I can write an essay, but I will never write like Tom Wolfe. I learned to play the guitar, but I will never play like Eric Clapton. Not that I don’t believe in “talent”, I think I have just enough “talent” to know what it is and what it isn’t. Because we don’t value drawing in that way, most of us (who haven’t been told that we have “talent”) stop drawing at about age 9 or 10 and our drawing skills freeze at that level. Drawing is a method of understanding and dealing with information about the world around us, a means of solving problems and changing perceptions. “Everybody can’t be an artist, why teach them drawing?” But everyone can’t be a writer, why teach them writing? Just like writing, drawing has applications and benefits that go beyond its use by professionals. We live in a culture (at least in America) that doesn’t value drawing as a worthwhile skill in the general sense. I have long been a firm believer in the idea that drawing is a skill that can be taught and not a magical gift bestowed on some individuals and denied others.
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