Akiane Kramarik

[AndromedasWake]

Last night, channel five (alarm bells!) ran a documentary, which is actually a year old, called Superhuman, in which they filmed five people with extraordinary abilities. For example a child prodigy pianist and a man with an incredible memory. What really caught my attention was the opening few minutes about Akiane Kramarik, a young artist who claims not only to be inspired by God after a 'meeting' with him aged 4, but actually taught how to paint by him too. Further research reveals it is the Christian God (of course, she does live in America.)

The clip has been uploaded to Youtube, and I encourage you to watch it so you can see why I posted here.



There's no doubt that the paintings are excellent, technique-wise (let's not get into an 'art' debate) but they're good enough to get my sceptic sense tingling. In one sketch, her handwriting does not nearly match the quality of the artwork, selective motor skills? The video quality is rather poor, here's a reasonable image showing some close-ups.

So, inspired/taught by God? Really, really good? Or elaborate hoax by the parents? I'd be sick if the latter was true, but my rational mind boggles at the former.

 

[Your Funny Uncle]

Very impressive stuff. Assuming that it is really her doing it and that she is telling the truth about her visions I'd be inclined to guess that she has some condition that both increases her artistic ability and makes her likely to hallucinate. Not being a neurologist I have no way of knowing how feasible this is but it seems more likely than being taught by god!

 

[australopithecus]

Hmmm, given the whole religious backstory it inclines me to think something strange is afoot. It wouldn't suprise me in the least if the whole thing was a giant hoax. That said, coming from an art background myself I do know that there are instances like this where kids that age are just naturally gifted, Picasso for example, so if she actually had the ability then that wouldn't suprise me either.

Third option: She is just that damn good and the parents invented the God story to makes monies off morons. It is a kind of unique selling point.

 

[Aught3]

I'd say God was definitely involved. Sneaky bugger isn't he!

 

[MRaverz]

Woah, woah, woah, God tells her an idea and she makes it BETTER?

Some God eh? :lol:


Also, if you painted as much as she did from such a young age - you'd be freakin' awesome at it too!

 

[Case]

Well...

Akiane Kramarik, is a child prodigy. Or is she? Well she has apparently been taught by God how to paint, who visited her in a dream... (ok...) well, she has some beautiful paintings to her name. So what is the problem? Well, no one has ever actually seen her paint a thing, she cannot do so apparently under anyones watching eye... seems a bit suspicious? Well, it gets worse. Her mother is a professional artist along with many other members of her family.

(http://hubpages.com/hub/whatisachildgenius)

The interesting thing is that I read some people's comments on this arguing that there was merit to the god thing since her parents were atheists (oh the logic) so her inspiration couldn't come from parental pressure. Mmh, right. It never occurred to them, apparently, that if the parents don't give a damn, they can as well claim her inspiration was divine. I think... this is a brilliant move, because they catch the people who want to believe. Plus - the paintings really are beautiful.

The trouble I have with this is.. well, if you're a 4 year old child and your arms and legs are quite short - how do you reach all points of the canvas and keep your balance? After all, at 4 years, even if your fine motor skills are excellent (and they need be if you want to draw anything that looks better than the average 18 year old's work, believe you me), your necessarily less developed gross motor skills would turn this into a bit of a challenge. But yea, all we need to test it is a pencil and a sheet of paper, really. If she can draw this well, she should be able to do it under controlled circumstances, too.

 

[5810Singer]

Well...

Akiane Kramarik, is a child prodigy. Or is she? Well she has apparently been taught by God how to paint, who visited her in a dream... (ok...) well, she has some beautiful paintings to her name. So what is the problem? Well, no one has ever actually seen her paint a thing, she cannot do so apparently under anyones watching eye... seems a bit suspicious? Well, it gets worse. Her mother is a professional artist along with many other members of her family.

(http://hubpages.com/hub/whatisachildgenius)

The interesting thing is that I read some people's comments on this arguing that there was merit to the god thing since her parents were atheists (oh the logic) so her inspiration couldn't come from parental pressure. Mmh, right. It never occurred to them, apparently, that if the parents don't give a damn, they can as well claim her inspiration was divine. I think... this is a brilliant move, because they catch the people who want to believe.

Did you read ALL of that article Case? Including the part at the end where it seamlessly turns into this: "How you can maximise your potential, and achieve what you want out of life?"

Which is followed by these three links:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Become-a-fully-functioning-person-in-2009

http://hubpages.com/hub/Sexy-Confident-and-Happy

http://hubpages.com/hub/lifesuccess


I'm wary of accepting anything this site tells me, in light of the fact that they seem to be advertising/promoting "self-help" literature of the "snake-oil" kind.

 

[Case]

I generally ignore all advertising, if that's what you're getting at. It's completely irrelevant - what's relevant is what is said there: if she's never been observed while painting something start to finish (her relatives don't count), and she's unwilling to do so, I call it a hoax. You are welcome to present evidence against that notion. I will accept the following as evidence for the fact that she's a child prodigy:

an unedited video of her painting a picture from start to finish which reflects the level of technical prowess shown in "her" other paintings.

Your witness.

p.s.: Was it also god who told her to sell the paintings?

 

[5810Singer]

I generally ignore all advertising, if that's what you're getting at. It's completely irrelevant - what's relevant is what is said there: if she's never been observed while painting something start to finish (her relatives don't count), and she's unwilling to do so, I call it a hoax. You are welcome to present evidence against that notion. I will accept the following as evidence for the fact that she's a child prodigy:

an unedited video of her painting a picture from start to finish which reflects the level of technical prowess shown in "her" other paintings.

Your witness.

p.s.: Was it also god who told her to sell the paintings?

WHAT ADVERTISING?

The part I quoted is the end of the article you linked to! Get it?

 

[5810Singer]

BTW Case,...have you noticed that the author of the article you linked to, "riotgrrrl", is also the author of the three "self-help" articles that I left links to?

Reliable witness? Conflict of interest? Someone who'll write any bullshit she can copypasta from somewhere as long as it agrees with the marketing profile and pays her wages?

I'm going with option three.

 

[Case]

Please, I don't like herring, especially not if it's red.

Are you seriously doubting that that is advertising? Good grief. Plus - you still haven't presented even a shred of evidence that this girl has actually painted anything herself. So I'll still go with 'hoax'. Try again. Without double posting if possible. It hurts my eyes.

 

[ArchyFantasies]

The Homeschooling thing has me a bit suspicious, especially after the comment that she's never been seen working from start to finish. "She only studies the things she wants to study" so that means no math? How can she develop critical thinking skills of she's never challenged by a subject? I really have an issue with that, and IF her parents are truly Atheists, they are doing a poor job by not teaching her critical thinking, and not having her examined after clams of seeing god.

my two sense....

rtr

 

[5810Singer]

Please, I don't like herring, especially not if it's red.

Are you seriously doubting that that is advertising? Good grief. Plus - you still haven't presented even a shred of evidence that this girl has actually painted anything herself. So I'll still go with 'hoax'. Try again. Without double posting if possible. It hurts my eyes.

The article you linked to has the same author as the bullshit, "snake-oil" "self-help"
articles,.....and you still think it's a reliable source?

I'm not claiming anything for, or against Akiane Kramarik, I'm pointing out that the article you linked to is unreliable.

 

[Case]

p.s.: She's 15/16 now so she can't be a child prodigy anymore either way. So I'm changing my statement to:

I will accept the following as evidence for the (purported) fact that she's really the painter of "her" paintings:
an unedited video of her painting a picture from start to finish which reflects the level of technical prowess shown in "her" other paintings.

p.p.s.: Look, a less talented actor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf8TW1p-gr0.

It's not hard to prove your child is actually talented, all it takes is a canvas and some tools:

Notice the small canvases. Easier for children to paint that way.

See, the trouble with big canvases is this...

That aside, http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=71646 and http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=51173 discuss the topic, too. Interesting reads and links.

Watch these... and tell me what you notice about her choice of words and what you see in her body language.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YdIVeBo8SE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3YquZccl6Q (5:25 - she says she started painting at 8... odd..)
http://suprememastertv.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=featured&wr_id=531&goto_url=

To put it simple: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUB4j0n2UDU @ 3:55

... what an eclectic mess of a post. :lol:

 

[pop]

There are 3 disturbing things in this video :?

* 1) the narrator says that akiane is self-taught, because "no one in her family is an artist" , but I have seen an interview where she admits that everyone in her family is an artist. ??

*2) akiane says she can make anything that God gives to her better. ??

*3) akiane's mom talks about how akiane loves painting, but then says '" but what she really loves is publishing(sounds like a way to gain more book sales).

 

[Laurens]

So God chooses to help a little girl out by making her rather good at painting, meanwhile thousands of children die of starvation and disease.

What a guy!

 

[Andiferous]

1) I find the age hard to believe, given the pictures. the detail and technique in the peices seem far too advanced for someone without schooling. Yes, some stuff can be 'picked up,' but art is far more complex than it seems.
2) "Giftedness" is in the eye of the beholder. For some absurd reason, my own parents had my own art "evaluated" and graded when I was two years old because they believed I was "gifted." I've still got no effing clue how they were able to rank me on a percentle - seems ludicrous. I wonder what the 'gifted' scale is on this stuff - but it seems apparently that people love giftedness.
3) I've nothing to criticise about subject matter. Her beliefs are her own. If she's being manipulated, I've got a couple choice words for that.
4) If it's all real, then kudos for technically skilled compositions.

 

[pop]

found some other weird thing


1) govt. intervention: there was a video referring to akiane fraud, but it was blocked by the 3rd party. ?

 

[varit]

does this documentary really take her god claim seriously? I doubt it. You guys are probably taking her god claim a lot more seriously than channel 5. I think most viewers would say -what an incredibly talented person- and be wowed by her amazing art, and how sometimes people when young can be much better than people older than they. Are there lots of theists taking it so seriously , like a miracle to base faith on? or very much greater than "miracles" like the sun "rising" or a baby being born? I don't think they are, though I haven't watched it. How old was she there? 12? 14? that's a lot of years to learn, not like she just popped out. And now she's 16. I bet many people here are not over 20 and not long ago were 16, and did at least something a bit clever at 12 so she's cleverer than you and me at art, much cleverer, and that's not a miracle. If she did it she clearly has an amazing mind for this. If fraud or not isn't of consequence, apart from for her and her family I suppose..

 

[es mer]

...akiane's mom talks about how akiane loves painting, but then says '" but what she really loves is publishing.

Where did you see/hear that??


And what you people think about it? Her the most famous painting is PRINCE OF PEACE.
And this
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth..." ??