An Art Critique Idea!

So... I was inking just a minute ago, and I thought of something <O.@> This may be stupid >.>; but...

In the interest of all of us trying to improve our art skills, I've come up with an idea for critiquing work that'll allow perhaps a little more depth to a critique. As they say, 'a picture is worth a thousand words' - so...

What if we were to say "I love this piece but I think you should..." and then circle the image slightly, and post up the version with the circle? Err... I'll make an example >.>

Un-critiqued

Critiqued

And afterward explain what the marks mean?

Its purely an idea >.> to give more focus to given areas.

(Like in this piece... I think the hair up top needs more shading, she needs an ear (oops!), and I didn't give her neck enough depth I don't think.

I dunno, what do you all think? >.> Good? Bad? It was one of those random "out of the blue" thunderbolts hehe <,<

I suspect perhaps this wasn't such a great idea hehe <^_^>;;;;

<hides original post in the briney depths> <,<;; It was just one of those random things that struck me <@_@> apparently slightly too hard! <,< Jarred something loose <. .>;

I think its a pretty good idea. It helps make you more cognative of your own thoughts and stuff.

If I was going to add any more critigueage it would be:

Depth. Most of the coloring and shading makes it look pretty flat. You have some shadows under the jaw line and in the hair. But not enough. Throw in somehighlights in the body of the hair. Extend the shadows.

I have a slight addition to this idea that I think will push it to the next level of yummy goodness:

Everyone draw pictures of my toons, so we have a new standard for comparison. TA and Kat are overexposed, so my guys will be perfect! Okay, get started!

[ QUOTE ]
I have a slight addition to this idea that I think will push it to the next level of yummy goodness:

Everyone draw pictures of my toons, so we have a new standard for comparison. TA and Kat are overexposed, so my guys will be perfect! Okay, get started!

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol >.>;;

I think it is a fine idea... but do you want us to do it with our own pieces... or someone elses?

Well... my *thought* was that we'd do it for other people's work >.>

Like, ok for example; you put out your latest thing right - and as per usual, people see the occasional fiddly-bits, as we do our best to critique eachother so we can grow and get better!

So, instead of just saying "I think your <insert part of pic> is off..." You could copy the pic, then circle the problem area, and describe it... I guess to sort of focus it a little better.

I think it'd also have the added benefit, that for those who maybe aren't as advanced as the person being critiqued and the person giving the critique, of seeing things to look out for even as they grown into their own art skill.

(Example: Say you put out a piece, and DarkJedi saw a tiny thing wrong with it, and circled that thing and explained the problem - not only could you fix it; but those of us who aren't as good, would be able to think "ahh, thats something we should look out for too!")

I dunno <,< it was one of those random 'bolt from the blue' things <,<

What if the artist doesn't want circles on their piece? But doesn't mind the critique?

There is nothing wrong with this idea. It just is critique. If someone puts up a work and actually wants comments not just the encouraging "wow, that is amazing" than what is wrong with the person who is giving advice copying the image, and circling some spots to show what s/he is talking about? We can't point through the internet, so this is the next best thing.

Well there's nothing wrong with it, if the policy is known to everyone. But what if someone new comes in, excited to show their piece not knowing, and comes back to find 4 posts of circle copies?

I personally would prefer a good description, rather then the circles. But that's just me.

On another art site I was on, it was frowned upon to draw over another person's work as part of a critique. It was thought of as "well draw more like me"...

I'm not saying it will go that far, just that among those that really want the help, there's no problem. But possibly to an outsider, it could be taken the wrong way.

I think that kind of thing should be asked for by the poster, a simple acronym or whatever... "OK4CRIT" or "OOO".

This is to just say that if I spend 2 hours out of my day drawing a piece and I post it thinking I'm about to make them happy. Only to comeback to the thread and see circles on how I can improve a piece I already think is finished... it could be a little annoying.

Understandable that everyone CAN and should improve, but do you really want to tell people they should redraw something until it passes some kind of group inspection?

I'm new to this forum, so I hope I'm not insulting anyone. My vote for myself is no, but if you guys decide this is the route to go, I'll follow the pack and crit the same way.

After all it's always up to the artist whether or not they will follow said advice. Okay hoping the DBS Server bug is over, ciao...

Well, it was just an idea hehe <~_~>

It should work. As long as the poster says they are looking for critiques. If there is no metion of wanting critiques, then don't hack it to bits with the red pen. The original is still left untouched, so that's not a huge deal as far as that goes. Just need to make certain that the person isn't just sharing.

Redlining for critique is not new, but it's something that the individual artist should have control over. I wouldn't say encourage *every one* to do this with *whatever piece* they want to.

On DeviantArt it's all descriptions - I have only ever had to send a redline once, when the person was really just not seeing what I was seeing. Perhaps if someone leads a post with "Redline me!" it'd be all right. It is just a fact of life on the net that some people can't stand to have their work touched by anyone, no matter with what intent.

Be nice if we could get a sub forum, just for crits... then we'd know that it was okay to do whatever.

Most art websites have a seperate forum for professional crits, and a series of things to consider when giving the crit... ie talking about it's composition, perspective, line quality, color, etc.

Sometimes it's quite brutal, and most of the artists expect that, because they feel it's the only way to learn. I disagree with that, I think you can be reafirming (sp) and logical over straight to the point and crass, which is what I have seen as the norm.

A good crit is a thing of beauty, it not only helps the one artist but others as well. It's not a singular put down of what is wrong with the piece, that is obvious even to the artist. They know what they want to create, they just what points on how to get there.

My best friend growing up was the kind of artist I wasn't. When I looked at his drawings, they had endless patterns and detail I wanted in my own work. Years later he asked me for help on how to learn watercolors and painting. And we even collaborated on a few with his line work, and my color finish.

Point being that we had that nice trade off because we were together all the time. For a starting artist, it's not that easy to find a peer who can help you that way, outside of a formal teacher. It's one thing to get a crit from a gaming board, and a whole other thing to study traditionally.

You guys have a pretty supportive community here, a crit forum would make it that much better.

Btw since I'm so late, is there a link page on artists we like or websites in the industry? Here's an old one, but it was a breaking point for me... check this out:

Comic Color.com - click on the tutorials.

LJ

Hehe, yeah, we have a great community here - This is the first place outside of college I've gotten critiques because other places have been too intimidating.

Thats the reason I suggested this, because everyone is very helpful here - but quite uplifting too, they don't brutalize you; instead, they'll give you at least one 'I like' along with any negative - and usually the "I likes" far outweigh the "I think you need to..."s

There's a difference between a critique and criticism; a critique is all about constructive criticism; just flat criticism is assessing the value of the work on a basis of whatever scales the critic feels like using. Regular criticism (in my mind) should be reserved for people who are established artists; the kind who are putting out professional stuff on a regular basis etc...

A critique is meant as a learning tool and *should* if done right; be uplifting. I find it far far more depressing to see no comments on a drawing than to have 10 or so 'You could work on" types really >.>

Oh well, anyway, it was just a thought; I'd never heard of this kinda thing being done (my art education is relatively limited; and there was very little ability to draw on someone's work without ruining it - a luxury we have here on the forums); so it was just something I thought about <~.~> anyways

Ack I don't want to rain on your parade squirrel... it was a good idea that's brought about a lot of good discussion. keep them coming as far as I'm concerned.

Just found this, it's decent basics - Drawing Superheroes

LJ

Sorry hehe <~_~> bit hypersensitive the last few days; trying not to be though! I go through times like this <x-x> when I'm really in a creative mood... I'm also very easy to mess up <x,x>; I should probably have mentioned that somehwere before lol; I'm just a wee bit hard to deal with (I sure try not to be though >.&lt