Hi, everyone!
There's something I have always asked myself but never really discussed with that much people, so I thought about sharing this with you guys here. I hope this is the right section to post this in.

So here we go,
I have a friend who is very determined when she has set her mind on something she wants to do. For example 2 years ago, she said she wanted to start drawing manga and at first, her drawings weren't that good. But just after 3 months or so her drawings became like this:

http://img57.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scann17ez0.jpg

Obviously today, she is able to draw better than this.
The same goes for other things she said she was interested in. Just within a couple of weeks or months she was able to do it. And the weird thing is nobody taught her! She just did it on her own. I'm certain that she does not take lessons or whatever for all her hobbies, cause her family is not that rich and she usually doesn't even tell her parents about her wishes, since she knows that they can't afford it.

Today she just told me that she wanted to learn how to play the piano/keyboard without any piano lessons and learning to play it by ear. I really wonder what it is that makes her accomplish all those things. Of course it is practice. But is there also some kinda talent that's in her or is it rather her determination?

Please share your opinion on this, because I'm really curious of what other people think about this.

Looking at the drawing you posted, I can say she's good at shading. The wings seem rather great as well because I know wings aren't easy to draw.

About piano lessons, I think it depends. She seemed passionate about the manga and that drawing was pretty much a hobby to her. All the artists that surround me, be it family or friends, seem to get better by time and not worse, so I assume it's something natural.

If your friend seemed ambitious about learning to play the piano, I think it's better to have someone teach her. It doesn't have to be "Piano lessons" that'll cost her money, she can just have an idea about it from any other piano players she knows and then start collecting information about pianos. Knowing that she's an ambitious person, I don't think she'll quit if she really wants it & likes it. Having musical intellegence will help a lot too.

So good Luck to your friend.

Shouldn't this just be part of the Got Something to Say or some similar thread?

bmwracer wrote:

Shouldn't this just be part of the Got Something to Say or some similar thread?

o.O I'm sorry I didn't know about that thread. Because I just wanted to start a new gerneral discussion about people's strength of ambition. This is a question that has always bothered me. Can ambition be even stronger than natural talent? My friends should have only been an example and not really the main discussion.

bmwracer wrote:

Shouldn't this just be part of the Got Something to Say or some similar thread?

I think this topic can suffice as it's own, rather than a random topic thread. It does open doors to other abilites than drawing, afterall.