Description

Definition
The fine arts aptitude is the special ability to communicate through a variety of art forms, such as music, dance, drama, writing, storytelling, photography, sculpting, and painting. Examples from the Old Testament include these from First Chronicles: “Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it” (1 Chron. 15:22); and “Along with their relatives–all of them trained and skilled in music for the Lord–they numbered 288” (1 Chron. 25:7).
Not everyone who participates in these art forms has the fine arts aptitude. Almost anyone can take music lessons, for example, but only a few are natural musicians. If you are a true artist, you consider the fine arts very important and you have a keen awareness of music, color, texture, drama, movement, and so on. You exercise creativity in your particular skill and are often finding fresh and new ways to use it to move your audience.
The goal in fine arts is to communicate a message or to provoke a subjective response. An artist wants to influence the observer’s thinking or feelings and solicit a specific response. This distinguishes fine arts from craftsmanship. Two people with similar skills working with their hands, for example, could be motivated very differently. The craftsman uses their skill to produce a finished product, yet the artist uses their skill to influence people.
The arts are especially important tools because they so powerfully influence people. You can use your art form to enlighten and persuade people, making it easier for them to experience or accept something they might otherwise reject, for example. Art’s persuasive power can influence a person’s attitudes, standards, priorities, or convictions. To create change in a person, one must touch their spirit, mind, and emotions, and that is the specialty of the arts.
Artists are very difficult to define as a group, partly because they represent such a wide range of artistic skills and personality types. As an artist, you may have a strong desire for appreciation and recognition, especially if you specialize in individual performances. You are likely to have very high standards for quality. Your acute sense of color, sound, and effect makes you aware of subtle differences, and you appreciate the improved performance of quality resources. You are normally expressive, imaginative, idea-oriented, and demonstrative.
The arts provide opportunities for many levels of creativity and imagination. As an artist, you are creative in the sense that you know what result you want and you have the skill to produce it. This is creativity defined as converting a mental concept into form. You may be very creative in your ability to develop something new. Or instead of creating something new, you can reproduce with great skill what others have done.

Typical Characteristics
● Have a keen awareness of music, color, drama, movement, and so on.
● View the arts as a tool to influence people’s thinking or feelings.
● Often looking for fresh and new ways to move your audience.

Tendencies
● General Orientation: Artists may be either extroverts or introverts. For example, actors and dancers are more likely extroverted, drawing energy from their audience; while sculptors and painters are likely introverted, working alone for extended periods. An actor’s orientation will influence which characters he portrays most effectively. The more extroverted the person is, the greater difficulty they will have spending countless hours alone developing their skills.
● Priorities
● Emotions, feelings, pleasure. Your art is an expression of your emotions and feelings, so these are very important to you and you want to provoke the same responses in your audience. Your feelings give you an increased sensitivity to your performance and your effectiveness in reaching your audience. You are likely to invoke a strong emotional response from your audience.
● Tasks, production, results. Your goal is to create a desired effect, to present a quality performance. This requires you to focus on the task, and if you do not achieve the desired quality, you believe you have failed. You might place great emphasis on perfecting your skills with endless training and practice, and are likely to move your audience with the technical perfection of your performance.

Misunderstandings
Difficult to define, due to the wide variety of artistic skills.

Vocations and Roles
Skilled artists of all types.

Perversions

Self-Centeredness
(Perverts your aptitude by focusing it on you, emphasizing the pleasure or fulfillment it gives you.)
Because people frequently applaud or recognize your skill, you could very easily become egotistical or concerned about what others think of you; in either case, your focus is on yourself. Emphasizing sensual pleasure easily leads to unbridled sensual indulgence, especially if your desire for artistic expression causes you to reject social standards. It is very easy to want to impress people with your skill, rather than use it to influence them. Your emphasis on variety and creative expression can frequently lead to boredom with the routine.

Extremes
(Perverts by exaggerating, taking your characteristics and tendencies to extremes.)
Your emphasis on provoking feelings in yourself and your audience can easily cause your work to degenerate to entertainment. Your endless practicing and skill development is a pursuit of excellence, but can degenerate to a demand for perfection. Striving for creative expression can result in rejection of social standards.

Control
(Self-centeredness makes you want to be in control, and you struggle for control in a way that is unique to your character.)
Difficult to define, due to the wide variety of artistic skills.

Redemption

Putting on Important Traits
Certain godly character traits are especially important to you as an artist. Consciously developing the following traits will help you express what is within you for the greatest impact on your audience.

● Humility (Considers self relatively unimportant compared to others; prevents using abilities for one’s own satisfaction.) Humility prevents you from drawing attention to yourself and interfering with your artistic message. It allows you to perform very effectively even in what others may consider lesser roles.
● Agape (Considers others’ welfare, needs, interests, and desires more important than your own; motivates you to act for others’ benefit regardless of personal impact.) Agape motivates you to strive for maximum impact on your audience, exerting whatever effort is necessary for them to receive the greatest benefit.
● Joy (A sense of well-being, often despite circumstances; may be expressed as happiness, confidence, or optimism.) Without a sense of well-being expressed as confidence and optimism, you will not have the motivation to use your skill. The strength of your own emotions gives you confidence in your ability to produce them in your audience.
● Faith or faithfulness (Firm conviction regarding something for which there is no proof; action based on such conviction.) You believe the endless hours of practice and refinement of your skills will produce the desired result.
● Perseverance (Patient endurance.) This helps you endure those seemingly endless hours of practice and skill development.

Repentance, Renewing Your Mind
(The changes you need to make in the way you think, including your attitudes, standards, priorities, and perspective.)
You must see your role as communicating through your art form and eliciting a specific response from your audience. If you have a message to present, your priority is to influence people by delivering it effectively and persuasively. Your art form creates an environment that makes people more receptive and willing to respond to your message. You serve people best when you persuade them for their own benefit and you honor them by providing exceptional quality.

Denying and Humbling Yourself
(Rejecting your own desires and self-interests. Refusing to be motivated by desire for recognition or credit for the results.)
Because you are often the center of attention, you must deliberately and forcefully reject your natural desire for recognition; otherwise, praise and applause will become your goals. You must focus your attention on your delivery and performance, and how they affect your audience’s ability to respond to your message. You also must reject the temptation to persuade others for personal benefit and focus instead on how your performance can benefit them.

Taking up Your Cross
(Accepting that which has potential for great harm, threatens to break you down, or reveals your inadequacies.)
Being assigned a project or performance that is clearly beyond your ability can easily push you to your limits. This creates the potential for failure, humiliation, and exhaustion, and forces you to face your inadequacies.

Following Jesus
(How you uniquely imitate Jesus by doing what He would in your situation.)
Jesus was a master storyteller, frequently using parables to communicate His message in a form that was extremely relevant to His listeners. People from any background could understand and remember His stories. His parables often provoked strong responses from His listeners, including life-changing decisions. Whatever your art form, His is the pattern of effectiveness you should copy.

Becoming Like a Child
(Accepting what God gives you, believing what He tells you, trusting Him to take care of you, and simply doing what He says.)
Because significant changes in attitudes or opinions are not always visible, and because people respond differently, you must deliver what God gives you even if you do not see the desired response. Learn to use your own subjectivity to sense God’s leading so you can adapt to your audience’s needs.