Whenever someone tells me that I have got talent, I feel insulted.
Stand outside a gym, accost someone with rippling biceps, shapely lats, six packs and all, and tell him that he has a talented body, and he will biff you one. Poor chap has probably spent a decade building those muscles, and you tell him he's got talent.
I have got talent, too. A talent for fraud. Not for drawing or writing. I feel such a cheat since I wasn't born an artist. I had to learn the hard way. I have been drawing since I was in kindergarten, and even neglected my academic education in the pursuit of art. I filled notebooks with sketches, and irritated teachers by ruining my textbooks with illustrations in pencils, ink and chalk. I have even experimented with creative media: eyebrow pencils, talcum powder and vanishing cream on brown paper.
Was I lucky? No, I was only taken to task. Books meant everything to me, and I had access to books. I don't know if that was luck. Richer friends possessed many Blytons, comics and picture books, while I borrowed them from libraries. My wise father made me a member of all the four major libraries in Chennai, then Madras: the Madras District Library, the British Council, the Connemara and the one at the American Consulate. Those were my halls of learning. Oops, I forgot the School's! The school library was a big library and had the Childcraft series of books. Almost every principle of art I know and use can be found in its 'Look and Learn' volume.
And how did I forget Reader's Digest? I met Dali, Picasso, Millais, Monet, Courbet and many other greats between its covers. Old issues of RD were available in second-hand bookshops for fifty paise each. So many hours I spent learning from the masters. Who needs live art teachers? Let Monet and Dali teach you Art!
Every child is an artist. Do they remain artists? That is the question. The part of your self that hasn't matured, that part is still creative, and available. Ask a child to draw, and you will get a picture. Ask the child to sing; you will get a song. The child does not think about talent or wait for luck. The child creates, with confidence and passion.
But let the child decide. Surround your children with books, toys, people or music, and let them make a choice.
I remained an artist. I continued to draw. I wasn't given gifts. I plucked them off God's Christmas tree.
Stand outside a gym, accost someone with rippling biceps, shapely lats, six packs and all, and tell him that he has a talented body, and he will biff you one. Poor chap has probably spent a decade building those muscles, and you tell him he's got talent.
I have got talent, too. A talent for fraud. Not for drawing or writing. I feel such a cheat since I wasn't born an artist. I had to learn the hard way. I have been drawing since I was in kindergarten, and even neglected my academic education in the pursuit of art. I filled notebooks with sketches, and irritated teachers by ruining my textbooks with illustrations in pencils, ink and chalk. I have even experimented with creative media: eyebrow pencils, talcum powder and vanishing cream on brown paper.
Was I lucky? No, I was only taken to task. Books meant everything to me, and I had access to books. I don't know if that was luck. Richer friends possessed many Blytons, comics and picture books, while I borrowed them from libraries. My wise father made me a member of all the four major libraries in Chennai, then Madras: the Madras District Library, the British Council, the Connemara and the one at the American Consulate. Those were my halls of learning. Oops, I forgot the School's! The school library was a big library and had the Childcraft series of books. Almost every principle of art I know and use can be found in its 'Look and Learn' volume.
And how did I forget Reader's Digest? I met Dali, Picasso, Millais, Monet, Courbet and many other greats between its covers. Old issues of RD were available in second-hand bookshops for fifty paise each. So many hours I spent learning from the masters. Who needs live art teachers? Let Monet and Dali teach you Art!
Every child is an artist. Do they remain artists? That is the question. The part of your self that hasn't matured, that part is still creative, and available. Ask a child to draw, and you will get a picture. Ask the child to sing; you will get a song. The child does not think about talent or wait for luck. The child creates, with confidence and passion.
But let the child decide. Surround your children with books, toys, people or music, and let them make a choice.
I remained an artist. I continued to draw. I wasn't given gifts. I plucked them off God's Christmas tree.
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