You Don't Need Talent.. I'll Prove It!

Thank you for sharing this video and showing the progress of a master, it's very motivating.

whats the best schedule of your opinion to adapt drawing life style ?

cool

kakkoiii desuuuu I am glad that I have elite master level 10k to guide me on path of art. in simpler terms thanks alot to helping this newbie

Very cool to see your progress!

Loved this video. Thank you for sharing and being vulnerable. We ‘fail forward’.

Whatsapp, it feels good to see your journey as a designer and it gives me courage to continue working. Thank you it is very useful

After quite a bit of research and experience, both formal and informal, I have found a good and useful way to think about talent. Talent is all about the SPEED at which you learn. This can go from general to specific, and if a person is aware of how they learn, they can use strategies to deliberately speed up. This has a little overlap with the idea of facility or aptitude. If someone has a facility or aptitude for something, they will learn faster and this can appear as talent. It can break down into a few different aspects- if someone has a love for a discipline, but not that much aptitude, they can "brute force" it over time with hard work and still attain proficiency. The luck that applies here has to do with the teachers you run into or find. I have found that I may not be interested in something like math, but if I have a good teacher, they will spark my curiosity. I will want to know why they are excited about this particular thing. Hope this helps.

This was a thoughtful video to post, Stan. Thank you! Notions about talent come with a bit of baggage. I find it requires a definition because for some it means innate ability and for others it doesn't. Malcolm Gladwell, for instance, defines talent as the willingness to practice, which I like. I tend to think of talent as aptitude combined with effort over a long period of time. I don't believe aptitude to be at all rare. Effort is. Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I believe you mentioned in another video that only 3% of people who start an online course actually finish it. If anything close to that is true, the assignment to be considered talented is clear: be in the 3%. Be the one who puts in the effort. To further illustrate this, here is one of my favorite passages from Norman Rockwell's biography that he worked on with his son, Tom. In this passage he is talking of his time studying at the Art Students League in New York under George Bridgeman as well as others: "I wanted to be a great illustrator. I was so dedicated and solemn that the other students called me 'The Deacon.' The lunchroom crowd, students who wore beards and soft wide-brimmed hats and chatted about art all day long over cups of coffee in the lunchroom, regarded me with a mixture of scorn and awe. One of them said to me once, "You know, if I worked as hard as you do I could be as good as Velásquez." I just asked, "Why don't you?"

What a perspective on learning and incremental growth! I have a much better appreciation for the value of persistence and necessity for struggle that eventually yields desired results. There is no substitute for right guidance, broad scope of challenges to be exercised and volume of focused, purposeful work over time. Thank you, Stan, for sharing your personal path. So, very helpful and inspiring!

Greattt!! Nice to see your old sketches, impressive

Such an inspiring video and a great conclusion to the 12 days of sketchbook tour! Master artists inspire us but there are times when I feel that I am making zero progress.. that I can’t ever be better or like I am chasing an impossible goal. Showing that a master artist like you had the same doubts and struggles gives me hope. I am definitely going to keep coming back to this video whenever I feel lost.

A great video. Watching all the great sketching videos of 12 days of Christmas series had me discouraged a bit, but watching yours renewed my hope if I keep practicing consistently, and lean on talented people for help when I need it, I will be able to achieve my best. Thank you

Thank you Stan for being an awesome teacher as well as an awesome artist.🙏 I'm hard-pressed to fit in watching all the content I have bought and you make available for free on PROKO. But I'm going to watch and re-watch this particular video because I REALLY appreciate how you show us your poor sketches and then explain why you drew like that and how you now draw. It helps me reinforce the steps I have already - or almost - mastered on my own learning journey ... and where to next. I wish you and the whole team at PROKO every success in the future and thank you again for providing a path to a creative life for us all in these rapidly changing times. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Janelle

We live in a world where "instant fame" is everywhere, and when we don't achieve fabulous results instantly we whine or give up. Thank you for honestly showing how long and hard you worked for your success as an artist and teacher. You and Proko are on my list of things that I am grateful for in my own art practice and as an example of generosity as I teach my students. Thank you, you're an art hero.

Thanks for being honest. When and what made you decide that you wanted to become an artist?

This is what I really needed! Showing me that artists are human and with hard work I can become great! Happy holidays. Xx

I'm afraid you're clueless when it comes to the notion of talent. Talent is not just some innate god-given ability, it is also the ability to learn. You show us you have been able to learn, to conclude you don't need talent? Yes, every Tom, Dick and Harriet can learn art, but some will learn so slowly they will never achieve a useful skill level in this life. Please leave telling there is no such thing as talent to third-rate schools who sell the idea that art skills can be bought. You are better than that!

very valuable video ! Thank you for showing this ! Honestly you're the best ! And you don't act like art is something grave . Love the good spirited humor in you ! Greetings from Ghent , Belgium