On Talent

Why are we so fixated on the idea of talent?

Talent -

a natural skill or ability to be good at something, especially without being taught

- Cambridge dictionary

Growing up I heard a lot that in order to be an artist you have to be born with talent and if you weren’t lucky enough then just don’t bother doing creative stuff. For many years I thought that I’m just not talented enough until I felt that I can’t go further without art in my life and I started painting again.

Is it possible to reframe this widespread belief?

Where the idea of talent comes from

You probably remember being in school and there was the artsy kid, the math kid, the language kid, the sporty kid, the IT kid, etc. One can say that these kids had natural ability or talent to be good at something.

In school I seemed to have a natural ability for learning languages and I even played with the thought to study linguistics, but I never really wanted to do it. Interestingly, while I was among the best in my school, when I entered competitions with kids from other schools, I usually ended up 4th or 5th, rarely in top-3. It’s still a good result, but it also reflects the fact that I didn’t put nearly enough hours or energy to prepare for those competitions. I thought that my current knowledge and talent is enough until I started competing with kids from other schools (were they more talented or just more prepared?). I never made languages my profession. I still love learning them, but I am definitely not an expert, despite having a supposed talent.

I always gravitated towards creating art, but my go to phrase in school was “I like to draw, but I can’t”. I thought if I’m not good at drawing (in comparison to some of my peers), it meant I didn’t have talent. I also had very critical teachers and as a result I thought that nothing can be done. It held me from making art for more than ten years.

Being talented doesn’t automatically translates into a desire to pursue something, nor does it translates into being an expert or “best” in the field. Natural abilities can be different for different people, but what also counts is hard work and dedication.

Talent vs Practice

Talent is often supposed and relative, and most people think about talent in art solely in terms of drawing - namely, eye hand coordination and the ability to replicate a subject as realistic as possible. Talent is perceived as something that cannot be taught, it should be given from birth, otherwise you have no chance. While the part about having talent from birth is partially true (some of it might be genetics, and not all of us are born Picassos), practice is what really makes perfect.

It is important to understand that art making is so much more than skilful draftsmanship, it is about a set of various skills that you develop over time. Creativity has to be nurtured and unlocked - make art regularly, make your art practice accessible to you, play and experiment. It will take time to improve and master skills and it is alright to make “bad art”.

Do not compare yourself to others, you don’t now their situation and people mostly share their best work. For those who practice a lot it is often difficult to single out what is their natural talent and what is a result of persistent practice, motivation, passion and hard work. Not having outstanding skills from birth doesn’t mean you have no chance at art. Showing up to your art is what counts. Talent mostly decides on the matter of how fast your skills will develop.

Talent vs Expression

Acquiring technical skills is a difficult, but a pretty clear task. Expressing your true self through art is much more challenging. It is the ability to interpret and reinvent ideas that leads to unique and original artwork and it comes with practice. Even seasoned artists can feel the fear that their art isn’t original or unique. I know artists who mastered technical skills, but always had this fear that they have nothing to “say” with their art, hence, they were avoiding personal work (working e.g. only for commercial clients) and limiting experimentation.

The truth is that art is very subjective and individual, so there is not really such a thing as objectivity in art, it is mostly a matter of personal preference.

If you put enough work into your art, you will get better. Uniqueness and originality of your art lies in your own personal uniqueness and originality. When your art comes from your soul it becomes personal and this is how art connects to other people.

It doesn’t mean that technical skills don’t matter, but in order to improve your art you have to also make it personal, this is how the most powerful artworks are created.

Additional considerations

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard”

- this popular saying highlights the importance of hard work and perseverance.

Even the most talented people might not achieve success, if they are not motivated and passionate enough to improve. But it’s also important to acknowledge the second part of the saying “when talent doesn’t work hard”.

David Epstein writes in his book The Sports Gene about a study of chess players. According to the study the average number of hours needed to become a chess master is about 11000 hours, but if you look at individual people, the range is between 3000 and 23000 hours. Some individuals didn’t become masters even after 25000 hours of practice. There are people who are indeed born very talented and hours of practice give them an additional advantage over other people.

Most of us are never going to be as good as Michelangelo and it is completely fine. Also, it took Michelangelo three years to complete his masterpiece - the sculpture of David - so even if you are a genius you still have to be dedicated to your craft and practice.

It is not really talent that decides whether or not you’re going to be “famous” or “celebrated”. There are many factors at play in the industry, including current trends, being well-connected, living in a specific area or being good at marketing.

The notion of some artwork being better is vague and cannot be objectively judged in most cases. At the end of the day everyone one likes different things. If you show up to your art, your art will become better, more personal and original, and there will be enough people who will love and connect with your work.

It doesn’t really matter that someone is supposedly more talented, because only you can make your art and nobody else!

Talent generally gets overrated. Nothing works better than practice. Just think of a musician and scales. Painters are no more born than musicians. Of course we have geniuses but most of us don't need to concern ourselves much with being one.

- Ian Roberts

Thank you so much for reading and being here!

Feel free to share this post with a creative friend and I’ll be happy to hear from you in the comments!

Further inspiration

• This piece has been brewing in my drafts for several months and I finished it after reading this great article on the same topic from

  Amy Stewart
  .

• Talent vs Practice - Out of Ink Podcast. A great episode that also emphasises the importance of practice.