No Magic Wand, or the Myth of Being an Artist

The more I read and the more I learn about being an “artist”, the more I realize there is no magic wand or mystical, inborn talent involved. (Yes, there are exceptions for child prodigies but I’m talking about the rest of us.)

I used to have a subconscious belief that people who could draw or paint were born with the knowledge and the vision. I knew it took practice to refine the talent, but I didn’t know it could also be learned. I didn’t know that it was legitimate to take a step by step approach (at least at first) without it being cheating. I didn’t know there were tricks and tips to “seeing” that help you to recreate what you see.

I’ve seen a couple things in books and videos, where at first I was shocked. “He traced the photograph onto his clay to start a relief?? I could do that!” For some reason, I thought you could just stare at something and make it look real, if you were a “real” artist. I never knew how much work it took to get to that point. And it gave me permission to try some shortcuts myself and decide which ones I liked.

The more I learn and the more I try, the more I realize that I still have a long way to go, but I also know I can get there.