Young artists that kicked butt

[HackTardist]

Let's all get really depressed and post pictures of mind blowing artwork done by young talent. May I start out with this little painting done by Parmigianino at the spry age of 21... maybe the self portrait thing isn't all that ground breaking but the fact that he did it in a convex mirror in 1523... yeah. And it seems by the smug expression on his face that he knows he's badass.

[HackTardist]

Picasso banged these out when he was about 15-16. So the next time some idiot tells you Picasso didn't know what he was doing, you can laugh in their face.

[HackTardist]

Here's Degas' self portrait. Age 21. LOL

[OmenSpirits]

I don't sweat the next man, I rather work on my own techniques.

Bully for them.

[HackTardist]

And this one right here is like a Mortal Combat finishing move to your self esteem.... Michelangelo age 24. W>>>> T>>>>>> F

[Samszym]

This is a self portrait Da Vinci drew while in the womb.

[Cory Hinman]

Y'know, Michelangelo was considered to have started his formal art training late in life--at age 14!

[HackTardist]

Y'know, Michelangelo was considered to have started his formal art training late in life--at age 14!

Well that's inspiring! It goes to show what you should be able to accomplish after 10 years of hard work! LOLOLOL

[dpaint]

You forgot Anthony Van Dyke who painted this portrait at 14

[Elwell]

"This I drew, using a mirror; it is my own likeness, in the year 1484, when I was still a child."
-Albrecht Dürer
In 1484, Dürer was thirteen.

[QueenGwenevere]

Of course, you have to remember, people started early on everything back then. Heck, they got married around 14 - 15.

If I recall, Lorenzo de Medici was doing official ambassadorial work at 15 (and spoke several languages.) And that wasn't considered strange.

Start young, live fast, catch the plague and die early... it's the Renaissance way!

[Andrew Sonea]

Alma Tadema at 16.

[Xeon_OND]

And this one right here is like a Mortal Combat finishing move to your self esteem.... Michelangelo age 24. W>>>> T>>>>>> F

I give up art with immediate effect.

This is a self portrait Da Vinci drew while in the womb.

Is it a guaranteed death if I jump down from the 70th floor?

Alma Tadema at 16.

.....

[Kuroyue]

OTL



I-I'll just. Be here in this little corner. Growing my own mushrooms.

[dpaint]

All these guys are lay abouts and slackers compared to Mozart who wrote his first symphony at 8 and had written 33 of them by 18. His first opera was written at 11.

[Nibras]

I don't see why this should be depressing, to be honest its more a motivation. Especially Mozart with the crazy amount of work he produced

[PxelSlayer]

Hrmmm...I guess one shouldn`t wonder about the age they were able to create masterpieces...no TV, no video games/consoles, no internet...one had to amuse himself somehow, right?

I do wonder about this "ageism" thing going on in our society today, though. Someone good at, say, 18 is much more popular than somebody at his/her level at the age of 25 or 30. We celebrate the culture of youth, looking for that next child-prodigy...quite weird. But that`s just me, I guess. :/

[Stuart DeViva]

I feel like I've waisted 20 years of life now lol.

[QueenGwenevere]

I do wonder about this "ageism" thing going on in our society today, though. Someone good at, say, 18 is much more popular than somebody at his/her level at the age of 25 or 30. We celebrate the culture of youth, looking for that next child-prodigy...quite weird. But that`s just me, I guess. :/

Meh, not just in art. I sometimes feel like nowadays everyone over 25 is considered "old" and over the hill (especially if you're female.) Which makes it seem like a good three-quarters of your life don't count... :/

Or maybe I need to spend less time in places frequented by snotty young nippers. (Except they're everywhere now.)

(Wait, did I just say "there's more young people around than there used to be"...? Oh no, I must be getting old...)

[Ator]

I agree it's foolish to be depressed by this...it is nothing but exciting to see other human beings achieve so much, particularly for a student. But i wouldn't attribute their achievements to the fact that there was less to do...first of all, life back then was hard, long periods of travel to get from commission to commission, unstable political climates, expensive materials...just read Cellini's account of the casting of his Perseus. Also, these guys weren't just engaged in one pursuit. Without mentioning Leonardo, Rubens was a classical scholar and diplomat in addition to being a painter, Ingres an accomplished violinist, etc...

[Lotuschild]

There is something to be said for passion, and a life with fewer 'easy' distractions. These guys also had no internet, or TV.

It's fascinating to see. Albrecht Dürer's is my favorite.

[s.ketch]

In a sidebar podcast Marko spoke about rolling into a table top game company asking for a job. I thought the podcast said 15 years old but Wiki says 17. In the podcast he said that he told the director that he could draw better than all of their current artists. May have been a joke, but I wouldn't doubt it. Getting a job as an illustrator at 17 in the 90's is pretty cool.

[Lintire]

I do have to say that art is art, no matter what age you are when you produce them. Sure, it's great that young people manage to get the motivation and skill at such a young age, but celebrating art simply based on an artist's age is somewhat... well, weird. It doesn't magically make the art any better.

But as I said, it's nice to know that they managed to start producing masterpieces at a young age. More viewing pleasure for the rest of us.

[Ghast]

In our defense, they didn't have so many useless distractions back then and art was a very serious matter as well. Not that it isn't to many of us now, but you have to admit the teaching of art was much more rigorous with far more emphasis on rendering life. Though these are a great way to motivate

[jpacer]

These are by a 17 year old named Egon Schiele:

[HackTardist]

Part of what makes the artists mentioned in this thread so incredible is that they never burned out. Even if their lives were brief (Parmigianino only lived to be 30 something) they all made incredible contributions to art throughout their lives. And those Schiele drawings are great. If nothing else it's amazing to look at these creations and think about how the lives of young people have changed through the centuries.

[arenhaus]

Y'know, Michelangelo was considered to have started his formal art training late in life--at age 14!

Michelangelo fooled with sculpting since a much earlier age. It just wasn't considered "art" since he learned it from the local stonemasons.

[HunterKiller_]

art was a very serious matter as well.

This.
Back then art was taken seriously, almost as a science, and training was rigorous.

[TheGreekDollmaker]

And this one right here is like a Mortal Combat finishing move to your self esteem.... Michelangelo age 24. W>>>> T>>>>>> F

Reminds me when Bane Broke Batman' back.

[Andrew Sonea]

Oh man, those Schiele drawing are incredible. It hurts to think he was the same age as me...

Anyhow, this was done by James Gurney at age 13.

EDIT: Second pic is a watercolour by Sargent at age 14.