ArtBistro

I do not believe that successful artists of any kind can be taught to vision and express art by going to college and being trained. To be an artist and a successful one, I believe that the talent would not be there in the first place if one was not born with that gift. What do you think?

Being an artistic person is something that is innate. Just like someone who can sing, or has another skill. Someone can be trained, but just your average joe isn't going to learn artistic skills if there isn't already a drive. Picasso said something about he was hanging with the masters by age 12, but it took him his entire life to draw like a child. Searching on the internet, you can see many people who claim to be artists-but the skill is not there. A trained artist has honed on his natural abilities, and is able to represent himself as such.

Some people come by it naturally, some don't...However, I think that ANYONE can do ANYTHING they set their mind to, barring physical limitations...Will they be great? Maybe, maybe not, but in the end, who really cares? If they enjoy what they are doing, that is all that matters. (I'm a horrible guitar player who will probably never be Eric Johnson, but I do have fun bangin' on power chords.) Life's short, so enjoy the ride.

and yet, elephant's paintings are selling...

I agree that technique can be taught but vision can't. However, I think that everybody has the ability to be an artist if they practice, practice, practice AND if they have ideas, concepts, and keep building on them. I would hate for somebody to get discouraged in drawing or whatever just because they don't get the results they want right away. It took me years and years to be happy with my drawing and other art skills, and to consider myself an artist, and you never stop learning. I'm sure that some people are more predisposed than others to art, of course. And for me art school taught me a lot, I was lucky to have a lot of professors that not only taught technique but shared ideas and encouragement and really inspired me. But I've also known and seen work by many self-taught artists, so whatever works for the individual...

I believe it is 80% born and 20% developed on top of that. There will always be those 1% who stand out and whose name will remain throughout history. Those 1% were not taught, they were born, as in any true genius in anything (music, math, golf, business, acting, hockey, soccer, writing, etc.) . Most of the rest of us have a natural inclination and can choose to develop it or not, adding education to help us do so. These are my honest thoughts.

I do not believe that a person can be taught how to have vision and think creatively. Most creative minds are born so, harvesting and developing their creativity through their lives.

Now, that being said, I do believe that as a creative thinker, you can train yourself to be better.

For example, as a photographer, I've gone from pointing and shooting to actually composing a photo in my mind before capturing it. I've learned techniques from fellow artists and photographers, and from reading a few things here and there, and the knowledge that I've gained, I think, can only help me become a better photographer

I'm the same way with pencils. I love pencil drawings... Or graphite... or whatever the technical term is for it... And I can't tell you how many pencils or boxes of prismacolors I've gone through trying to perfect my technique in drawings and other various projects. I did not pick up a pencil and sketch out a masterpiece my first time. I needed guidance. I needed to understand my mediums and the basic principals of composition and general art. That meant taking classes and practicing... A lot.

Not everyone has to be taught, but everybody has a lot to learn.  Jasper Johns didn't go to school to learn about encaustic, but it changed him entirely anyhow.  Rauschenberg didn't get trained by Albers, but the experience of first seeing Abstract Expressionism and then being around all those amazing people at Black Mountain made him an artist. Coming to Paris changed Picasso's life.

You can learn your craft most, I bet, just by dedicating yourself to do it.  What you need most from others is to break out of the mold you yourself are in, because no one grows up in a vacuum.  I can't help noticing how post after post after post here is from a student-age artist mad as can be that he has to be exposed to art teachers or to past art, but also how the most popular news item here ever was a show of ridiculously unaffordable fashion that no one will want anyhow but influenced by comic books. And I keep repeating how artists back when wouldn't even have understood the idea of art as the pure expression of unique genius apart from the function of art and craft in people's lives.

The myth of art as the pure expression of a natural genius would be a lot more palatable if people didn't take it as an excuse to paint the same cliches out of Monet or the X-Men.

I can train anyone in basic art skills, but desire comes from within.

Well i thank it is something that comes naturally.

brokencolor says ...

 Be a good craftsman. It won't stop you from being a genius.

Renior

I think this is a great statement.  I've seen so many people bypass the craftsman stage in the name of "abstract" art.  Know your craft and the expression will flow. 

If you know a language well, you can express an idea well.  If you only know babytalk, well... you get the idea.