To what extent do you think our lives are shaped by early stimulation, by parents, and by peers? Nature vs. Nurture? This issue has been around for ages and no one has still concluded which of the two has a greater effect on a person. I believe both contribute to a complete personality of a person. I think that parents and peers influence us while we are younger, and we become more of ourselves as we grow older. We try to come up with our own opinions rather than speaking of somebody else's as if they were our thoughts. Our personalities are shaped by the experiences we take on during our lives. Although parents and peers play a big role in our lives, we want to be unique, not like anybody else. I do believe that children are shaped by their parents, because they imprint on the actions of their parents, its safe to say that children are shaped by their parents. And that later when they're in their teen-age years, they follow what their peers do to fit in. Then when people come of age they try to become their own, so-called true self. The nature and nurture has to balance into our lives, it helps kids develop. I personally was influenced by my parents instead of my peers. Its true that they shape the kids at a young age, but that people grow to want to be individuals and not follow everyone else. I'll end my thought by sharing a quote by a famous psychologist Donald Hebb. He is said to have once answered a journalist's question of "which, nature or nurture, contributes more to personality?" by asking in response, "which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?"

As far as drawing goes, adding the muscles on our manikins definitely helped my drawing skills by knowing where all the muscles lie and overlap.