Hello there internet!
This is weekly art tips and I’m your host Ando!
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Alright, on to the video.
So what’s the topic for today?
(Ominous music plays) Dramatic music?
That can’t be good.
O~K, Criticism…
Soooo…
Criticism sucks.
I know that probably sounds weird coming from somebody who MAKES critique videos but I will
be the first to say that getting criticism is the worst.
And it’s kind of funny because there’s this sentiment I’ve heard a lot, along the
lines of “criticism is FUN!”
Like, seriously?
Who thinks that?!
Now, you may be thinking, wait didn’t you say: (criticism is important, I know that
sounds bonkers) yes, yes I did.
But what is important is not necessarily fun.
Let's put it this way.
Criticism is like brussel sprouts, if you say you love them you’re lying.
But just like brussel sprouts, criticism is healthy for you.
And it may not be palatable for most but if you want to get some nutrition in your diet
you are just going to have to hold your nose and eat them.
“But I want to eat cookies!” you cry!
They make me feel good, people just hand them out.
Cookies are likes and favorites on social media, they are the quick comments people
make, they say “good job!” or “So cool!”
And boy do they taste good!
Everybody loves to get cookies and there’s nothing wrong with getting cookies.
But if you try to just live off of cookies alone… your blood sugar is going to spike,
you’ll gain a lot of weight, you might need to see a doct-… uh, I think I’m kinda’
losing the analogy here...
Anyways, let’s just try to answer our theme, should beginners be expected to take criticism?
(idunno noise) This tends to be a polarizing topic, especially on art sharing websites.
On one side you have the argument that criticism is inevitable on a public forum and there
shouldn’t be exceptions to the rule just because the artist doesn’t want to hear
it, on the other side there’s the argument that harsh criticism can discourage beginners
from making art and promote bullying if taken too far.
I see points on both sides, and I don’t really think there is one good answer here.
I mean does the pro criticism side think children are subject to the same amount of scrutiny
as an adult would be?
Are they going to start critiquing grade School art fairs?
And if your opinion is that children shouldn’t be on the internet anyways, let's be realistic.
Everyone’s on the internet now.
Heck my dog probably has a better social media presence than I do.
Children are on the internet that’s just our current reality.
But, does being young and a beginner make you impervious to getting suggestions?
You need to ask yourself if having your feelings hurt is really going to discourage you from
doing what you love.
I mean there isn’t such a thing as a perfect art piece, art is subjective.
I can find issues with any piece, like this. Da Vinci, what were you thinking
with this background?
Is this supposed to be a landscape on actual earth?
It looks like the road to fricken’ Mordor.
No wonder conspiracy nuts think you were an illuminati lizard man, you’re over here
painting the Martian sand dunes in renaissance Italy.
Whatever, the point is that even masters aren’t above criticism.
Criticism is an art skill, as you learn your craft more and more you also learn to take and give
criticism better too.
And that’s really integral if you plan on working as an artist for a living.
Criticism is just part of the job despite how you personally feel about your work.
Above all you need to think of your clients and you need to take their criticism gracefully
and implement the suggestions you get into your work if you want any level of success
in the art world.
And it’s hard.
Sometimes a really brutal critique can smart for months but the best way to get out of
that funk is to know that criticism of your art is not a personal attack on you.
Distance yourself from your art and try to remember that most critics just want to help
you improve.
Really, I feel like both sides can try to be a little more open minded on this topic.
Artists, if you only want to eat cookies and somebody makes you a plate of brussel sprouts,
at least try a bite before you yell at them and slap the plate out of their hands.
Just because they made you brustle sprouts, it doesn’t mean they hate you or that you
don’t deserve your cookies, it just means that they wanted to share some health food
with you.
Also, keep in mind, just because you were given brustle sprouts, they aren’t guaranteed
to be good for you.
Some critics just don’t have the same tastes as you, but you should take them anyways and
choose whether or not to eat them later, just to be polite.
Critics, if the artist doesn’t want your brustle sprouts, don’t try to shove them
down their throat.
Some artists don’t have any desire to be healthy and that’s not your problem, take
your brustle sprouts to somebody who will enjoy them more.
Also keep in mind that sometimes an artist has had way too many brustle sprouts lately
and they are desperate for a couple of cookies.
They may get a little hangry when you offer them your brustle sprouts, try not to hold
it against them.
Also, feel free to hand out a couple of cookies with your brustle sprouts too, it makes it
go down easier.
And this goes without saying, harassment is never ok on either side.
And with that I think we’ve had enough bad food analogies for one day.
Before we end I just wanted to thank all the artists who have volunteered to have their
work critiqued by me, that takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and I’m
really grateful to you!
Also, I just wanted to say that the whole part about criticism not being fun was heavily
inspired by Tomas Jech and Jacob Gardner’s presentation Feedback Hurts, which I attended
in November.
I hadn’t ever really heard that put to words before, but I always thought that there was
always a little something off about the idea that criticism is somehow a blast, so when
they pointed it out I was just like “whoa, that!
They said it!”
Anyways they filmed the presentation and I recommend watching it, I’ll put the link
below so check it out, they are really funny and they have really solid advice.
Lastly, I didn’t mention my own personal feelings on receiving criticism, I actually
like getting brustle sprouts, in the analogy, real brustle sprouts are literally the worst
vegetables in existence, but if anybody wants to send some virtual brustle sprouts my way
either on my deviantart or in the comments I will welcome that, or if you prefer, feel
free to leave cookies, actual or metaphorical as long as they aren’t oatmeal raisin.
And thanks for watching, I’ll see you all next time!