Nobody's a critic anymore.

A repost from a long-ass time ago, made painfully relevant yet again by recent events.

A moment on the Nsider2 forums has made me angry, and it's reminded me why I don't really choose to come to this place very often. Someone who frequents this place got pissy and left after some genuine, HONEST criticism about her artwork. While you could find out who it is if you did enough research, for the sake of that person I won't state her name. I can understand disregarding blatantly rude criticism due to the proliferation of internet trolls, but why the hell does that mean people immediately have to write off any kind of criticism or comments about their artwork as such?

What does "art style" mean to you? To a place like DeviantArt, a place pretty much devoid of any criticism, I'll tell you exactly what it is. It's a cop-out to cover up any flaws or issues somebody has in their artistic "skill". Misshapen proportions? It's their art style. Hardlined shadows that don't blend at all? It's their art style. Um yeah, contrary to popular belief, just because art is a subjective medium doesn't mean it can't be shit. You can hear somebody just mash the living hell out of a guitar like it's singing its death song, but you bet your ass you can't get away with saying "Oh, that's just their style of playing music." People can still sing off-key, and people here still churn out shit.

The issue? Nobody's a critic anymore. The line has been tightly drawn and nobody can cross it. Everyone is high-fiving each other so much that as soon as anyone offers the slightest hint of constructive criticism, you're branded the insensitive asshole. Just because your opinion on a SUBJECTIVE medium is negative. It's good to have people constantly patting you on the back, but if no one offers criticism then you won't learn what your weak points are and you won't ever get better. As an artist myself, you're going to have to accept that there are going to be critics. In fact you should embrace the people telling you everything wrong with your work; it's how you better yourself as an artist and improve. Granted you're going to have your trolls, you should never disregard what they have to say anyway. Judge the statement being made, not the person making it.

While we shouldn't be pessimists, we should never think we've reached the ceiling for our level of skill. We should always believe we can improve, and therefore embrace criticism. A truly good artist can walk the tightrope of appreciating the work they make and having pride in what they do while at the same time being able to see what they lack in so they can improve. Upholding this egocentric view on your own art is the reason there's so much shit out there now. Your "skills" will grow stagnant and never evolve. Why the hell be in a medium that's meant to be ever-changing if nobody is telling you what you're doing wrong so you can fucking fix it and let it grow?

Art isn't genetic. Artistic talent isn't something you're born with. It's a learning process, and for some it comes easier than others. Granted this person's art was completely appalling and absolutely mortifying to look at, there's clearly potential there. There's work to be done. You have no right to call yourself an artist if you can't take criticism and better yourself. It's something you need. You need to hear what you're doing right so you can keep doing it, and hear what you're doing wrong so you can stop or make it better. That's how it works. And yet hardly anyone has the balls to actually point out and go "HEY, THAT LOOKS LIKE SHIT! MAKE IT BETTER!"

You hear me out there? If you see something wrong, FUCKING SAY IT. HELP THE PERSON OUT. Pointing out what they're doing wrong is just as helpful as pointing out what they're doing right, even moreso perhaps.