So there are a ton of misconceptions about art, and these misconceptions can cause people not to pursue art or abandon their pursuits. The misconception I'm going to tackle today is about art skill. (Disclaimer: when referring to art, I am talking about visual art specifically, like drawing and painting.)
Art skill is often mistaken for talent. When watching an artist who has been diligently practicing and improving their art for years on end draw something, it looks like they just naturally put the lines in the right place and make all the colors look good etc etc. While it is true that drawing comes easier to said artist, it's not because they're "so talented" or "gifted". It's because they're skilled. The difference between talent and skill is a wide one, and especially so in art; talent is when someone can draw well without ever practicing or trying to improve, whereas skill is when one has practiced, learned, and improved and is thus able to draw well. Talent is very rarely prominent in an artist simply because talent can only go so far. One cannot know how to draw curls well or the secret to hands (tbh does anyone know that) right from the womb. Of course not! Babies can't do hyper-realism masterpieces like adult artists can; first they must learn to hold a pencil and grow enough to do so proficiently, then they scribble, then they start making the classic football-shaped eyes and circle faces and string hair. It takes practice to see the world in a way that lets one translate it to paper, canvas, or screen. That is not to say that artistic talent does not exist- after all, certain styles do come easier to some people than others, and that artistic eye might not be a learned skill for some people- but almost everything I can think of having to do with art takes learning something. Talent isn't learned; skill is. Shading? You need to learn it. Color wheel? This has more potential for talent than others as some people have an eye for color, but it too can be learned. How to work with different mediums? Learned. Art is mostly skill, not talent. The point I'm trying to make here? Anyone can make art. Anyone. You've probably made art before. Remember those football-shaped eyes and circle faces and string hair people? That was art. It takes practice to make good art, however. Hyper-realism isn't the only kind of art, either. There are plenty of styles and types of art, and some people are better in certain areas compared to others, but with art, you can go anywhere if you work for it. And it does take work. It takes years of practice. It takes tutorials and lessons and classes, dozens of sketchbooks, and time. But anyone can be an artist if they're willing and able to put time, effort, and money into it. So the next time you think to tell an artist, "You're so talented," or "I could never draw like you," I hope this convinces you to think again. Because that artist likely had to work to get where they're at, and to call it talent disregards all of that work. And you could draw like them if you worked at it. But even better, you could draw like you. All it takes is a pencil, paper, and some time. mima ♥
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We're starting a poetry unit in my English class and we had to give examples of a number of poetry techniques. So I wrote a good deal of little mini poems and thought I'd share them with you all!
Light Haiku Lights flashing in dark Everywhere, shining brightly Blotting out the night Drought A drop of water landed on my tongue, Crisp, Cool. My parched, cracked lips were moist again The air was wet again Rain spattered my arms again As we all lifted our hands to rejoice In the scent of rain. Appearances The apple was bright red Like the advertisement for Chips But chips are empty calories, And this apple has a worm. Ascend Her soul was a butterfly, Escaping her crippled body To fly to the heavens Where she belonged. *cough cough* fly away my little akuma holy cow but wait Mrs. Agreste uuuuum forget I said anything Path of Fears I walked on the path of my fears, Treading upon them with each step And trampling them Under the weight of my newfound courage. Little Fairy-Insect The fairy was an insect, Buzzing in my ear And causing mischief. But without an insect, Other insects rise up, And so I bore with this Little fairy-insect Rather than allow All the sprites to overtake me. Unmasked Eyes, beaming brightly, Bore into my own and Bit away at me Until I stood, beaten, Defenseless, Without my mask of indifference. Peace Bees buzz over the fields, Cows moo, And in the peace I think of you. Precious Precious it was to me- And I not Gollum, But Bilbo, I think, Hanging on But not to the bitter end. Leaf's Descent I watched the leaf Float down, Slowly, Descending To the ground Where I lay Fallen. Storm Lightning flashed in the sky And I held my hat onto my head As the wind came cascading down From the heights of the mountains To blow the clouds, Billowing furiously, Into a murky grey blanket overhead Tears I shut my eyes Against the lies Squeezing out the pain In drops of salty rain. Shhhh I tip-toed, soft, on quiet feet Careful that the door not creak And traversed down the silent hall Barely brushing darkened walls. Hope you enjoyed all these little poem tidbits! I certainly had fun coming up with them. See if you can guess which ones are supposed to demonstrate which technique ;) mima ♥ I've got a new batch of art to share! I've been drawing a lot lately ever since I got my Prismacolor Brush Markers, so it'll all be traditional. The pictures were taken with my phone, so they aren't A+ quality, but they're better than a webcam, that's for sure. It's gotten really warm out where I live, so I drew some flowers to fit the mood! Okay. Now this is quite likely one of the strangest people I've ever drawn. See, I was drawing a normal person all nice, and then I decided I wanted to do a bust, which meant hands. Anyone who's ever pursued drawing people knows the hand struggles. So I'm trying to figure out what position her hand should be in, and how that all works, and eventually I get fed up so I'm like "you know what? I'm done with hands." So I just kinda draw... a plant instead. Aaaand everything just went from there. Also pro tip: peace signs face the opposite way from how I drew it. Somehow without even drawing hands I still failed at drawing hands. A doodle of Mira, my OC! Kinda blurry pic, sorry :/ Look more flower crowns! I love flower crowns. This is just a random person but I like how she turned out for the most part. (Left eye is too small *sigh* And in a few years I'll probably be able to list a million other things wrong with it too but for now I'm just going to be happy with it) So this is my second try with this pose. The first time I made her way too tall (she's still pretty tall but that was also slightly intentional) and I absolutely FAILED at the hands- and I mean failed- so I like drew a lamppost in front of it. Plus my hand just nopes with lineart so all the lines got super thick 'cause my hand would shake and then I'd have to correct it and correct it again and just agh. Props to people who can do good lineart. I colored her skirt completely black because the lines got so thick. Anywho I like how this one turned out for the most part. Look I learned from my mistake and drew her peace sign the right way! Plus short hair for once. Wowza. And don't ask what's going on with her clothes 'cause I don't even know Elf with cool jewelry stuff! Yay. I really like how her nose turned out. So that's it for now! Hope you liked looking at my art and please critique :D My next goal is to get a white jelly roll pen, if that's what it's called. Anywho, keep arting!
mima ♥ I created this as a way to provide better quality photos of my artwork and perhaps a bit of extra content!
Because it's way, way, way easier to publish short stories- or even perhaps my work-in-progress novel- here rather than on Scratch, I'm planning to do so! For those of you who have read Chained to the Earth and have asked for more, I hope this fulfills your wishes. Note that this will be a safe site with no gore or explicit content. Please follow that when posting comments if you choose to do so. Thank you and I hope for a great future blogging experience! mima ♥ |
AuthorI'm Mima, a bookworm, artist, and child at heart. ♥ ArchivesCategories |