"All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?"
- Banksy
The thing about artists is that we all think we're very talented. The other thing about artists is that few of us really are talented... and among those few, fewer still manage to work hard enough to really make use of that talent.
Of all the art forms, I think the least popular for an average person to become involved in are drawing and painting. Why? I can only imagine it's because these are fields where a certain amount of natural skill are perceived to be required. With photography you can just pick up a camera and take pictures and all your family and friends will "oooooh" and "ahhhh" no matter how out of focus or poorly composed they are. With film, even professionals can get away with poorly written scripts and bad actors. With music, anyone can simply pick up a guitar and start learning basic chords (and soon enough half the world will be playing "Smoke on the Water").
If I hand someone a DSLR and say, "Hey, go be a photographer," they'll likely go out and take some decent enough pictures for anybody's family photo album and be damn proud of themselves. But if I hand them a pencil and say, "Go sketch that man sitting on the bench," the response I'll get nine times out of ten is, "But I can't draw!"
But here's the sad truth: being able to pick up an DSLR and take decent pictures doesn't make you a good photographer. Being able to play the guitar doesn't make you a good musician. Writing a script that gets produced doesn't make you a good writer. So you see, that person sketching the man sitting on the bench may not be any good at drawing, but chances are, you're not really all that good at the art form you chose either.
Good art requires three things: practice, training, and talent. And believe it or not, talent is probably the least important of those three things. Because if you learn and practice enough, I can almost guarantee that you'll be better than most talented people who've never taken the time to learn or practice.
Now, there are obviously some exceptions. Some people are simply born very, very talented. Is it possible that you're one of these people? I guess. Are you one of these people? Probably not. I certainly don't know anyone that talented.
However, I do know some amazing artists. And how did they become amazing artists? They went to school and they spend hours on their art. I also know more people who think their art is amazing, but they either haven't taken classes or don't bother practicing. And I think to myself, really? Even famous authors attend writing workshops and do writing exercises. Even amazingly talented actors still read books on acting and attend workshops. And you're going to sit here and tell me you don't need to take any photography classes or read any design books because you're already good at it? Or you're going to tell me you took a class or two so you don't need to practice as much as other people?
People who just start out drawing and painting work long and hard to get to where they want to be as artists. People who start out in any other field have absolutely no excuse to not work just as long and just as hard and learn just as much about their art form.
So you think your art is good now? Take some classes or workshops and then go practice for three hours a day. And then when you look back on what you're doing now you can think, "wow, I really thought that was good?"
