Prodigies, Techies, & Dreamers

I judged a high school art competition recently.  I met some amazingly talented youth.  Some of them made me think “Wow!” Truly “wow!”  With all of that talent, I noticed three archetypes: the prodigy, the technician, and the dreamers.

Prodigies were the lil’ boy and girl geniuses.  They did their first still life at age 3.  And now they are drawing something existential and totally above the heads of mere mortals.

Technicians are beautifully boring.  They will dazzle you with landscapes and still lifes of bottles, flowers, fruit, and baubles.  Big yawn.  If you’re lucky, they may do a portrait (from a photo, of course) of their beloved aunt.  Double yawn.  They can copy van Gogh or Rembrandt’s style with a drop of a hat.  

They have no heartfelt subjects.  They can’t generate anything from within.  You’d have better luck asking the Xerox copier to make something original.  They have miniscule passion, verve, style, or ideas on their own.

The dreamers are full of  passion.  Their eyes have a tendency to bulge and they may hyperventilate when talking about their art.  They’ve been working on projects at home till the wee hours of the morning.  They’ll show a gazillion sketches of their latest inventions.  They may be on the outs with their parents for being a free spirit.

Some dreamers can’t draw a stick man; however, it doesn’t stop them.  Very little stops them.  They won’t be denied.  They are natural risk-takers.  They crash and burn often, but give them a few days, they’ll have rebounded into something new.

It’s pretty obvious that I prefer dreamers.  I admire their pluck and energy. They know how to work hard, and they’ll earn the skills of the technician and prodigy.  And it’s really that inner fire, not the tech skills, that make  dreamers real artists.

(reposted from previous blog)