Aimed at slews of people on Deviant art, furaffinity, and so forth.

This is aimed at SO MANY PEOPLE here on deviant art.

Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques. Critiques.

You all have this REALLY fucked up stigma on what they are, how you should react to them, and how to write them. Before we begin ,let's define this.

What is a critique?
1. an article or essay criticizing a literary or other work; detailed evaluation; review.
2. a criticism or critical comment on some problem, subject, etc.
3. the art or practice of criticism.

There is that word; criticism. You all see it automatically as evil; what does it mean?
1. the act of passing judgment as to the merits of anything.
2. the act of passing severe judgment; censure; faultfinding.
3. the act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of a literary or artistic work, musical performance, art exhibit, dramatic production, etc.
4. a critical comment, article, or essay; critique.
5. any of various methods of studying texts or documents for the purpose of dating or reconstructing them, evaluating their authenticity, analyzing their content or style, etc.: historical criticism; literary criticism.

Now let's put this in "easy" terms, or terms you guys will better understand. You lot seeing "passing judgement" and "criticism" as these evil, vile things. However, who said they were bad? I want you to focus on 3 and 5 above. Now I want you to stop. Digest those.

You digested that yet?

Now let's continue.

You hate critiques, but I hate to burst your bubble on the fact that, you can NOT go on that way. You cannot just go through life without getting criticized. Your appearance, attitude, way you carry yourself, the way you act, the choices you make. Those are all criticized daily. You don't flip out on each and every individual who compliments you for critiquing you.. why should you with your art? You don't flip tables your friend let's you know an outfit isn't matching up right and they help you find a better solution. Why do you do the opposite when it's your art?

Real world scenario time, your working at your first job! Horray! You have a job congrats! I might just be a cashier/bagger job, but your ecstatic to have it! Not many people these days have jobs at all! Here you are 16-18 and you have your first job! Your getting trained, everything is okay, but your higher up comes over, a real pro. He tells you, your not counting the money/bagging correctly. You need to do it this way, shows you how, or your going to make mistakes and get in trouble. Now if you acted in this, like you lot tend to with your art : "OMFG did I ASK YOU for your opinion? NO, I DIDN'T. So why don't you go the fuck away? This is MY STYLE and it works JUST FINE", or perhaps, " Starts bawling WHYYYY, I THOUGHT I WAS DOING AWESOME AND NOW YOU MADE ME UPSET. I'm just going to go tell my mom and my friends how mean you were to me. YOU'RE SO UNFAIR, WHY ARE YOU PICKING ON ME?!?". What would happen in real life if you reacted like this? You'd be fired real quick. In the real world you are going to face criticism, and you'll have to take it constructively or you are going to be a very poor individual hopping from job to job.

So let's talk about criticism and art.

A bad critique:
"Well this picture sucks, just look at it... Like everything is WRONG. You can't draw anatomy, you can't..."
This is NOT a critique, this is an asshole. Everyone is at a different level, and when critiquing, someone who's genuinely trying to help, will only choose a couple things that need the MOST attention, and then they will pick out what you did really well.

"OMG everything in this is so beautiful and nothing is wrong with it....."
This is also not a critique, this is ass pats and helps you with nothing, but over inflating your ego.

A good critique:
Well this isn't bad at all! You did awesome with insert things here , but insert more things could use a little works. Try insert tips here.

Another weird stigma is that you lot think that in order to receive a critique from another they need to be pro, better than you.. Yet at the same time if they do they are looking down on you and picking on you? What?

No.

Even those "lower" than you can understand art and offer suggestions of improvement. My fiance' is NO artist at all, but he often critiques my works and helps me to improve. He doesn't know art, he certainly doesn't know the specifics, but he does know when something looks off and when it looks right. It's the same thing as, you don't have to be a mechanic to know your car is running okay, and when it's not.

School:

You will be -forced- to participate in these. Even if you don't want or like them. If not in high school then most definitely in college. In my high school classes we were stood in front of the room with a WIP or even our finished images and 5 people in the class had to critique the work. Whether they were better, worse, or the same talent wise. We would stand in front of our peers, listen to the pros and cons, then be expected to do the same to our fellow students.
"omg that sounds horrible and it's why I don't like ..." no.

It taught me alot:

• The biggest thing it taught me was how to accept criticism from others. It's a big deal. That shit NEVER goes away. EVER. YOU HAVE to learn to accept it, and then use it in a positive manner. It's so important to cultivating your talent. You cannot go around oblivious to the mistakes you make and pretend that's okay. Some of you claim " I know the mistakes I make so I don't need a critique". Well gosh, aren't you stuck up? There are mistakes in your art you don't even think about. I know there is in mine. After spending COUNTLESS hours, staring at something, I will only notice the ones that BOTHER ME. There might be some color issues, composition issues, weird placing. Stuff I haven't even noticed... Same goes for the GOOD things a critique points out.

Lastly, before I end this rant.
Your attitudes on critiques are so poor and it's frustrating. You need to consider this when you find a well written one hiding under your comments.
A) Just because you didn't ask doesn't mean it's "not allowed". It the internet. Your posting your work onto a network of billions and billions of people. They will give you an opinion whether you ask or not. You don't want it you need to leave. Keep your art on your mom's refrigerator. If you cannot accept critiques that's really where it belongs.
B) Someone writes you a well thought out critique, you need to know it's because they care (generally) and like you/your work. I would NOT waste 1-2 hours typing something as detailed as a critique for someone I didn't see potential in. Neither would most.
C) Bad attitudes get you no where. Some of you who reject critiques, are the ones who are still doing exactly EVERYTHING you've been doing SINCE I GOT ON THIS SITE. That's horrible. You should ALWAYS be learning. Especially in art. The day you stop, should be the day they put you in the ground.