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<blockquote data-quote="brak1" data-source="post: 635237" data-attributes="member: 5390">Just wanted to say that what seemed in the light of a long day to be acrimony now seems to be (mostly) a serious of impassioned, well-argued and reasoned discussions.&nbsp; Weird how perception changes from moment to moment.Also wanted to share a couple of things and ask a question.&nbsp; My dad (who writes sportsman articles and draws cartoons, but has worked at a papermill most of his life) never liked the term &quot;artist&quot; but made a distinction that some people had talent and some people had skill.&nbsp; I asked him what he meant by that and his answer was that talent is something you're born with and skills are something you learn.&nbsp; Then he paused and said something I'll never forget, &quot;I appreciate talent, but I respect skill.&quot;My sense is that many people seem to think the so-called artist has no skill, only talent.&nbsp; Something they were born with and didn't necessarily work for.&nbsp; In some cases this may even be true.&nbsp; Having worked at a comic book company I've even seen this attitude amongst artists - those who went to school always looked down upon those who were self-taught.&nbsp; I think that everyone has talent.&nbsp; There are talented carpenters, politicians, writers, neurosurgeons, what-have-you.&nbsp; Many professions reguire a goodly amount of training (gaining skills) before you can sell your services.&nbsp; Artists don't necessarily have that requirement, although many of them have become just as skilled.&nbsp; My question, I guess, is does this perception of talent vs skill - as I've rather clumsily defined them - have anything to do with your attitudes towards art and artists in general?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="brak1, post: 635237, member: 5390"] Just wanted to say that what seemed in the light of a long day to be acrimony now seems to be (mostly) a serious of impassioned, well-argued and reasoned discussions. Weird how perception changes from moment to moment. Also wanted to share a couple of things and ask a question. My dad (who writes sportsman articles and draws cartoons, but has worked at a papermill most of his life) never liked the term "artist" but made a distinction that some people had talent and some people had skill. I asked him what he meant by that and his answer was that talent is something you're born with and skills are something you learn. Then he paused and said something I'll never forget, "I appreciate talent, but I respect skill." My sense is that many people seem to think the so-called artist has no skill, only talent. Something they were born with and didn't necessarily work for. In some cases this may even be true. Having worked at a comic book company I've even seen this attitude amongst artists - those who went to school always looked down upon those who were self-taught. I think that everyone has talent. There are talented carpenters, politicians, writers, neurosurgeons, what-have-you. Many professions reguire a goodly amount of training (gaining skills) before you can sell your services. Artists don't necessarily have that requirement, although many of them have become just as skilled. My question, I guess, is does this perception of talent vs skill - as I've rather clumsily defined them - have anything to do with your attitudes towards art and artists in general? [/QUOTE]

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