"Skin Wars" Tonight!

I loved the 1st show (caught it a few days after online) and was so excited to sit down last night and watch the GSN with my drink and snacks only to find that Suddenlink had dropped the GSN!!!! I had no idea I didn't get the channel. I felt like a deflated balloon.

I know I will probably find it online but unfortunately saw folks on FB talking about Sean being sent home. I really think he is a great talent and hated to hear he went so soon.

I am half tempted to cancel Suddenlink and go back to direct tv now.

Congrats Natalie!

Sean is very talented but he has had consistent trouble with meeting challenge criteria and he always had an excuse. When you're in a contest to win $100k there is no room for excuses.

Regarding talent... I teach children (musical theatre, photography, stage makeup, improv) and say, "There is talent and there is skill. You can be born with talent, but it will only get you so far. Skill is what you learn." It appears that Dutch has both.

Agreed!

Here is a Will Smith quote I like - 



“The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.”

eviedejesus wrote:I think someone saying they were born with natural talent is not a bad thing - it’s the truth! some kids ARE just born with natural talent, whether it be singing or playing instruments, etc. He is an art prodigy.

Art is hard work and practice. It's a HUGE pet peeve of mine when i hear people tell me i have 'talent' or 'must have been born with it'. Hogwash I tells ya! I find it an insult to all the hard work and practice hours i've pet in to making myself better. I certainly couldn't do this when i was 5 years old lol. Nither could Dutch. The man spent many years as a graphic artist for comic books! That will develop some mad skills that's for sure!

Sorry but I don't think it's 'natural' I think it's a combination of elements. I grew up with a mural artist mum, so I was raised in an artistic house. If that hadn't happen I wonder if I would be an artist.



I think temperament, inclination, and 'drive' can be natural. And THIS is what really makes some one want to prefect their craft.

You know what pure talent is?

This

That guy can draw an entire city from MEMORY after looking at it once. Something got switched on in his brain or something. People like this or savants are the exception to the rule. You might start with talent, but with out hard work and nurturing, it will only get you so far.

Here is a perfect comparison from a great write up on the subject that puts things into prospective.

"the difference on the "perception" of the artist effort is completely different, sometimes it looks "insulting", even when we know its a compliment, in the deep inside we feel a bit uneasy, its like saying "well, yeah, you are good at basketball because you are black" they are not complimenting your effort, they are complimenting the fact that you are black, even if statistically, being black "helps" you in being good at basketball, they still had to practice a lot to become what they are, you can also have a good white basketball player! so, what does it matter more, their "talent" or their "dedication" to what they love?"

Yes! Thank you, Will Smith. Just posted that on Facebook!

Just watched Skin Wars ep 2 - awesome show.

read some articles awhile back about the talent vs skill debate, but from a different perspective -

when students are praised for their accomplishments by being told they have natural talent, they don't do as well at things that are more difficult for them, because they think they don't have the natural talent for them.

however, when students are praised for accomplishing something because they worked hard, they are more likely to succeed at other things that are difficult, because they assume hard work will get them similar results again.

Yes - but some people have a natural talent to begin with while others don't. Some kids have to practice for many hours before making a basket while others can pick up a ball for the first time and start making shots as if he had been doing it for years. Dutch mentioned on the show that he was born with a natural ability and was always good at it. Obviously he wasn't as good as he is now. Some people felt he was bragging and made him seem like he was stuck-up for making such a statement. I don't think it's a negative thing if it's true. I don't see why anyone would take offense to my statement - I never implied it didn't take hard work to be great at your craft - Prodigies DO exist. There are children who teach themselves to play mulitple instruments by ear with zero guidance - that is natural talent.

evie - i actually think it is also true that people have a natural inclination to be better at some things than other people, in fact those things are probably what they go into as a career, as well as hobbies.

and then if they apply practice, hard work, attention to detail, being organized, etc, they truly excel. and someone with perhaps less innate talent can improve theirs.

i do like the suggestion from that research of encouraging people to apply themselves to things they want to become good at.

I agree and also agree with everything about talent vs. skill but I don't get offended when someone tells me I am talented, I take it as a compliment.

I also know plenty of naturally talented people that were not at all influenced by family members or exposure to what they are talented in.

Because some one can pick up on something faster doesn't mean to me they have a 'natural talent' people all learn at their own pace. When I worked as a stage manager for Focus on Youth, a yearly vareity show for youth, I met lots of kids people called 'prodidgies' and they HATED the term. This one piano player kid (age 10) would correct any adult for calling him a prodigy.

My husbands little cousin (age decided he wanted to learn to play the accordian. So his parents bought him one. No one in the family is musical, but this kid taught himself to play through hard work. He also doesn't like it when people call him a prodigy or when people say he has a natural talent.

My aunt who is an amazing artist, told me a story once.
There once were two boys and each one tried to draw a stick man. The first boy drew a stick man and said this about his work.
"Wow... that is an aweful stickman, worst i have ever seen. That seriousy sucks."
The other boy also drew a stick man and said this about his work.
"Wow... that is an aweful stickman, worst i have ever seen. That seriousy sucks... Let me try that again."
10 years later the same boys attempted to draw a stickman. The first boy drew a stick man again and said this about his work.
"Wow... that is an aweful stickman, worst i have ever seen. I guess I still can't draw a stickman."
Meanwhile the other boy was drawing portraits, cartoon charcters and painting.

Maybe understanding and learning things faster then others is the culprit here, or not wanting to give up. But there is one thing that almost all people have in common when they get told they have a natural talent - they are artists. Painters, musicians, dancers, poets, singers. But never the brain sergons for some reason.

I think to me the reason i don't like the term 'natural talent' so much is BECAUSE it's mostly used with artists. It implies that everything else is hard work, but not art. Art is something you are born with, it magically flows out of your fingers. It has nothing to do with hard work.

I hear it WAY too many times. Also because mostly art isn't seen as work, but more as a gentic lottery magic, people don't want to seem to pay us as much for our work. We get under valued.

Well I guess even though he has worked many years in perfecting his skills, Dutch does not mind the term “natural talent” since HE is the one that used the term to describe himself.

interesting point about "natural talent" being used for artists and not doctors, scientists, etc, never thought of that. you definitely don't want your surgeon to be going on "natural talent" alone  

Actually....now that you mention that - I have heard the term "talented" used for plastic surgeons and athletes also. The term "he/she is a natural" is used in many fields. If a kid picks a rifle up for the 1st time and hits a bullseye first time shooting - the adults around are gonna say "wow, you're a natural". That is because there was no practice, no hard work.

Natalie is kickin' butt!!!!

My son can brush his teeth with his feet! Natural talent!

creativefunfaces wrote:My son can brush his teeth with his feet! Natural talent!

Lol!!!

I love how Gear threw the competition last week. Watching his development was awesome, hate to see him go.

I was hoping he’d win the whole thing. He seems like a super cool person and although he and Nat are “just good friends” - they seem like they’d make an awesome couple.

Congrats Natalie!

I was so disappointed with the results.

Natalie's was the best out of them at the end, but I was disappointed that dutch did the patchwork thing, it was such a cop out.

I felt they were favoring Natalie a LOT in the show, most of all the in Sumo challenge. Before the 'paint off' her's was the weakest piece... sorry. Excuse to pit her against gear maybe? Drama! Which is why they focused a bit on their friendship at the beginning of that episode.

The mini challenge was dutch hands down. Shannon 2nd and Natalie third because it just wasn't translating that well.

I knew Dutch wasn't going to win because they painted him as a 'villain', same with Shannon to a lesser extent. But Natalie was touted as 'the under dog' so you knew she was going to win because the audience loves to see the underdog come out on top. Also they seemed to cherry pick some of her interview stuff where she didn't seem to like Dutch very much. omg Drama! Even though even I feel Dutch's final piece wasn't that impressive, I think the Judges would have said anything to make him lose. If it wasn't "not enough of yourself" it would have been "too much". *rolls eyes*

I think Shannon's was WAY more detailed, but Natalie's was high contrast so it was more eye catching, so that made it the obvious choice.

Fun to watch, congrats to the winner, but over all I wasn't impressed with the show, I wish it was more about the art and less about the drama.

Truth! Although I never viewed Natalie as the underdog. After veiwing some of Alan's stuff online I really wish he hadn't been the first to go home. I'm sure he could have given Dutch, Gear and Felle and real run for the money.

I didn't really view her as the underdog either, I really thought she was a total creative powerhouse. However I think she was edited to be seen like the underdog because of the fact that they kept showing that clip where she said "my biggest competition is.... everybody." as well as a few other choice ones.

The way she was pitted against her friend, the way her teammates ganged up on her and so forth. It really built a story about rising above adversity and coming out on top. Which again was helped a lot with editing because that is basically everyone story arch in a competition. You just need to win for the 'story' to be complete. :/

Really I wish that RuPaul wasn't a judge. I think he was put there to be a sassy loud mouth for ratings. I would have much preferred the judges to all be body painting artists.