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This series began with exploring why we artists paint. I would be wealthier than Elon if I had a dollar for every time I've heard the phrase "secrets of painting."  Hear this:  THERE ARE NO SECRETS!  The skills and knowledge of masterful painting are available to anyone who has the desire to paint!

We may not all have the degree of intuition and drive that both Michelangelo and Leonardo had, but my 60+ years of teaching have shown me that each of us is blessed with a way to learn anything we have the desire and commitment to learn.   

I pointed out in my book, Finding Freedom to Create, that "there is a distinction between the art of painting and the craft of painting.  The art is where the ideas abide, while craft is the mechanics through which those concepts are expressed and made visible.  Craft is skilled motion that allows those new thoughts to be conveyed freely and with clarity."

Illustration by Manfred Steger

ABOUT CRAFT

Another too-often repeated phrase is "I can't draw a straight line."    THAT one I'd like to assign to the permanent dustbin of posterity!  People who don't have the inclination toward making art should not feel the need to apologize.  Every human has the inclination towards some craft whether it is truck driving or brain surgery.  The universe needs us all.  NO craft is superior to another! Our creator did NOT create a caste system! Arrogant people did that!

Illustration by Manfred Steger

Those who are born with the inclination towards being a visual artist have a curiosity about how things work and how our eyes see them.  That is often called talent.  But the curiosity alone is not enough.  It requires commitment to bringing it to fruition.  And that includes learning the skills that manifest the discoveries.  

LEARNING THE CRAFT

From the beginning of time, the skills of all crafts were learned by trial and error, then passed on to others.  Skills become more and more refined as people use them and find ways to make them work better.  Generations beyond the origin of a skill benefit from being taught the refined version.  As the skill propagates, eventually a school will emerge to teach it.  

Illustration by Manfred Steger

The mystery of this is how as individuals learn these skills and become adroit using them, their results take on the individual's unique voice.  And it is through that voice, that the skill will produce art!