made red and green blotches on a brown line. Apples on a fence. My first painting... teacher said I was talented... that was enjoyable.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

That is true, I have a brother and a sister who have a natural ability to draw, they always had it, and got better the more work they put into it. I never had it, which is fine because I have my own talents.