If only I could.

[HighPlainsSquinter]

I've heard people say on occasion, when viewing an impressive work of art or hearing someone expertly play an instrument, that they "wish they could do that" or sometimes that they "could never be that good." It's an expectable response. When you see someone pull off an impressive feat it's often hard to imagine yourself doing the same.

It's also bullshit.

What anyone who thinks this way should consider is that "talented" people weren't just born that way (with maybe a few exceptions, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeXWh3Q4QVc]) they practiced, and over time they improved. Want to learn to draw? Try at if for 15 minutes - 1 hour a day. Can't draw anything but stick-men? Start with that and work your way up. Just look at Egoraptor. [http://egoraptor.newgrounds.com/] When he started out he was doing things like this.

Spoiler

Compare that to some of his more recent work.

Spoiler

You'll get a lot farther by taking a shot at something than wishing you were good at it. Wouldn't you agree?

 

[Phlakes]

First welcome to The Escapist. This is one of the best first posts I've seen.

And I agree completely. I know too many people that have talents, but they never try because they think everyone else is better than them.

 

[SimuLord]

While indeed "practice makes perfect", natural talent does count for something. I cannot draw well enough to rip off XKCD. When I was in fourth grade my art teacher actually wrote a letter to my mother suggesting she get me tested for a major cognitive disability (a nice way of saying "your son is a retard") because all he had to go on was my complete inability to grasp every single concept he tried to teach me in art class.

This does not stop me from casting eyes upon a da Vinci or Rembrandt or Hieronymus Bosch work and wishing I had that level of ability.

Plus, there's the greater issue of allocation of one's time. I wish I could sing like Pavarotti or play guitar like Hendrix or make free throws like Ray Allen, but I'd be a fool to put aside my ongoing attempts to be the best accountant I can be (which provides an actual, measurable benefit) or, when the time comes, being the best husband and father and man I can be, in order to become a better musician or free throw shooter.

 

[burningdragoon]

What people mean is probably more like "I wish I could that well, but I've never been motivated to pursue it" or something like that. And some people will be naturally (or unnaturally) more inclined to pursue some art form and want to practice enough to be really good at it.

Also, what SimuLord said right above me.

 

[Dirzzit]

It's true, work hard enough and you can do stuff like that, but when I was younger I must have drawn dozens of sketchbooks completely full of drawings, Hoping I would get better and Well I didn't.

Working Hard is 70% of the battle 20% is connections and 10% is luck

 

[crudus]

Welcome to the escapist. In the future I suggest topics with more discussion value. Some people really are <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen>just <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer>gifted. The question is where the cut off is between raw talent and hard work is. I mean some people truly do have a cut off for how good at something they become no matter how hard they work at it.

While indeed "practice makes perfect",

I have always disagreed with that. You will more often than not catch me saying "Practice won't make perfect, but it will make for consistent results".

 

[Saltyk]

While indeed "practice makes perfect", natural talent does count for something. I cannot draw well enough to rip off XKCD. When I was in fourth grade my art teacher actually wrote a letter to my mother suggesting she get me tested for a major cognitive disability (a nice way of saying "your son is a retard") because all he had to go on was my complete inability to grasp every single concept he tried to teach me in art class.

This does not stop me from casting eyes upon a da Vinci or Rembrandt or Hieronymus Bosch work and wishing I had that level of ability.

Plus, there's the greater issue of allocation of one's time. I wish I could sing like Pavarotti or play guitar like Hendrix or make free throws like Ray Allen, but I'd be a fool to put aside my ongoing attempts to be the best accountant I can be (which provides an actual, measurable benefit) or, when the time comes, being the best husband and father and man I can be, in order to become a better musician or free throw shooter.

I agree with you. Some people are just naturally more gifted than others. For example, it took my sister forever to learn to drive well. I picked it up as soon as I got behind a wheel for the first time. My parents gave me very little advice about driving (hell, some of what they did offer actually made me drive worse, so I developed my own habits). On the other hand, my sister is a very talented horse rider. I even heard she had a trainer suggesting she should enter the Olympics.

Also, some of those very talented people, do devote themselves to that talent or skill. So much so that they often suffer in their personal lives. I doubt I even have to elaborate on that.

 

[zehydra]

I agree with OP, and while being one of the "talented" as people say, I think its not due to genes or being born a certain way, I think it has to do with how I was raised. For instance, I'm pretty good at musical instruments, but I come from a very musical family that tried to get me to play at a very early age, and I've continued playing things out of interest. I'm now at the point where people call me "talented". I think the difference is I've had 15+ out 20 years of musical exposure, that's all.

 

[SimuLord]

Also, some of those very talented people, do devote themselves to that talent or skill. So much so that they often suffer in their personal lives. I doubt I even have to elaborate on that.

Something about a striped cat and a forest comes to mind...

 

[Orrym]

While indeed "practice makes perfect",

I have always disagreed with that. You will more often than not catch me saying "Practice won't make perfect, but it will make for consistent results".

I agree. I have always heard it said that practice does not make perfect but it does make permanent. If all one ever does is draw stick figures then that is all that they will ever be good at. In order to get better at something it seems, at least to me, that in order to improve oneself at something they must continually challenge themselves with harder things as opposed to continually congratulating themselves with the things that they can do just alright. Not there is anything wrong with being happy with ones own skill level and not striving for more.
It seems to me that people often do not have time or take time to really consider/try improving themselves to high proficiency but instead just wonder what it would be like. But we cannot be good at everything so its not so bad to wish to be able to golf like Eldrick W. or bat like Big Mac.

 

[Layz92]

Welcome to the escapist. In the future I suggest topics with more discussion value. Some people really are <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen>just <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer>gifted. The question is where the cut off is between raw talent and hard work is. I mean some people truly do have a cut off for how good at something they become no matter how hard they work at it.

While indeed "practice makes perfect",

I have always disagreed with that. You will more often than not catch me saying "Practice won't make perfect, but it will make for consistent results".

As my year 5 teacher always said "practice makes permanent" so practice the correct way od doing it. Has nothing to do with perfection.

While it may be true people can become good at a lot of things if they practice most people can really only pick one or two things to become skilled at. Otherwise you get into a "jack of all trades master of none" situation. Most people have already chosen their area of expertise.

 

[Saltyk]

Also, some of those very talented people, do devote themselves to that talent or skill. So much so that they often suffer in their personal lives. I doubt I even have to elaborate on that.

Something about a striped cat and a forest comes to mind...

A stripped cat? AND a forest? I have no idea what you are talking about. I mean the only stripped cat I can think of is a tiger. I do believe that tigers are endangered these days. They barely have a natural habitat left. Why are you using this thread to discuss the plight of such a majestic creature?

 

[Jake0fTrades]

Good topic, very interesting. But I digress...

I bought a guitar once, took lessons for a few weeks, then I put it aside and haven't touched it since. Do I wish I could play guitar? Hell yes. Do I feel like I have the time/interest? If only, if only....

It's not only an intimidating task to spend years learning something like that, but frankly speaking, if we really cared that much, we would just go ahead and do it.

Disclaimer: I love looking at art and listening to music, it takes a lot of talent and determination.

Instead, I'm learning to become an actor, it's something that I have an active interest in and it's something that comes naturally to me.

It's up to us to find our own place to be and our own position to fill. If you want to draw, then put down your Xbox for 15 minutes and f****** draw!