Post #272505 by Monkeyman on Thu, Dec 14, 2006 12:34 PM

What kind of criticism do you want?

I break up criticism on self made art into a few different categories.

*Technique- if you are carving perhaps the cuts arent deep enough or maybe the piece didnt get much past the rough stage and should have been cleaned up more. Maybe you are brushing on stain when you should be ragging it on. But even in the technique its an opinion. There is no right way just perhaps a way that many agree upon.

*Style- This is another one that is kinda tough. If you are deliberately trying to copy a particular style then I suppose it could be graded on how well you do that. If its your own style or own design then who is to say that it is good or bad? It could be a style that the vocal minority like or it could be a style that is only appreciated by a select few who choose not to say anything.

*Purpose- Lets say you were designing a mug that only held 5 ounces of liquid but you intended to be a full sized tiki mug.. I would say make it bigger. Say you made a tiki bench that couldnt hold the weight of the person using it.. I would say make it stronger. But most artwork doesnt have a purpose. Its just for display.

*Money- If you are trying make stuff to sell then in the end you WILL know if you did it right cause people will pay what you ask and you will sell all of them. If you must lower your price or have a hard time selling then that still doesnt mean you did anything wrong but maybe just havent found the right place to sell your product. There is a buyer for every product at the right price.

Criticism also defies the concept of hobby art because most of us dont make a living doing it and want to enjoy it. If we were told our artwork sucked for reasons X Y and Z then it might diminish the enjoyment or discourage people from doing it all together.

If you want criticism I would ask very specific questions. How can I make the finish more rich? How do I stop the cracking? My mug mold doesnt pull off correctly how should I modify the sculpt.

Regarding Grog.... Im not sure what post is being mentioned but I have personally seen his professional portfolio (he gets paid to be an artist for a living) and would wager that he might one of the best artists on Tiki Central. His work is fantastic.

On 2006-12-14 12:07, foamy wrote:
Somebody just shoot me. I don’t get it. Then again, that’s nothing new. I don’t know of any artist, craftsman or anyone exercising their talent, that doesn’t like and or need constructive criticisim. I used to ask for when I started posting my stuff. Nobody gave it. I stopped asking. I tried giving it. That went over like a lead balloon. Very much like GROG’s suggestion’s. Which were right on the money. The artist never got a chance to reply, everybody else sure as hell did though. When did they all become aces? I’m sure everyone thinks GROG’s giving the thread the finger is GROG’s way of disrespecting the work. I don’t know GROG, but if that was his real intent, do you think that would be his first move? I suspect if he didn’t like it he just wouldn’t bother. I don’t think many people here have a clue. Everybody’s all touchy,”How dare he criticise that work!” Get over it. There’s a lot, repeat, a lot of folks here that could or should benefit by constuctive criticisim. Me, especially. People pay good money for that kind of insight. Here, any sort of critique is rejected out of hand. Let me reiterate: I just don’t get it.

Okay. Blast away.

[ Edited by: Monkeyman 2006-12-14 12:44 ]