I have doctor quality handwriting, but my cartoon has tens of fans.
I wasn’t sure how to vote; I have bad handwriting, but my drawing skills are… well, they’re not great, but when I think “average,” I think of what the average Joe on the street can draw. And what I think is that the average Joe’s drawings are pretty horrible.
I can draw reasonable renditions of objects with proper perspective, and do rough sketches of people and landscapes that are a few steps above stick-figures and 2D plots of land with “m” shaped birds flying overhead. Several semesters of multivariate calculus and similar classes helped me become able to envision 3D shapes and draw them from varying viewpoints. I’ve even had people gasp in awe when I’ve sketched things in front of them. Generally, people who actually do art think I suck, but people who don’t do art think that I actually do art. So, I voted “good at art” since I’m apparently above average in ability, if not actually talented.
I can’t really sign my name. It’s R(squiggle) M(squiggle) in the best of times, but it usually devolves into something looking like two horizontal lines, each with a hump at the beginning. My class notes are barely legible (a combination of print and cursive designed for speed that allows me to do detailed note-taking while paying attention to the lecture). My standard printing is okay, though my students have noted that I write some letters in odd ways. (For instance: a capital B is either done by starting at the bottom left, going up, then coming down on the right in the two lobes, looking much like beta, or I draw a 3 and then slash the left side going down. I wasn’t aware that either way was “incorrect” until students commented on it…) So, I voted for bad handwriting.
My handwriting is legible, but can be messy if I am writing quickly, and I certainly would not say it’s “pretty.” I never write in cursive, only print. I, however, am very talented at drawing & painting. Portraits especially. I went to college on an art scholarship and have won awards.
I’m good at hand writing and I’m good at art - but I’m not sure being good at one implies being good at the other.
You see, I used to make some money as a calligrapher. In other words, I was paid to write neatly. After sufficient practice to reach the level people would hire me for my ability to make words pretty, and after doing that work for a few years, not surprisingly my handwriting (both printed and cursive) look pretty damn good.
But before that, my handwriting was average at best. And now that I haven’t been doing calligraphy for a couple decades my handwriting has decayed back to average at best. But I’m still good at art. And yes, if I really want to make the effort I can still generate pristine handwriting, but usually I don’t bother.
Among adults, I’ve seen a negative correlation, if any (artists with sloppy handwriting).
However, working with children in the 5-8 year old range, I have noticed a positive correlation. Some of these kids, particularly girls, just seem to be advanced in fine motor skills. Others are very thoughtful and careful in producing letters and drawings.
Kids that are good artists are more likely to stick with it, practice regularly, and reap the benefits of improving. So, do they get less interested in handwriting over time, producing average or below writing in adulthood, while keeping an interest in art? The definitions of good handwriting in the early school years are quite different than later in life, does their handwriting ability stall? Or are my observations just off?
The book Drawing on the right side of the brain addresses this. Girls mature faster than boys at this age. They tend to acquire visual skills earlier and reach their limit, (about the the normal skills of a twelve year old) earlier than their male peers. Both sexes tend to lose interest in art at around the tween stage, and fail to develop any further. Children of either sex who have strong visual art skills tend to display them earlier, and persist with an interest in them, quickly surpassing their peers by age 10. They usually advance rather quickly, with dropouts occurring in the mid teens. What is left over are those with a strong interest and very advanced skill sets. Females DO usually have superiour handwriting. I corrolate this to the interest in “crafty” arts that is *usually *female dominated. Such work tends to emphasize pleasantness, soft curves, loops, “cute” cartoons and floral patterns; all of which are excellent practice for generating the cursive forms. Males tend to doodle machines, robots, explosions, monsters and superheroes. These have much more straight lines, angles, and perspective use than the traditional " girl’s " interest. They get less practice. It is worth noting though, that the popularity and near saturation of the juvenile art field by manga styles has resulted in a better balance of skills, but a lack of visual problem solving abilities.