Alright, I have a rather complicated question which I made some attempt to research but have had a very difficult time finding specific information on. I am an artist, and I have been drawing my entire life. No one seems to have taught me this at any point; I have made use of some art classes, but I am primarily self-taught. There are times which I will not draw for several weeks on end, and when I do something new I have mysteriously improved in ability without any practice. This makes me wonder – is the ability to do this somehow hardwired in my brain, and why can’t everyone do it? I’m particularly curious since I haven’t had many classes. I started drawing when I was about five years old.
I can even draw relatively well (compared to other right-handers’ efforts) with my left hand. Does anyone know of ANY research or study that attempts to explain where and why some people can draw (or have artistic ability) and some can’t? Is this something that has even been researched? Most of all, I would like to eventually know exactly what is controlling this ability… it obviously isn’t anything special about my hand, because the ability to draw (though not nearly as good) also applies to my other hand.
I sent this question to Cecil but the staff informed me it would be too complicated for him to answer and suggested I could post it here. If anyone can help, I’d love to hear from you!
I am an ex-artist, now guitarist, and find the same phenomona. I always try to turn on the tape recorder my first time playing after a vacation because it’s guaranteed to be good. You should have heard me jamming to Chain Lightning last night.
My WAG is that for some reason your muscle memory is improved – for me at least, all the “moves” seem effortless. So my brain can spend more energy on picking the right notes, or whatever concious things I’d like.
Talent in general is a tricky subject. Your bigger question is very akin to asking “Why are some people more intelligent?” and all the variants on that. Note that Gardner for ones counts artistic talent as a component of intelligence.
For one thing, you can get stale if you keep plugging away at a specific project, or style, or thing. One of the hardest things some actors (long Broadway shows, for example) have to overcome is making every performance a new one, and not just a repeat of last Thursday’s one. I saw Gordon Lightfoot sing a Greatest Hits concert once, and it was dull as dishwater.
Also, it sounds like you have a big ol’ Talent there. That you don’t take classes doesn’t mean you aren’t learning. That you’re not practicing doesn’t mean that you aren’t thinking about art. What you do when you draw is a part of who you are, and how you look at life, and how you remember things. What you put down on the paper is a part of you. The more in touch you are with yourself, the more that shows in your art.
I can say taht this holds true for me as well. I play the violin, and over the summer I didn’t pick up my instrument one time. I got back to school, and I swear that I was sight-reading, and generally playing better than ever before.
** Regarding getting better after several weeks off…**
Okay, the way I play it you’d have to call it “abstract art”, but I whenever I pick up the golf clubs after punishing them by locking them in the closet for several months, I play one or two fantastic rounds before everything stops working and I can’t control the ball. It hooks. It slices. Sometimes it dices. (Until I disgustedly stuff them back in the closet for a few more months of punishment because it is, after all, the stupid clubs’s fault.)
I just think it has to do with being relaxed and not having all the mental schrapnel getting in the way. When it starts to come back, then you have to fight your way through it (if you have the desire…).
