Is drawing a talent or a skill?

Many of us pick drawing up as a general hobby. Eventually we realise some are naturally gifted and talented with this art while other harness and carefully grow it as a skill. Due to this difference, many wonder whether drawing is a talent or a skill. Defining drawing in terms of talent or skill separately is pretty easy but when compared can be a little confusing. Hence to clear this confusion, let’s start by understanding what is talent and what is skill?

Talent 

Talent is a natural aptitude for an activity. In simpler terms, it is the natural ability to be good at something, especially without being taught. So, a talented person is someone who is good at something without really being taught or without really practicing it as much as you would normally have to. Hence, artistic talent and ability includes, the ability to create art in different art forms including drawing, painting and three-dimensional art. The perfect example for natural talent in the artistic field would be Picasso. Even as a young boy, he could draw to an extremely high standard for a child of his age. 

While this probably seems like a good advantage to possess, its actually far from the truth. Being talented isn’t necessarily as good as you might think. Because talented people never had to actively sit down and learn the thing, that they are good at. So, after a certain point, they have to actively learn to get better and at this point they will just hit rock bottom and not improve as fast as before.

Skill 

A skill is something, that can be learned through practice and learning it the right way. In simpler words, an ability to do an activity or job well, especially because you have practised it. Yet, even with a lifetime of practice, some people will never master a skill. Skill is something you learn, nurture, grow and polish while talent just remains constant. Skill has a huge room to grow while talent in comparison has very little room to grow. Taking the example of Picasso again, in many ways he is the perfect example of exceptional talent. But he knew that this talent required nurturing and daily practice. And hence developed his skill through diligent and obsessive practice. 

Drawing is a skill

With the above definitions, it becomes pretty clear that drawing is definitely a skill. You could be born with the talent for drawing or you could just learn it, either ways you will still have to practice it to actually grow. It can be taught and with constant practice can be developed to a high standard. You don’t have to necessarily be talented at drawing. There are several important skills that you need to perfect in order to become skilled at drawing. Developing observational drawing skills which requires attention to detail is important as is applying tone if you wish to apply depth and visual interest.

In conclusion, Drawing is a skill. Though you could be naturally gifted with the talent of drawing but nurturing and growing that talent would turn it into a skill. A talent is something that everyone need not possess, yet a skill like drawing is something that everyone can possess through diligent practice.