Is It Talent Or Can It Be Learned Or Both

[youthinthewild]

Can you learn to paint like the pros I see here by practice or is it instinct? Or both

[dlaery]

I would say practice and don't give up.

[BobP]

It's both. You can put in the time and master the craft and can turn out quality crankbaits with standard paint schemes that catch fish, without much artistic ability. I'm a very pedestrian painter and I KNOW! But if you aspire to produce the kind of top level work you'll see in some of the pics in the TU photo gallery, that requires raw artistic ability. Now, the extent to which game fish appreciate artistic ability is another question... At some level, and I think it's a fairly low level, paint means more to the fisherman than the fish.

Bottom line, don't be discouraged. You get better as time goes on and when your baits catch fish, that's the biggest reward.

[mark poulson]

Anyone can make lures. It isn't rocket science.

The biggest key is desire. If you want to do something bad enough, you'll find a way to do it.

Attitude plus effort equal success.

[youthinthewild]

Thank you Mark....My biggest desire is for our fatherless boys and me to learn together and use it as tool to teach life lessons using their creativity and thinking outside the box...They want to carve snakes,rats,birds,lizards ect and of course fish....I am excited if you can't tell lol

[Musky Glenn]

It has to be learned, because I have zero talent. Musky Glenn

[justin9j]

I have zero talent. Can't draw a stick man. This is my second crank that I have painted.

[youthinthewild]

Awesome Justin you ought to enter our freestyle painting contest!!!

[fishnart]

Hummm I think it depends on what you want to accomplish and how much you want to put into it. One can paint basic bait patterns but I think to be really really good you have to have some kind of artist ability and eye. All is not lost though, I think some of this can be learned through practice and maybe some art classes. I can't do alot of things but thankfully God has blessed me with a little bit of artistic ability. I'm able to look at something, for example baitfish, and see all the suttle colors that make up the colors of that baitfish. You kinda have to be able to see through colors to see details and the colors that make up the colors. Some colors are two or three different colors that make up one color. You should also experiment, and learn through this wonderful site all of the available techniques there are out there to use. I use many different mediums, techniques and tools on one bait. This is all helpful...but most of all desire and practice. Hope this makes sense and is helpful.

[RayburnGuy]

I agree with Fishnart. It depends on what you want to do and how far you want to go with it. If you want to paint some baits that will catch fish then most anyone can accomplish this. Having practically no artistic ability whatsoever I'm proof of that. A lot of us have devised ways to "cheat" by using stencils and such. Now if you want to paint like some of the more accomplished artists on this site then you'll need to have, at least some, natural talent.

Ben

[dochollow]

being a beginner at this my self, before i would attempt to paint a bait you would need to master to some extent the air brush itself. sit down with your airbrush, some paint, & some coloring books. teach yourself what you & your airbrush are capable of. learn to take your brush apart & reassemble for cleaning. once you are comfortable with your brush you can move on to lures with some measure of confidence. good luck, DOC.