John,
We had a thread about this recently. I agree that a lot of practice, along
with some help from a good camera, maybe even a wonderbrick, can do a lot to
promote skill. I'm still not so sure about the talent though. I think no
matter how much I practice, talent is a God given thing. I may be able to
hone any talent I was lucky enough to get, but if I wasn't born with that
"eye", I don't think practice is going to give it to me. I can buy all the
oil paints in the store and practice till the cows come home, but I don't
think I'll ever become another Rembrandt. No talent. <Sigh>.
Regards,
John Austin
John Petrush wrote:
>I'm not sure if "talent" is the fair meaning here, but rather "skill". Nor
>is it my intent to wordsmith, but I believe the distinction is important.
>To my thinking, talent is the ability to "see", to express an idea, thought
>or feeling. Skill is the ability to apply some tool and/or process to
>making it actually happen. One sees an image in their mind's eye (talent)
>and creates that image with camera and film (skill). Both skill and talent
>are enhanced by learning and experience. Both are important to master.
But
>while automation can buy an awful lot of skill sometimes, it can never buy
>talent. In the hands of an artist, even the most automated of the
>automatics becomes an expressive extension of talent once the artist
masters
>the tool.
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