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Five pages... *crawls through the debris*
So... my take on it. Whether or not you want it, people are GOING to comment, critique, praise. Any number of those. Hey, maybe even a flame. Artists need to learn a new art: taking a critique. Because taking a critique is an artform in and of itself...
Juggy, if you really want to improve, you have GOT to develop a thick skin for comments like that. Maybe you agree with them, maybe you don't. Water off a duck's back. But what happens when you answer in the format you have, regardless if you wanted a critique or not, it makes you seem like a whino. As if you're trying to cover up for the inadequacies of the piece. They look like excuses... and it's unprofessional. You can lose jobs that way. Because bosses do not want to deal with artists like that. Hell there might be art directors surfing this thread even now.
Instead, you could have simply stated, "Hey, thanks for the critique, I'll take it into consideration for my next piece!" and be done with it. It makes you look professional, it makes you look like you've taken their comments into consideration...and you're done!
When I pitch storyboards, sometimes my jokes get cut down by my director. When I design something, my boss will draw on top of it to show me what I need to improve. I have to take everything with a grain of salt. Most of the time, when it's another artist that I've dealt with, usually I can learn from it. But really, any time I get a critique, I listen. Even if I don't agree, even if it wasn't asked for... I listen and take things into consideration and make notes for later. You wont always get your way with directors or bosses, but what those people like to hear, is that what they said, even if it's not agreeable to you, is that they've been HEARD, and that they were addressed. That's it. That's all..
Remember: Thick Skin...
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Fine advice Sayterra... and I do not disagree. I've been on this board long enough, and learned enough from it, to know that I need help. I've had some great comments on my work from the likes of Doug, The PMD, and others. And in turn, I hope they respected it when I commented on theirs.
If it seems like whining, maybe that's how it seems. This is the internet and things can seem many ways to many people. To me, it simply seemed annoying.
It's obvious that this was a "requested" fan art piece and that the person requesting it was happy with it. If you see someting you don't like... saying so is fine. But when doesit go over the line?
If Doug does up a (possibly expensive) piece for someone, and spends HOURS on it, it's far too easy for someone to come along and devalue it by insisting on certain things.
I think you may have missed that the "critic" came back a number oftimes to that thread to emphasize their point. To me, that starts to border on trolling. Fine, give your point, if it's take, ok - if not, then move on. But to try to push it on the artist and the person requesting it - even if they dissagree - is just wrong.
Sayterra, you gave the example of a professional environment, lets go with that. You're working on a piece from your editor and you finish it upand give it to her. She likes it and you like it. But some guy in the office does not. You listen to their point, yet both ofyou disagree with it. No biggy right? But then that same coworker keeps coming by your desk and insisting they are right.
You telling me that it wouldn't get annoying?
((The truth is, all of this could have been handled by a polite PM instead. I come to these boards primarily because of the pride peple take in their heroes. It's a joy to see how mch people put into them - art or otherwise. When soeone tries to burst that joy... it's discouraging))
