I cannot join any online art community. Inevitably there is a viewing of work and everyone digs deep to come up with something positive to say, "Great use of color!" (too bad your picture is ugly.) Everyone is slapping each other on their paint-splattered virtual backs. Oh, STOP. I much prefer it if someone tells the truth about what they are seeing.
If all work has value then how can anything really be "good"? Don't you need a "bad" to judge it by?
I'm all down with the process over product yadda-yadda-ya. You need that darn process to make the damn product. Just because the creation of it had meaning to the artist personally does not mean it must have merit for the viewing public at large.
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| Here is a kinda bad painting. |
"This part is good but WHAT is going on in that corner?"
"Right. I am having a hard time there."
"I can see that."
Those conversations are productive. A good friend of mine came to my studio one day and had no problem saying, "That kinda sucks." I was grateful because I was at a point where I could no longer determine if it really was bad or if I was just being to hard on myself.
Trust me. I went to art school. You can't say anything worse than what I have already heard.
So tell me, do you want the unvarnished truth about your work or should I just stick with "Interesting approach to your subject!" when I see it?
i want feed back! My fragile ego might not take it so well in the beginning, but usually you know when something is not quite right. Sometimes, however, you just like something and someone else doesn't. Then I just chalk it up to subjective differences .
ReplyDeleteI do love the reds in the painting above, though.
xox
R
Constructive feedback is essential, isn't it? Sometimes it seems impossible to get!
DeleteIt would take a lot for me to hate a painting, and I mean the whole painting. Looking at your piece above, I'm curious: what about it makes you feel hatred? I can see an area that's not working as well as others, but it's far from a painting I would hate.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of Philip Guston, partially because of the Pepto Bismol pink he uses everywhere.
I understand that it can get monotonous to hear praise when it feels forced or fake. No one learns from that.
I hope the person who told you your painting "kinda sucked" had a strong background in art, otherwise how could you value that feedback beyond it being one person's opinion?
Rena,
DeleteI don't feel hatred for this piece. I think it is kind of junky and somehow found it amusing to post a bad piece in a post.
You nailed it - praise can be monotonous. I know - who gets sick of praise? - But seriously, when you know there is a problem it is helpful to hear it and find a way to fix the piece or make it better.
The person who said a painting "kinda sucked" was NOT an artist. You make a good point about taking into consideration the source of the commentary.
Hmm... I want feedback, but I also want encouragement at the same time. As in, "you're getting somewhere, but what's the plan for this area?" -- just like you said above. Straight out "this sucks" would probably just make me mad. Because it's true that it's subjective. Who is anybody to tell me that? Even the most respected art critic would be voicing an opinion based on his/her own particular education and experience... Better for someone to ask you how YOU feel about it, and why, and what you might do to change it. That would be really helpful...
ReplyDeleteJulia,
DeleteThese are great points. Asking about your intentions was a great quality in my art school crits - from the viewpoint the viewer (critter?) has a solid footing to base their comments.
"That sucks" is not a good choice and it is not helpful.But oh, I grow weary of the constant praise heaped upon my shoulders ;)