How many times have you heard the phrase, “practice makes perfect”?
Does it really?
What about talent and genius?
Is practice really all it takes?
When I was five, my family moved to a new neighbourhood. Unfortunately, a bully lived next door. I couldn’t go outside without having someone twice my size beat me up. To ensure that my teeth stayed in my mouth, I stayed in the house. I stayed in my room and I drew. I drew a lot. I would lock myself in there for hours at a time, where I would draw until one of the parents came up and got me; then they would make me stop for a bit and eat dinner. Afterwards, I would go back upstairs and draw some more. I did this until I was 15. That was when I discovered ‘QBASIC’ on the old IBM PS/2 386, and computer programming started to dominate my attention and free time for the next 3 years.
For 10 years, from the age of 5 to 15, I drew nearly everyday for about five hours.
300 days X 5 hours X 10 years = 15,000 hours of practice.
Fifteen thousand hours of drawing.
Continue reading How Much Practice Does it Take to Make Perfect?