Criticism?

Constructive Criticism is always good. It helps people better themselves as writers/artists/and just general employees.

People get too defensive anymore though. Oh well.

 

People are too defensive. I've lost count of the times people get pissy over their art getting criticized when they flat asked "what do you think?"

 

I think constructive criticism is great. Are people really sensitive about being criticized? I think so. I think someone being critical of someone else can easily be viewed as not just an attack on the work, but a personal attack.

So, for example, someone spends 20 hours working on a painting only for someone to walk up and spend two seconds looking at it and say "It sucks" and move on. Depending on the artist they will take this as meaning "You suck... as a person."

I see people all the time online getting bent out of shape about someone being critical of their art. I think the lesson to take away from it though is that if you are going to put yourself out there you have to be ready to be picked apart and learn to separate actual constructive criticism from someone with an over inflated ego and an inferiority complex telling you that you are no good because they can't do what you did.

 

Constructive criticism is great, the problem is most people don't have a damn clue how to give it!

My friend just posted a picture she drew to facebook and got some constructive criticism to the effect of "Take a look at the left arm, the elbow looks as if it's pointed in the wrong direction" - constructive. Usually I see "The fucks wrong with her arm?!"

In addition, constructive criticism is fine depending on the source! If I'm telling a story, and another storyteller or teacher tells me a way they think it could be improved if I tell it again, fantastic, if some random guy whose never told a story in his life tells me 'yeah but you should have done this', it may be accurate but it IS irritating. This is particularly relevant I find in art. I can pick out when someone has messed up a piece of art, but I can't draw for shit! If someone asks me about it great, but it's not my place to turn around and tell someone what they SHOULD have done knowing full well that the BEST I could produce isn't even as good as something they fucked up!

 

I think constructive criticism is good. I think artists and writers need to develop thicker skin, especially if they're going to put their work out on the internet where everyone can see it. That being said, there's a distinct difference between having a personal style and just plain bad art.

As for artists needing a some knowledge of anatomy, yeah, that would be nice. My uncle who does small press comics told me that sometimes, something can be anatomically correct but not look right, which is true, but that's no reason to throw your copy of Anatomy for Artist out the window.

 

Ah, constructive criticism. Given properly, it should not require thick skin to accept.

What's needed for good criticism is tact from the giver, and humility from the taker. If a fanfic reviewer says "This character feels a lot like a Mary Sue who was never in real danger", that should be a cue to the writer that they have created somebody to be too awesome. That's constructive criticism because it helps the writer understand what's wrong and how they should go about fixing it.

However, if a reviewer just says "x character is boring", that's not constructive. That's a vague insult that will only hurt the writer. Even if he or she has the famous "thick skin", what is to be done about a boring character? The writer then has the choice to either accept that somebody doesn't like their story for whatever reason, or waste time playing a guessing game as to what should be changed and maybe wrecking their original idea.

TL;DR:

 

Completely agree with this.

This obviously isn't true for everyone, but many people in today's society blame others (or think they're too perfect to be criticized) when they receive criticism for their failures rather than take responsibility, and use the criticism to improve.

America's education system is a perfect illustration of this.

 

Any form of criticism on my work makes me cringe, but constructive criticism is needed. It helps take an author's perspective out of a bubble and address flaws, smooth over rough edges.

Plus, it's more fun to share written work with others. :3

I also think there is a fine line between opinion and critique. Listening to constructive criticism helps to identify advice from just opposing opinions.

 

Yeah, I think people giving criticism need to understand how to deliver it constructively so that it actually is "constructive criticism", as in it builds up by tearing down, and is not unproductive nonsense.

 

There is too much criticism. It is absolutely annoying. Criticising artwork is especially stupid. One piece of artwork looks like rubbish to one person while to another person it is God in the form of crayons. So it is all opinions.

When someone criticises me I tell them to shove it up their arse. Didn't ask for it for a start. So yeah...f criticism and f*ck those people who give it hahahahahahahhahahaha

 

Yes, constructive criticism is definitely a good thing. I hate it when people tell me they like my drawings/writing/whatever just because they're worried about offending me, especially when it's blatantly obvious that they're lying. I'd rather have my work criticized so that I can go back and create something amazing that will get genuine praise than stick with something crappy that will only get half-assed compliments.

 

It seems most people consider constructive criticism to be "lol you fail at life you ***" so I would say people are being too senseless.

 

They say that to excel at something requires 10,000 hours of practice, but what they don't say enough is that the quality of that practice matters as well, and this can only be achieved with continuous feedback.

 

Well, I'm more talking about about people who ask for criticism and then get bent out of shape when their asses aren't being kissed/the art worshiped. Generally, it's kids doing shitty manipulations who are trying to be "realistic" and don't bother to keep in mind light direction.

 

I love constructive criticism. As an artist, I always take it as the artwork having another brain in it. 2 is better than 1. Usually, I'll get things that point out specifics like "This needs some roughing out, I don't like the way this is cut, etc." or something like "I like how this is cut, but it's in the wrong direction. We need to do this because that's what it's about."

I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my work, so I'll usually get the impression that what I'm shooting for is what I get, but I shouldn't have been doing that in the first place.

I also hate it when people just say "It's good" and almost nothing else. I mean yeah, yay we're done, but do you REALLY think it's that good, when we have time to fix things that you may see?

 

I love constructive criticism, I believe it really helps to get an outside opinion about one's art. But some people are to sensitive and get a little pissy about getting an opinion they don't like.
But I hate it went people just say, "That's cool." or "oh, that's weird" when I ask for feed back like someone posted above, it's way to vague.

 

Criticism, to me, is all about the way it is delivered. The nuances make for a huge difference as to how I will respond and would expect someone else to respond.

 

It may hurt the ego but editing and re-editing can greatly improve your writing. The first draft is rarely perfect.

 

This exactly. If you say it like my dad does (The fuck were you thinking? What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you read? etc.) that's only going to piss them off and cut them down.