wellll....long weekend and I need to wind down but thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.. first off...no offense to Silke...with whom I actually agree quite a lot, but the thing that struck me was that it was mentioned that "The Eye" cannot be taught...not just by her, but as a common theme in this thread. In my experience as an art director ...I "teach" the eye all the time. I see artists come on board all the time (we're talking commmercial advertising here...). They start out with everything out of balance to a trained artist's eye. For example...everything is the same size, same font, all centered and the lead photo is stuck in the middle. BUT...they DID manage to get it all on the page...so they are happy! Then I come along as art director and say..."OMG...no nonononono!" And then begin to educate them on say... Depth: Use more than one weight of font...use (gasp) TWO fonts! Balance: Use colors for balance...use left offset by right... use heavy on one side and nothing on the other to create a "statement" , use ANYTHING but "all-the-words-are-on-the-page-so-I'm-done-ain't-that-amazing!"...etc....do SOMETHING! New artists are like scared bunnies...afraid they will do what someone else thinks is wrong, just happy to have it all there, and when they DO get it all there, they think its done. Now take those same artists 3 years down the line, when they have had me or someone else drilling into them balance, depth, etc....pushing them to dig within themselves for their own creative ideas. They have LEARNED "The Eye", by trial of fire. If they don't get it...they lose their job pretty quick! So..."the Eye" CAN be taught, perhaps not to some people's thinking as a "traditional" artist aka Monet, Dali, and the like...but it CAN be taught. (I know because once I nail them on it enough times, they don't bring kindergarten layouts to me anymore!...lol) That process...constructive criticism... hopefully will bring out in them the desire to continue to push themselves. At which point they become "true artists", whichever medium they choose (advertising, painting, whathave you.). They then have a "drive" to create...conceptualize...and most of all TRUST..their eye. And THEY will be the ones to now teach the next generation of newbies, much like the community here. Yes, people are "born" with natural talent....and some are better than others...but it can be taught. The second thing that struck me as I read the posts was that somehow it seemed to become a discussion of "hobby art" isn't "real art"..aka the title of this thread. Not that this is a "new" arguement, which I won't try to re-argue here. What struck me was that I thought that all these people here in the community coming together to make pictures for each other and share them and learn and be delighted, annoyed, amazed, or moved in some way by what EVERYONE puts out for each other to see...is the very DEFINITION of art in the first place! So whether its for commercial or personal..it's still art. Whether its computer generated or hand done..its still art, as others have said. For the record...I DO get paid for some of my Poser art. Did I get addicted to it? Yes. Do I do it to please myself AND others AND get paid once in a while..YES! Would I give it up because I didn't get paid for it? No way. That to me...makes me (and a lot of others) a "true artist". I do it because I can't NOT do it....no matter what anyone else thinks.. ::hops off soap box and hopes they don't throw tomatoes since this is the holiday dress and all:: zai..

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