Journal Entry:
Sat Feb 9, 2013, 2:56 PM
Today, I feel like talking about critique. I love critique. Much more than praise in fact. This might be hard for some people to understand, but let me explain my psychology.
If someone decided to critique me, I would prefer it to be blunt and to the point. No sugar coating it. I'd like them to simply list off every single aspect that could be improved upon without restraint or apology. Despite what you may think, I really would love critique like that. One of the reasons is that I don't want to seem like I'm just fishing for praise when I request critique, but also because I really do want to improve myself.
When it comes to art, every victory is only temporary. My future art will always be more important to me than my past art. So when I get a brutal critique it may lower my opinion of my latest attempt, but it is also simultaneously improving something that is much more important to me.
Now about giving critique, it is my presumption that not a lot of people feel comfortable giving critique. I myself am guilty of this. Even though I love receiving critique, I'm always afraid of offending people. I'm afraid that if I critique someone, they would assume that I think that I am better than they are. Which really shouldn't be the case.
I think that everyone should be able to give critique. Everyone's perspective is valuable information because your ultimate goal as an artist should be the subjective opinion of average people (unless you're only interested in industrial design or something like that) If you create a work of art that requires technical knowledge to appreciate, but that is unappealing to the general population, I'd consider that a failure.
If anything, the problems that inexperienced people notice should be the most important problems to fix. Everyone's opinion is valid after all.
Some artists might disagree with me here. Some may think that good art is defined by technical skill alone. I don't think this is true. Fine art is subjective by definition.
"Aesthetics is for the artist as ornithology is for the birds."
— Barnett Newman
So even though I believe that everyone should be able to critique, I do suspect that most people are unlike me in that area. Therefore treating them how I would want to be treated is probably not a good idea.
I'd really love to hear your thoughts on the matter if you could spare a minute or two to share them with me.
`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
Fave this journal (it will be your number)
Watch me IF you like my art~ ;v;
Theme
.
.......... The design MUST HAVE ONLY 2 COLORS; BLACK AND WHITE
this journal 
I think it's easy to be comfortable giving critique if one is willing to put the effort into explaining things fully and respectfully -- just about anyone can take a critique if it has more the tone of explaining a cool thing they may not have known (like about how light works, for example) rather than "I expect you to fix these problems".
It's great when people do like critique and just want it straight, though. Can save a lot of time for the critiquer if the artist is willing to follow up on a critique and study stuff themselves instead of needing to have it all laid out in the critique. One of my favourite critiquers in the conceptart.org forums is very blunt and to the point, and occasionally someone unfamiliar with CA's culture will think he's being condescending, but really it's just the most straightforward way to express the idea (and he's a good artist and good critiquer, so the time he volunteers for critiquing is limited and precious).
I think a lot of people get confused about the value of criticism, because they think it means they must accept it. But really, an artist has to be critical of the criticism too -- sometimes it's mistaken. Ever tried to show a drawing to a non-artist friend or family and asked for crits? What usually happens is that they see something is wrong with it, but they often misidentify what it is exactly (like they will think the eyes look wrong, but actually it's because the nose is wrong). The more advance the artist, the less this happens, but still happens.
That might be true, but it could also be a trap.
I'm always looking to improve, and critiques help so much with that.
Most people are afraid of giving them indeed, but I guess it's a problem of mentality where they think about offending someone by making a critique. It may be true when you write a negative one and the artist you post your critique for doesn't know what a critique means.
I love getting feedback and critiques, but it's surprisingly also the thing I'm most afraid of. I've got an extreme "syndrom of Fluttershy" whenever I see people pointing out my mistakes - even the smallest ones. I've got a feeling I need to hide somewhere deep under a blanket (like there: [link] but more) and I feel I'm weak and I should give up and those things...
I don't get much critiques and feedback overall. It's a mixed blessing, because I personally believe it happens when your art is just shitty and people are "mehing" it, not even bothering to leave a comment on so weak works and you're not exposed to attack. Many people don't realise the importance of a constructive feedback (or quick comments, but throwing the same comment everywhere is an absurd (I usually check that)).
Also I critique my own work so hard, no one will ever find more flaws than I do anyways. XP
Most people find it hard to think like this, though. School and coercive parents make people feel bad for mistakes, as it makes them a worse person (or not as good as the kids who get better grades). I was fortunate in that I didn't go to school and never attached mistakes to my sense of self-worth -- mistakes are inevitable, and finding them is great: it's the only means to making progress.
If we had no mistakes, we'd be perfect and could never improve or grow or change -- and that would be dead boring. (Actually did a video about this attitude here: [link] )
I can understand how mistakes would be a more negative thing to people who grew up in normal school where if you got something wrong, you were simply a bad student and couldn't go back and fix it. If I got something wrong, it would only waste my own time trying to figure it out and no one else would ever even know about it.
I want to reiterate, though, that even if someone went through the conventional schooling system and got hangups about criticism because of it, it's still possible to change one's feelings towards criticism.
I've seen it happen, and it's a wonderful thing that both liberates an artist from fearing what others will think, and helps them to improve their work. Criticism is no longer something that can ruin one's day, but becomes a thing to consider objectively and use if it's helpful.