Guide to Criticism

So, this may just be me, however when I have works set for "Critique Requested," I tend to get comments on the deviations, and they are usually harsh in a sense. I understand that I am not that good of an artist, and my work is full of flaws. However, some of the comments I have received towards one of my latest pieces shocked me. In a way, they came off to me as rude. However, I stepped back, took a deep breath and tried to look at it from a helpful point of view, which worked.

However, for some deviants who are impulsive and were to read these comments as insults towards their work, the ending result may very well be different. An example would be "omg! How dare you hate on my art! I worked so hard and long on it!" Now, we ALL know that this will end up creating dArama. It always has, and probably always will. The worst is when a deviant does not even request critique and receives it.

So, how do we improve this critique/criticism system? There is no one huge fix for this, because there will always be someone out there who cuts straight to the point. There are multiple guides and tutorials on the site that offer help for writing a good critique, however, a lot of people don't seem to read them. In fact, I doubt that those people would even be reading this. A fix would be a case by case, deviant by deviant change of attitude. This is an impossible task, however if efforts are taken to attempt to inform people, then who knows what sort of change can occur.

Criticism: When it comes to deviations, they tend to be comments that point out what is "wrong" or needs to be improved upon.

"The girl's arm is way too fat which makes it almost obese."

In this example, which was written by a deviant, it simply states what does not look correct. This is just plain criticism, and you have to understand that the deviant is trying to help understand the flaws, though it sounds almost harsh in a way. This is a sentence that can be taken multiple ways, helpful, hurtful, are the two opposite ends of the spectrum.

Criticism only states what is not consistent with the deviation, needs to be worked upon, and does not offer any further advice. Making points without backing them up with anything that would be considered helpful. That was a regular criticism on a deviation. This often hurts the deviant who receives it, because of how it can be viewed as an attack by some deviants, especially those who are wicked proud of their drawing.

Constructive Criticism: This is what most deviants look for, this includes stating what needs to be worked on, and advice or links to help the artist improve for future pieces.

"You should work on your perspective more. When i bring this up I mean the stairs behind them. They look less like stairs, and more like a 90 degree wooden slide. Look up online on how to draw in three point perspective, that should be enough for most drawings."

This example is from another comment that I received on the same deviation. This is very helpful, because the deviant explains what the background and perspective look like to him, and suggests to look up the three point perspective system. Although this may sound harsh to some people, he goes beyond just saying "work on your perspective" and makes a suggestion to further improve.

Constructive Criticism is all about helping the artist advance to a point far beyond where they are now. A lot of times it is difficult to see what needs improvement from the first person point of view, so bringing in a third person point of view can really be helpful.

Also, it is important to read the artist comments. A lot of times they will drop "Easter egg" hints, such as "haha yeah, I know I messed up on the coloring, but I guess that's what I get for coloring while half asleep." If you read a comment that already points out a mistake, then there is little need to address it. Artists comments are important to read, the artists thoughts are in there, if a deviant says "I'm so proud of this, I worked for days, and I think this is my best piece yet." Write your criticism/critique around that fact. Don't say that it is "below average" or "poor" work, acknowledge the effort, and then mention what could be improved on and include advice. There are many tutorials on DeviantART that focus on specific subjects, such as hair, hands, eyes, face. So if you are unable to suggest how to improve, link the deviant to a tutorial that may help them. Everyone I have linked to a tutorial has been thankful and did not know it was there.

So remember, if you are going to critique a deviation or provide criticism, do not just mention what is "wrong" or what needs to be improved. Go at least one step forward and offer advice on how to improve. If you back up your criticism with support, then the deviant is more likely to thank you rather than attack you.

tl;dr: Criticism, "the arm is too fat", Constructive Criticism; "The perspective is off, look up the three point perspective and that should help you in further drawings." Please, write constructive criticism, it keeps the dArama Llamas at bay.