Fig. 20.—Showing special ability in drawing, of a 14-year-old boy, of IQ near 70. The portrait is a copy.
Fig. 21.—Showing special ability in drawing of a 14-year-old boy, of IQ near 70.
This man is greatly interested in animals, and after being taken to the circus sometime ago, became a nuisance in his preoccupation with what he had seen there. In cutting the silhouettes, he merely takes a sheet of paper in one hand, a pair of scissors in the other, and cuts absolutely “free-hand,” without reference to any preliminary patterning or draughting, either from memory or from a model. The performance is accompanied by many naïvely vain remarks, calling attention to his skill and the quality of the product. He can also draw, as is shown in Figure 23. He has never had any special training so far as known.
For the sake of contrast, we have presented, in Figure 24, the attempts of two university professors to cut an elephant from paper, as did “Dick” in Figure 22. These two professors are both doctors of philosophy, distinguished in their respective fields for research. Yet they are greatly surpassed by “Dick” in ability to cut silhouettes.
VII. INHERITANCE OF TALENT IN DRAWING
A comprehensive study of the inheritance of talent in drawing is yet to be made. Manuel took the family history of the pupils studied by him, and found artistic ability of some kind among close relatives in almost all cases. The gift showed itself in early childhood in these talented persons, and there is every reason to believe that it was bestowed by the conditions of near ancestry.
VIII. GENERAL SUMMARY
It is clear that talent for representative drawing arises from a happy combination of a great many variable functions; and that this combination may occur in persons of superior, average, or inferior intelligence. Likewise, conspicuous lack of this talent is compatible with intelligence of almost any degree. Therefore, many children considered by their teachers of drawing to be pupils of ability, will be rated as but mediocre, or as inferior, by other teachers. This will be true especially to the extent that drawing as a subject of instruction is limited to representative drawing.
