[speff]

I didn't say anyone can become Michelangelo. I said anyone can do this level of work.

That is, the exact same thing he did when he was 12, which is a master study. He didn't create the design - he copied a previous work and added color to find out what Schongauer's thought process was when making the original piece.

[MontyCarloHall]

I very much doubt the majority of adults with sufficient practice could do this level of work. I can say with 100% certainty that an infinitesimal minority of 12 year olds with sufficient practice could do this level of work.

[speff]

What are you basing this off of? Do you actually have any experience making art? Or is this just learned helplessness talking?

Also please stop implying I said any 12 year old can do this. I didn't. Once again, I said anyone who puts in the time can do what 12-year old Michelangelo did.

[MontyCarloHall]

>What are you basing this off of? Do you actually have any experience making art? Or is this just learned helplessness talking?

I've done ≥weekly life drawing classes for 20+ years, and have observed the distribution of progress people make over time. Based on my observations and conversations with my teachers, I agree with you that a nontrivial fraction of adults starting with zero artistic ability can be trained to an advanced degree. But I disagree that this holds true for "anyone"; a larger fraction cannot be trained beyond a basic level.

>Also please stop implying I said any 12 year old can do this. I didn't.

You literally said: "It's impressive that he did it at 12, but he had years of focused practice under his belt before he did this one. Anyone can do this level of work - they just need to actually learn it." To me, that heavily implies any 12 year old with sufficient training is encompassed by that "anyone."