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Practice
easier
Criticism comes than craftsmanship. ZEUXIS, 400 B.C.
CRITIQUE
Practice:
CRITIQUE Avoid art dictators (mainly the one in your head) It is easier to criticize than to create, as Zeuxis so wisely noted in antiquity. True then, true still. Now, there’s a big point to be made about criticism: Constructive criticism and cynical criticism are two different animals; one helps and one bites. It’s my observation that sometimes artists are their own harshest critics, too. There’s a little dictator in our minds that says we stink. Unfortunately, too, we sometimes run into this kind of corrosive criticism from others. Usually it comes from people who are very unsatisfied with their own lives. Artists need constructive criticism, and that alone. Other artists and critics can help us understand our weak and strong points, giving a road map toward better visual expression. When evaluating our own work, too, a constructive mind-set is the right one, the sort that sees both the good and bad of a work. In self evaluating, there are a few tricks I use:
(ABOVE RIGHT)
In a group critique or with an instructor: This is a good time to steel your nerves. If the group or instructor breezes past you with a “yeah...that’s coming along’ comment, really dig in and ask:
A reducing glass works the opposite as a magnifying glass. It gives the same effect as stepping back from a work to see its composition objectively.
its weaknesses?
talking about? Keep digging. Don’t be afraid to ask. Keep negativity in perspective: Consider one of the most popular – and arguably best songs in the history of the world – Pachelbel’s Canon in D, has 18,000,000 likes online. On that same page, some 1,700 people disliked it. Not everyone will like like your work. And that is perfectly ok!
{
Tip: Take away what makes you a better artist; leave all the rest behind.
}
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