Why are there no child prodigy cartoonists?

[Malc]

Below I've posted a link to yet another child prodigy pianist (often Asian American) and wondered (a) why are there so few equivalent child prodigy guitarists? and (b) why are there so few equivalent child prodigy cartoonists?

(a) is answered easily. Playing the guitar is a hundred times harder than the piano. You can learn Chopsticks on the pianny as a novice, but beginners can't perform the equivalent on a guitar.

(b) is a little more of a mystery. There are no childhood prodigy cartoonists, at least as far as I've been able to make out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt_PYw0R_i8&NR=1

[Roger Kettle]

I'm pretty sure there have been a lot of young kids who can draw to a remarkable standard and this would equate to the single task of piano-playing. However, as you know only too well, Malc, cartooning is a combination of writing and drawing. I think it's very, very unlikely that, say, a four-year-old, would develop a sense of humour mature enough to consistently produce cartoons  acceptable in the adult world. I would also suggest that a certain amount of world-weary cynicism is required. I didn't get this till I was eleven.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

I imagine Malc was particularly referring to the drawing skills (yes?), Roger. Any pre-teen child displaying the writing skills required (as you say, honed by life's rich tapestry) would be beyond even the twilight zone that these miraculously gifted musical prodigies come from.

But even those kids that can draw to unusually high standards don't come close to the level of ability that the little girl in the clip showed. After 48 years, I wouldn't equate my own level of drawing skill to her musical ability.

I was mesmerised by that - not once did she consult the sheet music (assuming it was even the right sheet music), so it was done entirely from memory, using hands far smaller than the piece would have been designed for. For any child that age to be able to pick out an eight-minute classical tune on the piano from memory with one finger would be impressive enough. I don't understand the forces at play here, but they go way beyond anything you can accredit to teaching methods.

The best bit though, and the most reassuring, was around 4 minutes and 7 seconds when she finally hit a bum note (there may have been one at 3 minutes, 9 seconds, but I'm not a musician) - she grinned and continued. And at the end, after a suitable pause, she positively beamed for the split second the parent (I assume) allowed us to see it.

Over the decades, I've learned to hide my annoyance at people who have flippantly described whatever I use to plough my trade as a "God-given talent". It's not - it started out when I was very small as something I discovered would make people laugh and give me praise in return. I attached myself to it, developed it over the years, and am hopefully still improving on it today. My childhood cartoons were sufficiently better than my mates' efforts for me to stand out, but a million miles away from prodigy level. And my ability has grown with me, with hard work, study (of other artists and their techniques) and experimentation. I don't believe any of it is either natural or God-given.

These kids, on the other hand...

[Malc]

What I believe is this:

Cartoonists (writers too) underrate the talent they have because they don't compare it against other people who can't or won't do it.
I always said if cartoonists (talented ones, that is) could swap their gifts for an equivalent in another art form, they would be gifted pianists, doctors, physics professors, engineers, etc.

Similarly, if any doctor or surgeon's medical abilities could be transferred into cartooning talent, I wonder if they would ever get published?

If I trust myself to a surgeon's knife, is he in his profession as good as me in mine? We assume as humble drawers of people with big noses, that the guys with the stethoscope or a law degree is somehow on a higher plane, yet hear some doctors or barristers talk about others in their game and you would think twice before trusting yourself or a loved one to their care.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

I'm not saying there aren't any 'gifted' cartoonists about, Malky, just that I'm not one of them.

I do know of some who have been as consistently good at drawing (writing may be a little more difficult to 'measure') from the start of their careers as they are today. Those, of any of us, I'd call gifted.

Those of us who have had to work at our craft to produce the levels we do today are not gifted with anything more than tenacity and a desire to improve. I have trouble thinking of doctors as gifted, since their profession (and therefore their skill/talent) relies on their knowledge constantly being upgraded. The good doctors will have to rely far more on hard graft and the building of their knowledge base than any kind of flair for the work. The bad ones are those who think they don't need to.

I have often said I'd gladly swap any artistic ability I have for an equal ability in music, either guitar or piano. I'm not completely unmusical, and I could learn from scratch. I just don't want to do it the hard way - which is what I've done with my drawing.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Hey - I think I've found something I'm boring at! (see 'Boring' thread on 'Outpourings' forum)

[Mince]

Hey - I think I've found something I'm boring at! (see 'Boring' thread on 'Outpourings' forum)

I find it hilarious that you think this is the first one.   

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Getting a little behind with our insults, aren't we. Mincey?

[Mince]