~SacredCandybar

Well, this is interesting.

Anyway, I recently got a...well, I guess you can call it a critique, on a recent picture I uploaded on another art site, and I've been going through other's pictures and seeing how they've handled less than flattering critiques, how others have handled critiques of others work, and reflecting on some of the more nasty "critiques" I've received. So, you're all wondering where this is leading. Well, I remember someone once told me, "Sometimes you need to be harsh to get results." What do you think? Personally, I don't think you have to be harsh to get results. In fact, I believe if you're too harsh (OK, harsh at all), then we go backwards with the artistic progress. I mean, think of it from the artist's point of view. This is probably something they love doing (why the hell else would they be wasting their time doing it?!?!), they've probably put a lot of time and effort into the piece, reworked some things, gone back, redone whole sections, probably looked at the thing towards the end and thought, "Wow, I really did good!" and they felt proud of themselves and of their work, and were feeling accomplished. Then some stranger comes along, says two words about how something about this isn't right. Suddenly all of those good feelings of accomplishment are gone. To think, all of that work, and it's all undone by a few words by some stranger on the Internet.

It's not to say that all critiques are bad. I've gotten a few nice, helpful ones. But I've also gotten my share of bad ones. I'll tell you why they were bad, so I don't look like a butthurt, kay?

For one thing, they were one way critiques. While they told me what was wrong with the picture, they never told me how I could improve upon it. Example (btw, this was the entire comment):

"The leg is deformed."

OK, so I can't draw legs. I'm very sorry about that. I feel real badly that I've disappointed you so. Now...how exactly is the leg deformed and what steps can I take to rectify this?


...

Right. Nothing.

Another thing. While those types of critiques MAY add a little sumthin' on how to fix it, they never go into detail about WHAT we need to fix, and SPECIFICALLY HOW we do that. Example:

"Draw from life more." or "Observe real animals."

Yes, I agree, drawing from real life is probably the best way to learn anatomy and movement, and all those lovely things we need to be "real artists". But...why not make it a tad easier and, oh, I don't know, tell us maybe which part of said animal we need to observe, maybe even telling us what we should do, say, if the leg it too long in one place, tell us which part of the leg is too long and that we should shorten that part of it, maybe elongate another part of the leg? I'm just speculating.

The point is, I think the ideal, helpful critique can be polite, encouraging, a little humbling, and helpful. But most of all, I think the ideal critique should, after being read, make the artist feel hopeful that they can excel at their trade, not feel that they're wasting their time pursuing something that they're no good at. I mean, for all of you, no matter what you do, isn't that the way you want to feel about your passions? Like you're exceptional, like you've got a chance? That you've got that special something inside of you, and if you keep with it, you could be one of the greats someday?

*sigh* This just turned out to be a giant vent post, didn't it? Well, I'd still like to get some feedback. What do you think? Does a critique have to be harsh to get the desired results from an artist? Or can critiques be nice and gentle, and still get good results?


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