“Skill is the ability to do something. Talent is the rate at which you can acquire the ability to do something.
“… The rate at which you can acquire the ability to do something doesn’t really matter. What really matters is the length of time you can do something.
“… Imagine you had the choice between having tons of talent for something but losing interest in it quickly, and, having less talent for something but never losing interest in it.”
Billy Oppenheimer, “Skill vs. Talent“
The two reasons I get given most often for not learning to draw and paint, despite having an interest in art, are “I can’t even draw a straight line” and “I haven’t got any artistic talent”. The first is easily solved — if you want a straight line, you use a rule. The point being that there are art techniques we can all learn.
It takes time, and it’s this that we’re less willing to spend as adults. We forget it took us years to learn to read and write. It feels like something we could always do. We didn’t memorise the alphabet in a day. We did it bit by bit, day after day. We weren’t expected to know it all after our first attempt. Nor the second, nor the 50th. Give yourself permission to allocate time painting and drawing. Enjoy the challenge, the learning. Persist past the frustrations. Spend the time. You’re not “wasting” it. And even if you were, it’s yours to do so.
