[He used to say that drawing is a largely mechanical process--a matter of connecting the eye and the hand, no special "gift" required.]

This is quite true. Yet I would venture to say that there are still those who are gifted in the arts. One can, with practice become quite skilled at developing the eye-hand connection and draw very well. On the other hand I know there are those who did not have to spend the time required to reach such a level. They just could. Same can be said of music...like Mozart...as a child he could do things musically that defied explanation. Or take jazz keyboardist Sun Ra, who also as a child, could hear a complex song one time and then sit down and play it note for note at the piano. Some singers just have the pipes and some don't. To have been born with the physical mechanism to me is like having been given a gift.

[ My own experience as a writing teacher has shown me that "talent" is about 40% desire, 58% hard work, and maybe 2% some other, mysterious thing that makes some students "get it" faster than others. Knowing how to draw has about as much to do with making art as knowing how to change your oil does with building a car from scratch.]

If you're going to build a car you better know something about the purpose of the oil and how it is going to be implemented in the cars function and how you will incorporate it's maintainance in the car's design. I get you point, however. And, I agree with your 40%, 58%, 2% analogy on talent. But I would venture to say that some do not have that mysterious 2 % that makes the difference. Call it talent, a gift, or what you will, there is such a thing. If nurtured it can blossom to artistic beauty. Take Adriana Caselotti whose father was a vocal coach. Not everyone is gifted with the pipes to sing opera. You can train all you want but if you don't have the pipes...you don't have the pipes. If you do, with training, as Andriana obviously did have, by 18 years old your vocal mechanism may be molded to become the beautiful voice for Walt Disney's Snow White. Shame that Disney ruined her career for years by not allowing her to publicize that she was the voice behind Snow White.

Does this mean that there are only talented/gifted people who make art. Absolutely not. Talent means nothing if not nurtured. I'm sure there is someone who's probably making a living in Appalacia as a lumberjack who had talent that was never nurtured or realized. On a sour note...if these computers keep getting more and more sophisticated there will be no one developing their talent.

It's wonderful if one has that mysterious innate ability without having strived for it. But, there are those that may not have been as blessed who have made the difference with their 40% desire and 58% hard work. Unfortunately many who have not been so blessed hate or idolize those who are and are too lazy or ignorant to realize that they make equally magnificent contributions to the world if they would just put forth the effort and persevere. Some turn to the computer and let the computer do the work. Some turn to the computer and use it to do the work. There is a difference. Where you draw the line is just an opinion. And like noses...everybody's got one.