Finding The Child Art Prodogy In Oneself

I think well before the age of 10, I wanted to compose music. And I have been ever since. But that is empty till I begin to experiment on a keyboard.

I am a very late bloomer. Life has just begun.

Dave
Post Modern Artist

No child prodigy here. I've always been creative, all my hobbies involved working with my hands and I did dabble in art but I never got serious about studying art until my early 40's.

@Dave.B.

Suggest you start experimenting on a keyboard.

Better to be a very late bloomer than to never open up what is inside you, so why not give it a try?

Music is another art form, medium does not really matter, creating and expressing is all that matters.

Fear is what holds most people back from what they want.

Learn to be a warrior and not a worrier.

"How far back do you remember thinking that you want to be an artist?"

I was 76, I think. About 10 years ago.

All of my life was spent in television: First as a cameraman in the 1950s, and then I became a director for the next 45.

I was a West Coast director for 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News and so on, and the network was sold and they were going to move the entire LA crew to NYC.

Except for me, thank you. So I retired. But, what to do?

Why, become an artist.

So I did. Child prodigy? I guess not.

@Dave.K.

Kids don't make art, seriously, it is all play to them.

When we get older, then we get serious about many things, being a kid again without inhibitions when making art, for the pure enjoyment of it, will open up that child prodigy area of your mind.

Play in the sand, play with colour, play with sounds, play with smells and aroma.

Forget the adult in you once in a while and let the kid out to play.

@Chuck.

If there were no cameras, what would you have done instead?

Alan, I'm afraid I've never been a normal kid, at least as far as I can remember anything I did involved some serious thought and serious activity, for better or worse it's just my nature, doesn't mean I don't have fun though. Granted I have virtually no memory of my life before about 6 or 7 years old.

Alan wrote: If there were no cameras, what would you have done instead?

Cameras. I don't use no stinkin' cameras anymore.

I use my engineering graphics design skills that I learned at Georgia Tech.

While slicing open a motor on paper and showing its innards, I often thought... What the hell good will this do me in a hundred years?

Now, I know.

OMG. I hit enter. Guilty as charged.

The wine made me do it.

@Dave.K

Artists are far from normal LOL

Sure that you were playing before the age of 6 or 7 years old.

Playing and learning go together.

If a person has missed something while growing up, it needs to be learned in later life.

Playing might be something that you have missed out in your earlier years.

Suggest playing, or laughing more, doing something just for the pleasure of it.

@Chuck.

LOL

I was asked the other day by a friend "What type of camera do you use" my answer "Cannot remember"

Should have said "I don't use no stinkin' cameras anymore"

Never been good with names, even my own.

Was 11 when I learned to spell my own name LOL

I will still call people by the wrong name, after knowing them for years, names just will not stick in my head!

On the contrary visually I never forget a face.

Alan,

Statistically if it happens to any human being then by definition it is normal.

There is no such thing as the abnormal with humans.

Dave
Post Modern Artist

@Dave.B.
I have done some abnormal things, such as drive a pickup truck through a take away restaurant, in reverse, or perhaps that comes under the heading, humans doing stupid things.

Humans do it, it is not abnormal.

For instance medically speaking if a disease is rare, it is not also abnormal. A doctor or scientist does not bust out to the patient, :"oh there is something "abnormal" about you". S/he simply says, "you have a rare condition".

Everything falls into normal. Including "stupid".

Dave
Post Modern Artist

@Alan, I am with you on names. Why do I not LISTEN and remember names?

All of my life I have watched movies and TV shows and at the end they say: "Such and such did it."

Who the hell was Such and Such? Was it the girl in the red dress?

Now I start a movie on DVR, get into it... and backup to hear the names.

Shameful!

@Chuck.

Have called girlfriends by the wrong name, Ooooowww, not good!

Pitiful!

But I never forget their (angry) face, gotta count for something right!

An expert is women, plural, is not an expert in women or self.

Dave
Post Modern Artist
.

Well I had some early gifts, art per se not being one of them. In my home, drawing and painting were girl things and was discouraged, but I suppose if i really wanted to they couldn't have stopped me. My mom kept a darkroom and did some developing, when I was a small. I mean maybe 1962.

I had some music aptitude testing done and they found I had perfect pitch. I also have a very strong auditory memory. In third grade we all had to learn to play a recorder. I never read the music because it was pointless to me, since I memorized the piece on the first listen. When we had an ensemble I stepped out and improvised a solo.

By fifth grade I was way ahead of the others academically and I was discouraged from music as it would interfere with classroom attendance. This was wrong because I generally rared all the text books the first week and had total recall. Sitting in class was so boring. They gave me some placement tests and I got a perfect score, which supposedly put me on a college level in the fifth grade.

The art teachers never liked me. I asked too many questions about things like the science behind colors which was over even the teacher's heads. By junior high they they threw me out of art class because I had no aptitude and was more of a science person. I took every science course the district offered by 11th grade, never attended classes, got mostlyr As and beefed for them to just let me graduate, which I did. For some reason I often was accused of cheating. Something that started in the 5th grrade and continued through college, although I never did. I just had perfect recall back then

At 14 I picked up a harmonica. It is an ear instrument not a patern mempry instrument and required very little hand coordination. I learned a few songs and a year later i was playing in bars with bands older than me. Something i still do and i am considered one of the best in this part of Florida and beyond.

I did landscape design in my 20s and 30s and always compared it to music. I loved nature and I wanted to take photos but I knew I couldn't afford what I needed. At age 40 I bought a camera. I did my homework and already knew what takes most people years to figure out. The guy at the camera store ran down all the controls and I was shooting for publication within a few weeks.

I joined a few camera clubs and there were some great people that encouraged me. I met a photo buyer from NYC and she said I might try stock photography because of my strong graphic style. This was way before microstock was a thing.I was asked to join the Green Book of nature photographers by the publisher, but never did as it was not free. I also began making prints and they all sold by just showing them around a bit. I was not trying to sell. I started doing art shows and won some awards. I got published in magazines and books and I was just getting started. I didn't like doing shows and stopped having prints made in around 2001 when my photo local pro printer went out of business.

I picked up a digital slr camera in 2006. In 2012 I joined FAA and made a few sales the first month. I have done a lot of interesting things in my life, but never had what most people consider success. I take the photos I like to take and process them the way I want, which is realistic. I consider myself a photojournalist in all my camera work. Sometimes a bird paparazzi.

If I never picked up a camera I think I might have spent more time playing piano or guitar. I had a piano at the time I got my first camera.

"Playing might be something that you have missed out in your earlier years.

Suggest playing, or laughing more, doing something just for the pleasure of it. "

Sometimes I communicate very poorly, this is one of those cases. What I meant was I was serious about my playing. I didn't just grab a Hot Wheel car and make vrooom vrooom noises while running it back and forth on the floor. Nope, I grabbed my best friend who happened to live next door and we'd build entire street systems in his Mom's flower beds by using water to compress and smooth the dirt and then we'd build houses and buildings out of dirt, rocks and twigs. When the weather forced us to play with our cars indoors we'd layout the streets with tape the floor and even made up a game similar to Life using homemade cards and dice but our version included buying and selling cars and racing. To me playing was as much or more so about the building as the playing itself. Most of my toys growing up were construction type toys... and still are.

You in fact could say I've never really grown up since outside my job my life revolves around my hobbies which all involve making/modifying things, it's one reason I chose to not pursue marriage and raising children, it was the right choice for me. If you look at my portfolio you'll see that I've played (experimented) plenty with my art too, there's hardly a medium I haven't tried. So, don't worry about me Alan, I play and laugh plenty, I just wish I didn't have to have that pesky job so I could play even more.

In fact that's one reason I struggle with the art business, too much of it is just a chore. Every now and then I get the bug to do a lot of promoting...it never lasts. I did a lot of pinning, tweeting and FAA groups stuff this week, a couple hours of it today. I finally got down to my scale modeling work bench after dinner and before long I was resenting all that time spent on this stupid computer during the day. Yep, looks like another run at active promoting is already over. lol

I think being a bona fide child prodigy only matters when you are a child.
Once you are an adult, if you have pursued a particular area of interest with your talent, you are good at what you do.

I have some people in mind who were child prodigies in guitar and ballet. One toured with a famous guitarist during High school years instead of traditional public education. The other joined a Russian Ballet Company at aged 12. They are both adults now and have chosen other paths but have remarkable talent to harness should they feel like it. One plays his guitar for enjoyment, the other will probably never touch her toe shoes again. In both cases, what they were as children doesn't hold much weight as adults.

I considered myself as a serious artist, as far back as elementary school

@Marlene.

This topic is about finding the child prodigy in oneself and not in others.

In your OP, you ask how far back do we remember wanting to be an artist....that is not the same thing as being a child prodigy.
I have only met two in all of my interactions with people and working with literally hundreds of students in a variety of fields.

I drew and painted as long as I can remember as a child...I was introduced to all of the arts...I also danced, conducted music, sang, played piano, acted, etc....that didn't make me a child prodigy in anything...it made me very lucky to have parents who encouraged the arts.

Lucky you Marlene.

can you link us to some of the work you did as a child prodigy, Alan?

As a child both art and music were very important in my family so I guess my interest developed early. That is not to say I was a prodigy, I just liked playing at both.

One early memory I have is of my first big box of crayons and my parent frustration with me. I was probably about three.

I loved that box of new crayons so much that I didn't want to spoil all those perfect points. I preferred to play with the crayons. Lining them up as to color and resorting them. I knew that nothing I could do with them could create anything as beautiful as the crayons themselves were.

I don't know how long that went on but remember sitting on the floor with those crayons and my father and him trying to convice me to color some cats in a coloring book. I guess he was really frustrated that I refused to color with them and spoil the perfect points so he broke one, I guess trying to break the spell they had over me.

It didn't end there. I still refused to color those cats. It was they only picture in the book I liked and didn't want to spoil it so insisted my father color it. Most likely if he had done as I requested and colored those cats in the natural colors of cats I would not even remember this but he didn't.

Perhaps he thought he was teaching me about imagination, he colored those cats in all sorts of colors with stripes and dots and such.

At ten years old, had a little side bussiness writing sick notes for other students.

Problem was I could not spell well enough, couldn't spell my own name, could not read handwriting.

Had my clients/fellow students, to hand print what the note was to say, so they could, play truancy.

I picked up calligraphy hand writing and it payed off cash in hand.

Had done this in early teens also (writing sick notes and excuse notes) just for myself, would spend the time in art museums, as there were many school children about, so it didn't look obvious to be there.

Between my real sick notes and my own, it was starting to be a joke for one teacher that figured out what I was up to, that would say to me "Has your grandmother died again?"

@Marlene.
Have given my art away as a child to family and friends. I do however have something to show you, but not just yet.

Rather exchange more important things first.

Just for the record, I am not bothered in trying to live up to your exspectations Marlene one way or another.

Part of my bio reads as fillows:

Art has always been a part of my life since I was five years old, being part of a National Advertising Campaign in 1963 for Gem Ball Markers UK.

I was one of the first to use these art markers at five years old; before going on to the art supply retailers.

Being paid in art supplies was a fantastic offer while working in my first art studio; located in the basement of a sandwich bar called 'Fouberts Sandwich Bar' In 'Fouberts Place' that's connected to Carnaby Street, near Regents Street.

Located between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus; in the West End of London; Happily making art while my parents were working upstairs.

The portrait street artists in Leicester Square had a profound effect on me.

This is what I wanted to do, this is what I wanted to be-a portrait artist.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As this 'Fouberts Sandwich Bar' is located in the theatre district of London, where many famous people would frequent the place.

It was there that I would meet the theatre people and show them my art, while they were having their coffee and sandwiches.

They were the ones that first used the term and called me "A child prodigy"

As my mother was working in the restaurant and also a "home worker" as a professional crafter, she was making costume jewellery as well well as painting Britain's lead soldiers for Mr Britainn.

As the brushes she used for painting the miniature lead soldiers, were very fine, she made brushes especially for me to use, with sticks, glue and string.

So it was fun for me at 5 years old to play portrait artist, meeting the actors and actress upstairs.

Also on the way home to visit the street artist making portraits, these were the people I admired the most for their talent.

Then at home it was watching my mother painting toy soldiers, which she explained how and why they are painted, these were very collectable items for their time, still are today.

Then with the theatrical people at the restaurant, also nearby, combined with where we lived the actor Roger Moore, was a neighbour, he was playing "The Saint" then later he went on to be one of the "James Bond 007, character's.

Want to know more? As always there is more...

a child prodigy is the nice way of saying - i see your son is an artist, he is quite the prodigy. but unless you created something that is gallery quality, then you did what other 5 year old's did.

i was taking pictures since i was 3
i learned stained glass when i was 9
i picked it up well enough to do it on my own at around 12, but 16 or so i was selling it at school.

was i a prodigy? no. i'm not sure there really are that many that can be considered that. being young doesn't make you a prodigy, being naturally good does. being original does. i've seen little kids excel on the violin. to an outsider he is a prodigy, in reality he lives and breathes and sleeps and practices non stop. you only see the results.

same with any kind of art or thing... to a person that doesn't know the craft, your work is genius. to those that do, its not so much. like its not genius to fix a leaky sink. but some people think it is.

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Alan,
I'm still waiting to see.....anything coming anytime soon?

Re... I am not bothered in trying to live up to your exspectations Marlene one way or another.

Nobody here has to live up to anyone's expectations. Here or in any thread. Nobody here should have any expectations of anyone.

At all

Terms like prodigy, gifted, and talented are labels bestowed on children who are impressionable and NOT emotionally mature. They are loosely used by biased adults to distinguish one child while inadvertently putting down others.

Abbie,
Alan specifically said he had something to show me 2 weeks ago. I was reminding him.
Sorry you missed his first statement earlier in that same comment that was posed directly to me.
At least in his next thread, you've picked up on his intent.

i would consider a child a prodigy if they can do what an adult can do instantly. like play the piano at a pro level without taking lessons or knowing how its supposed to work. it just makes sense to them. to pick up a brush and paint a masterpiece without any trouble. they can do things almost instantly at an intuitive level, its how genius works, they know things more than other people because they can pick things up much faster than others. like being able to handle a language really fast.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Sometimes I wonder how happy child geniuses really are. Prodigies may or may not have genius. Some are people who peak early and therefore are subject to living in the past.

once marked a genius, everyone expects only the best from you. my guess is real geniuses aren't happy. either because they didn't live up to their own ideals, or other people expected more.

as a child its tough because it only works when your a kid. no one cares about a teen genius unless they invent the next facebook, then everyone looks down on them when something goes wrong.

and other kids marked genius will take it literally to heart, and assume even as an adult they are a genius, but really they aren't and they never were.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Interesting that when you see so called a "child prodigy" in art they typically paint abstracts. Similar to the elephant or other zoo animals who are "artists".

A piano prodigy most likely has a brain wired to memorization. Hard to translate to art.

I would like to find the child prodigy inside myself.

I would like to find the child within myself. "If I knew then what I know now" is a lament we are all familiar with. Why wouldn't the other side of that coin also be desirable, to wit "If I only could know now what I knew then."

Alan,

Do you have any suggestions for how I can connect with my inner child's prodigious talents?

PLAU
UPD

It’s really only worth mentioning being a child prodigy, when you are a child. Once you are grown up, it is merely part of your past. Can’t even put it on your resume.....😊
Well wait, you could, but who would be impressed unless your current body of work represents the same jump in the talent department that one displayed as a child.

Peaking young is tough. Just ask those child actors in rehab.

By the time I was 16 or so I could draw like this:

SO What! I got bored with the idea of living the artist life. I got bored with the art teachers and professors. I enjoy math and science so that is what I studied.
Now I am much more interested in art and more tolerant of the professors. They are more likely to be interested in my opinion now rather than dictating theirs. Discussion of ideas are so much better than being told what is or isn't!

Ahhh......it lookz like Al haz stepped away from FAA......OK! Hope it whutten nutten I said.....

I was able to create a report card from D and F's to B 's and C's that looked identical to real report cards. Eventually I discovered that learning how to do somthing right was much less effort than cheating.

But I can do realism work if I need to. I know a lot of gifted people, I think it's the norm now.

i think its great that if a child can take off really well, its equally impressive if they get better and better. many people who claim they are artists sometimes stagnate at one level. claiming they have been doing it for a 100 years, but having work that looks like a child made it. that's why i'm never impressed when someone says they have been doing it for XX amount of years. only their work should prove should tell me what level they are on.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

seems he erased his account.... too much lime light and attention i guess.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

That would be too bad.

Certainly nothing to crow about.

Well, then I guess since the child prodigy is gone, the discussion is closed....or should be.