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Kifu's nitpicky personal RULES by Forgess

Helpful minds are brilliant and wonderful and I am glad they exist.

Every day I'm thankful for critique that is offered to me. I am not a perfect artist, and never will be. I will never be truly happy with my work. but I am allowed to be pleased.

HOWEVER.

There ARE rules.

These rules are more related to common sense and courtesy than anything.

If you weren't ASKED to critique something....

DON'T.

Just do not do it. ESPECIALLY on a piece that has been declared finished.

Why? Because if it was a commission, it means the artist needs money, and if they need money, then they have more than one commission to complete, and their time is money.

Needless to say, unless YOU are the commissioner, then it's not yours. Someone paid for it and asked for it that way.

If there IS something wrong, then it's more than likely I already know about it and don't need it to be pointed out.

Trick to being an artist: If the client doesn't say anything, then I get away with less work, and everyone's happy, and I have more time to work on other things.

It's not me being lazy, its me capitalizing on my time. I have a lot to do. I'm being paid to make someone happy with my art. If they're happy, that's all that matters.

If I suddenly get someone saying: Hey you could work on life drawing more, your proportions/anatomy is off, or you could study color theory more I cant see xyz, or you could take more looks at lighting a reflection, you need work on that....

RIGHT under a commissioned work... FIRST: I KNOW. I need all the help I can get. SECOND: That is RUDE. Leaving it out in the open for the commissioner to see, and then feel obligated to dish out even more money to get it "fixed". This isn't a bad thing, but from an artist's perspective: I get to watch the happiness disappear and turn into something else until it's 'fixed'.

It's ANNOYING. IRRITATING.

Here's how to fix this:

IF you have advice to offer, SEND A NOTE.

Link me to the piece. Let me know: Hey, I noticed it looks blurred, or there's a tangent here, or instead of this angle.. blablabla.... try this, or look at this reference here and see how xyz, etc.

THIS is so much more helpful. And respectful.

Only critique when ASKED.

OR.

Offer it privately.

This just shows you care. Shows your honesty, and genuine want to see my improvement. And it makes for a much brighter day.

This rule may not apply to everyone. This is a ME rule. I'm putting this out there so I don't end up yelling at someone "out of the blue". That wouldn't be fair.

So in fair warning, I'm posting this.

Let me know what you think, or tell me your opinion! I'd love to hear!

-Ki

Kifu's nitpicky personal RULES

Forgess

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Comments

  • Link

    Hear, hear!

  • Link

    I did love one piece that I commissioned once where someone was commenting 'wolves don't look like that'. I mean really? The artist got to reply to it before I could, but it was exactly what I had asked for. I think the artist's comment was along the lines of 'He pays me, I draw it'.

    If someone offers an opinion such as 'I would have done it like this....' I suppose that's not quite the same as they are just expressing how they would have done something.

    Sometimes I find that artists don't always enjoy a full liberty commission as they have no direction to what the person is after and they can worry that they will not deliver something that will be liked. I wouldn't offer someone a commission I didn't think they would be able to produce a result I would be after. Often I've found just a little direction it nice to give, like when I asked you in a stream 'Draw me a big cat'. I got exactly what I wanted a big cat. I didn't know what I was after, but I enjoyed your style and quality of work so it made sense to me. For one of my fursuits I went to the builder and said 'make me a German Shepherd'. Although they did get colours black and tan. I wanted a surprise and I got once each time. Even if the surprise isn't perfect or wasn't something I would have thought of asking for I still like the whole point of something random.

    • Link

      Indeed! I like that. "He pays me, I draw it."

      • Link

        With the internet though it's increasingly about instant comments and feedback. The viral video was created by the internet since it allowed a share with a click and simple system to 'rate' and 'like'. So people tend to get shorter and shorter with their ability to know when to hold back or just stop and think.

        • Link

          That is an EXTREMELY good point, I never even thought of that.

          • Link

            I would say though that sometimes artists don't help themselves with things. Sometimes I've had no response to enquiries for months and had to wait years for commissions. A simple and regular update keeps people much happier, even if it's being sent BCC to everyone with an update on their position and progress. It's rather unfair on commissioners to be fully paid up in advance and then be left hanging on with no sign of what they paid for. It's been compounded by artists vanishing off the net and sometimes reappearing with a new name and then going again. Then things end in an almost stand off point where good artists have been burned by bad commissioners and the same for the good commissioners with bad artists.

            • Link

              Amen to that. I have experience in both arenas.

  • Link

    *raises glass to ALL DIS*

  • Link

    Very much all this. I once had to deal with someone critiquing the way I drew the face of a character for the client. It was exactly what the client wanted, they had specified that they wanted the character's head to look like a regular deer head... no matter how many times I told this person that I had drawn what the client wanted, they kept up with this "well it's anthro, you should throw in some human features to make it fit with the body".

    So in short, yes I understand your feelings and agree that critique should be given when it is asked for, or offered in private when it isn't specificially requested.

    • Link

      Oh man, I'm so sorry! That's just bothersome. >:T Did it ever get resolved, or did you have to resort to just no longer responding?

      • Link

        Eventually they stopped responding, but they wrote some post on a critique group (we both just happened to be members) about artists making excuses while being critiqued.

        • Link

          Yeah... I wonder if you and I happened to bump into this person.... I had a similar experience, save I noted them... they had a very passive aggressive response and basically said I wasn't good enough to follow, and they only stumbled upon be by the random deviant generator. 9_9 They'd never be heard from again. Which was sad, they were well on their way to becoming a magnificent artist. They were just young...

          • Link

            May be.

            I mean, shoot, I really appreciate when people give me useful critiques but when someone is just going to harp on something that a customer specifically requested it gets pretty annoying. I also am not fond of when a critique reads more like they are just talking AT me and not TO me.

  • Link

    "I am not a perfect artist, and never will be."

    Never say never! Look at my work for example

    and compare it to yours. Lol

    C'mon, your one hell of an artist! Your stuff is REAL

    good.

    You make me jealous :( *sniff*

    But all in all, I like what you said here. This is exactly

    how I feel at times. Hrm...maybe I should make

    a journal like this too.

    • Link

      Well... This was mostly just me sharing how I personally feel about the whole thing.... it's not really a public service announcement.... more of a "This is how to approach Kifu" announcement. ;D

      • Link

        Lol, I laughed at the comment there. That's a good one, but ah, I understand now.

  • Link

    I hate this a lot. I went through a lot of ups and downs about my work because of some instances. Especially when people re-post the work into their own galleries. People can rip the piss out of the commission in the comment section, and assume it's alright because the artist isn't the one receiving them. I kinda....stopped checking on my commissioners after that. :c

    • Link

      O_O OH GOSH. Are you serious!? DX That's horrible!!! Why would they do that!!! If they were dissatisfied with something why didnt they toss in a few extra bucks and have it tweaked?! DX STUPID. STUPID people. And RUDE.

  • Link

    Sorry but I gotta critique something. The lighting on your journal text is not very good. It needs more shading. Looks really flat as is. X)

    • Link

      Hear, Hear! This piece is FAR too UNDERRATED! The grammar is far too impeccable with all the "you's" and "for's" actually spelled out rather than using '4' and 'u' (ow...that actually hurt to type). Don't get me STARTED on the comma usage, far too coherently placed; to the point that it actually made sense...the nerve! Oh...and speaking of "making sense," the VOCABULARY is just quintessential! Where are my half spelled expletives!? I was looking for a childish temper tantrum, filled with all the nuance of a yowling chimpanzee that didn't get their banana! Not some well thought out declaration of artistic liberty and decency, for which I could NOT agree more with! ^.=.^

  • Link

    On a more serious note: Has this been happening more often than not for you?

    Art is subjective, which is why it confuses me when I hear of such things as "redlining" or ridiculously overbearing critiques. It just makes wonder: "If you do not enjoy the art created by one artist, but prefer another, why not commission the one you prefer and leave the former in peace?" And then I remember: all too often the extreme view points are vocalized the loudest. Usually because they're just jealous of how awesome your art truly is. ^.=.^

    • Link

      Hmmm.... interesting points you bring to the table... jealousy, I fear is not a thing, but I am quite often wrong about things, perhaps there is a personal struggle in that front. Where and what it is, I am uncertain.

  • Link

    Some people know they are being rude and say it anyway cause they just like to be heard but some just don't seem to understand tact. Tact is something hard for people face to face but on the internet it seems like an impossible challenge. If an artist doesn't ask for your opinion on how to improve maybe it's because they don't want it? The thought doesn't cross their mind.

    • Link

      Yes, but you see.... peope see artists as always in search of themselves and in need of improvement!! Of COURSE we want critique! 9__9