I'm looking for opinions on giving and receiving constructive criticism.

I'm finding that recently I've got the urge to make comments on some of the art presented here, but as those comments could be viewed as critical (it's much easier to find fault) I'd like to find out if such comments would be welcome.

It should also be said that in general I find the art very impressive and would be pointing out minor "flaws" as I see them. Of course my opinions should only be taken as the views of a single person with little talent of their own.

So, is anyone actively seeking such opinions?

Kevin

(For examples of the style of comments I'm likely to make you can see the comments I've made on DPChallenge, where it's photographs that are being judged: http://www.dpchallenge.com/comment_brow ... ER_ID=5364 )

@paynekj
I think constructive criticism is great and if we do it in a way that won't hurt a persons feelings, it is the best thing you can do for an upcoming artist.
Actually, I think we are doing them a favour by pointing them in the right direction if we see something that isn't quite right.

I looked through your link and I see that you gave some very good points about cropping, brightness and so on that maybe the person didn't see for himself which I think is very helpful.


I took art at the college for 3 years and started with oils then changed over to water colours and if it wasn't for this "constructive criticism", I wouldn't have learned anything about colors, perspective and so on.

So, my answer is yes, we all need it and shouldn't be offended by it.

The forum should have a item below the user avatar to show if the user chooses "Criticisms are welcome" option in gimpchat configuration.

In my case, all the criticisms for my work are welcome. Sure, I'm not an artist and artists have a special sensitivity in this regard.

I have mainly been self taught through internet searches, so yes anything that can improve the quality of my work would be much appreciated.

I do not consider myself an artist, i can see some flaws in my work, sometimes even share my thoughts about it,
but like molly pointed out, there is a lot i don't see.
Start up with me. You got my 'criticism is welcome'.
You don't have to be polite or sugarcoat anything, i'm not very easy to offend anyway.

Criticism is nothing more than an opinion. By posting works here we all leave our works as subject to the opinions of others. Obviously, anything to the effect of "Dude, that sucks!" is probably a bit over the line of decorum, however, anything that you might do yourself to the work in question is in bounds, or it should be. I post this as someone who has a high need for constructive criticism. I'm just not very good on my own.

I think that critisim can be a good thing but I also think you then need to point the person in the direction they need to go for improving.

Rather than just posting the shadow seems to be wrong.

It would be better if I said the shadow appears to be wrong as the lighting looks to be coming from the left but the shadow is going bottom Left rather than right.

Constructive criticism, yes! I always appreciate being pointed in the right direction. For me, learning from mistakes is one of the best ways to retain the information. And when I work on something, I get to used to seeing it, and miss a lot of little things that someone else will spot right away. So yes to critiquing work, with constructive being the key.

Personally, I don't offer my critique of creative works unless it's solicited. Even then, there are certain styles/genres of art and music that I just don't get and will never like. In those cases, I'm not qualified to offer a critique.

Griatch posted a good guide to giving constructive criticism in the Art section.

On giving and taking critique

My view is that if it's put up online for all to see, then you are expecting people to give their opinions about it. If not, they should note this explicitly. Giving and taking critique both require skill, both are fundamental in improving as an artist. As mentioned I have elaborated on my views at length, in the post GnuTux links to above.
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Griatch

The problem with criticism is that unless you really know the person's ability it can hurt feelings. For instance, I posted a crappy drawing of an apple to another forum full of professional artists, I told them when I posted it that I wasn't an artist. One person had a very long list of mistakes. They meant well but it kind of disturbed me because I told them in the first place that all I was working on was lighting. Now I'll be hesitant to ever post anything there again, even though they're nice people. They held a complete beginner to their professional standards. I think the the criticizer should take the ability of the criticizee (I just invented that word) into account. The power of words can be vastly underestimated as can the damage they can do and the damage they can heal.

I like this one. Audience, indeed, matters.
Requesting critique from experienced people places you under "heavy fire", disturbing at first, but on the long term, I believe this could be a blessing.

And, about general critique, giving or receiving, I think this one is a must read:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Critique - http://akreon.deviantart.com/art/The-Hi ... -287120707

I think it depends on how it's done, it can encourage a beginner or crush them.

@Gms9810 (and thread)

It's sometimes very difficult to judge what is a "good" level of critique to give to a stranger on the web. Generally I tend to be tougher and more detailed in my critiques the more skilled the artist is (or seems to be based on the artwork) - just for the reason so as to not offer suggestions impossible to actually implement. That said, getting the tone of critique right is not always easy. There is a delicate balance between helping out and ruining someone's self-confidence.

As an artist, it's never easy to hear there are things to improve in one's art. And yet, critique is by far the fastest way to improve one's skills. To help combat any loss of self-confidence, I find that it helps to think about critique as a resource:

It's actually hard to get solid, helpful art critique on the web, much harder than you might think. This is precisely because people (including many good artists) are seeing critique as something bad, and are more afraid of ruffling feathers than of speaking up. Thus they rather shut up about any errors they see. Silence will not help you one bit. So good critique is a valuable resource. There is a reason places like DeviantArt offers special critique-giving-boxes only for paying subscribers.

That you got critique for your first image is something you should consider a great sign. It means that those "professional people" you mention took time to really look at your work. No one expects it to be perfect on your first try, I don't think you expected that either. And not only did they look at it, they saw potential in it. Potential to the level of them sitting down and spending some of their valuable time just in order to give some hints on you reaching that potential.

Think about critique that way and it becomes much easier to swallow - and make use of, as the valuable resource it is.
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Griatch

havent read all of the comments yet but I believe that we can all learn from constructive criticism.

I don't have a problem with it so I don't need to rethink it. I completely agree with what you said, I thought we were saying the same thing.

of course constructive criticism is something good, but very often we give critique that's not really constructive at all, especially when it comes to art. i mean, if cézanne had posted one of his still lifes to an art forum and twenty other artists had told him: "lovely colour work and you got the lighting just right, but the perspective is completely messed up!" - how constructive would that have been? it would just be tedious for poor cézanne to explain his style over and over again. this is something i see happen a lot. i'm sure i do it a lot myself too, it's very easily done.
i also think it's extremely important how to say things, not just because we're all sensitive about our creations but because it's easier than you'd think to give the impression that a particular piece just isn't worth the effort of working on, when in fact you meant it just the other way.
there's another thing i've thought a lot about too and that concerns giving criticism: how do we react when our criticism isn't accepted? i haven't met with this attitude here on gc, but in other forums i've been given advice on changes in my stuff and i've said something like "thank you for the feedback, but i don't want to make those changes" with the result that people feel they've wasted their time and i've been rude and inconsiderate in not taking their advice. i think maybe this is more common than you'd think, i know i've sometimes been irritated with my mum when i've tried long and hard to explain a problem with the perspective in one of her paintings and she says "okay, i see" and then leaves it as it is anyway. i try to remember that's my own problem though, and not hers! she has the right to do as she pleases with my advice.

I don't mind criticism at all as long as everybody always says good things about me and I can lie to cover mistakes. "yeah, I know that cat is blue, it's a Vulcan cat, they're supposed to be blue." Plus I reserve the right to hold my breath until I die if anybody makes me mad.

I'll also say this, it's very easy for a group, any group to get exclusive and put newcomers down. After spending 12 years in yahoo chat in one of those groups I try not to do it, unless I'm hurting really bad and not thinking straight. This is a very good board for not letting that happen though.

Interesting point. This feeling of time wasting might be solved if one answers constructive critique with an equally constructive "counter-critique", let's say that both sides need to be constructive or it will break the discussion.