Neon Ness
Designated Procrastinator
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2008
- Messages
- 3,631
Evening.
I basically have been writing down some thoughts about this thing we call “critique”, and what I’ve noticed and learned about it in the past few years or so. Heck, I’m still figuring out what it means to give “good” advice about work I come across. I think a lot of people could benefit from having such knowledge. I don’t claim this to be a guide to how you should and should not critique artwork, because I don’t think there is necessarily one right way to go about giving critiques. But, I do think there are a few wrong ways. Consider this somewhat of a pamphlet on how to avoid making such mistakes, and how to help others out in more efficient ways.
Da Golden Rule and Skipping People
If there was ever a golden rule in the AE it would be this.
1. “I didn’t know.”
Well, it says so on the first page of the thread. In giant red letters. Read the rules and junk before diving into the critique thread. It will save you from pain and suffering later.
2. “I don’t feel like it.”
Not gonna lie, I’m guilty of this one sometimes. But if everyone just said “I’m not offering any CnC because I’m lazy”, then no one would ever receive advice. Also, it’s not like you’re trying to carry a boulder up a mountain. It’s just typing a few words. It’s annoying when it happens to you, so I see no reason to put others through the same.
3. “This piece is so bad, it’s not worth my time.”
This seems like a paradox to me, but anyway… If you think the piece is so bad, you shouldn’t have any problem writing up a critique for it. Keep in mind though this can be done without flaming the person. More on that in a later section. The whole point of critiquing each other in the first place is to help everyone improve as much as possible.
4. “This person is a superior artist to myself, so anything I have to offer won’t be worthwhile.”
Oddly, I’ve seen comments like this more often than I would have figured. The way I see it, we were all beginners at some point (this thought can be applied to the previous paragraph, actually). There’s no reason to think you “aren’t good enough” to critique someone else’s work. Beginner or not, everyone runs into a wall or an ‘art block’ sometimes, and just needs some suggestions on how to get back on track. The worst is when people start thinking certain opinions are worth more than others. If you’ve got something to say, say it. Don’t worry if the piece is something more advanced than what you’re capable of making.
I would also like to add that it’s not as if there’s a “one critique per person” rule. Often times I see people say “Oh, everyone’s been covered…” and then post without critiquing. Just because someone’s already reviewed the piece doesn’t mean you can’t also. In fact, it’s probably a lot better if they get more than one viewpoint. Don’t use “everyone’s been covered” to avoid having to say anything…
Saying Stuff: The Museum Patron
I. What Is This?
Alright, so no excuses left about not giving critique. We on the same page right now?
Now, the next question would be this: “What am I supposed to say?”
Well, that’s actually a good question. This section’s mostly about that, in fact. Again, I’m not an art guru or master critic, and I don’t think there is one specific thing you’re “supposed” to say about what you see, but let’s start with some basic stuff first.
A lot of times in the critique thread, a bunch of terms are thrown around (flow, composition, depth, analogous schemes, Rule of Thirds, etc.) that may be unfamiliar or confusing to some. If you feel like reading up on them yourself, most if not all of the common ones can be found in this thread: The Big Graphics Dictionary. If you’re wondering about something that’s not listed, just ask and it’s highly likely that someone in the AE will know.
You might not be sure what these terms mean, but you see others using them, and as a result, are at a loss as to how you could provide thoughtful critique. Or, maybe you’re looking at something that was done in a medium you’re unfamiliar with. For instance, if you know next to nothing about photography (like myself), you might not know what things to look out for, such as depth of field, rule of thirds, what makes an interesting composition, exposure/contrast, and so forth. Well, in either case, just start out with the basic of basics.
What am I looking at?
It’s that simple. And that goes for all media. Is it a photo of a person? Is it a drawing of a landscape? A typography piece? Admittedly, things can get tricky if it’s something abstract, and you’re only accustomed to looking at actual people or objects. Once you’ve figured out what the heck you’re looking at (or even just find something remotely interesting about it), you can move on to the next step, which is stating your thoughts on the thing. The core of this long winded article, if you will.
II. “You Suck. Read A Tut.”
Ah, yes. My favorite phrase of the olden days.
This used to be the biggest issue I had with critique in this place. Too many people didn’t know how to give advice without just flat out insulting others. It’s gotten a lot better since, but I feel the need torant write about it anyway, just so we know what is and what isn’t critique.
Let’s say Person A posts a sig (After critiquing someone else’s work first, of course.).
A: “Hey, is this any good?”
B: “Bad flow, bad colors, bad comp, bad render, just… no. You suck, read a tut.”
It might sound ridiculous, but it’s actually not that far off from some of the things that have been posted in the past. There are about a million things I take issue with in posts like these, but I’ll try to keep it concise…
This pretty much tells the person nothing. It sounds more like something you say to scare off people, to be frank. To say “Bad x, bad y, bad z” is meaningless unless you explain how they are bad. If you don’t explain your points, then like I said before… it’s essentially the same as insulting them. A better way to put it would have been something along the lines of:
C: “This piece is too chaotic, and the effects lead the eye in too many separate directions. The colors don’t look good because they don’t follow any sort of logic or color scheme. The composition would look better if you had followed the Rule of Thirds, and removed some of the clutter on the left side.”
Here's another (actual) example of a good one I've seen:
Moving on, “Read a tut.” Yes, this is oh so helpful. Make no mistake, there’s nothing wrong with thinking someone could benefit from a tutorial. But to just say “Yeah, go look for one” doesn’t really do anything. Thing is a lot of people probably don’t even know where to begin looking for them, especially those just starting out. Yes, they could Google “Photoshop Tutorials” and sift through a bunch that may or may not be helpful to them. Or you could take 5 minutes and directly link them to one that would specifically help with the problems in their work. No, I realize it’s not the critic’s responsibility to go hunting down tutorials for someone else. My point is that if you think they could use one specifically, link them to it. If you’re not willing to do that, why bring it up in the first place?
The last thing I have to say about the “You suck, read a tut” template is that there is no trace of positive feedback there. You might be wondering why you should include positive critique at all. If we tell them what’s wrong, they fix it and then the artwork is good, correct? The way I see it, it’s normally a good idea to at least include something you believe was done right. It lets the person know what areas they excel in, and which ones they might want to work on. The good aspects are the ones they want to keep, so let them know what they are before they change something and make it worse. I think a good critique includes the good and the bad. Can’t find anything you like about it? Well… try a little harder. There’s got to be something there that looks nice.
III. “Wow, That’s Really Good!”
Now, somewhat on a similar note to the last paragraph. It’s no good to just say “Bad x, bad y, bad z”. But now let’s look at this.
A: “What do you guys think of this?”
D: “That’s amazing! That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen on here! It’s perfect!”
Before I go on, important disclaimer. By no means am I trying to say you should nitpick and go hunting for the slightest flaw in someone’s art.
What I wanted to say in this section is just that, while comments like these are nice, they don’t tell the person what needs to be edited. There may be a glaring flaw in there that needs to be fixed, but the artist won’t know if you just tell them it’s perfect. Improvement comes from correcting old mistakes, whether it’s in art, sports, or anything. Don't hesitate to point out a mistake for fear of hurting the person's feelings. Just be sure to do so tactfully.
Maybe something more along the lines of this:
C: “The color harmony is really good in this. It’s most likely because you used blues to represent shadows and yellow oranges for highlights, which makes a complementary color scheme in those areas. I think you could go even farther and add some blue violets to the darker tones. Although the linework is choppy in some places, it really gives it a hand drawn feel which matches the scene perfectly. Kudos.”
Good and bad points were included, without flaming or coddling the person.
IV. Too Long, Did Not Read.
Alright. So you know what you’re looking at, and you’ve figured out what you want to say. And we’ve established that one-liners like “You suck” and “It’s great” aren’t the best. But what’s this? Your summary is longer than the Declaration of Independence. If you take too long to say what you want to say there’s a chance the person won’t feel like reading the essay you’ve so kindly prepared. Try to be as concise as possible and don’t use big words needlessly (I’m one to talk). Personally I don’t think there really is such a thing as too much critique, but it might be something to keep in mind.
Closing Thoughts
That’s about the extent of what I wanted to say. There will always be times when you just draw a blank—it happens. Don’t stress too much if you can think of nothing to say. But critique can be a really useful thing if you know what to look for and how to say it. For anyone who actually read through the entire thing, hoorah! Writing this was actually helpful to at least one person. Hope you learned a few things along the way.
Go forth and crit.
I basically have been writing down some thoughts about this thing we call “critique”, and what I’ve noticed and learned about it in the past few years or so. Heck, I’m still figuring out what it means to give “good” advice about work I come across. I think a lot of people could benefit from having such knowledge. I don’t claim this to be a guide to how you should and should not critique artwork, because I don’t think there is necessarily one right way to go about giving critiques. But, I do think there are a few wrong ways. Consider this somewhat of a pamphlet on how to avoid making such mistakes, and how to help others out in more efficient ways.
Da Golden Rule and Skipping People
If there was ever a golden rule in the AE it would be this.
Seriously. It’s not that hard. But surprisingly, people still get skipped often in the critique topics. Why? Well, I can think of a few reasons of why this seems to happen.
1. “I didn’t know.”
Well, it says so on the first page of the thread. In giant red letters. Read the rules and junk before diving into the critique thread. It will save you from pain and suffering later.
2. “I don’t feel like it.”
Not gonna lie, I’m guilty of this one sometimes. But if everyone just said “I’m not offering any CnC because I’m lazy”, then no one would ever receive advice. Also, it’s not like you’re trying to carry a boulder up a mountain. It’s just typing a few words. It’s annoying when it happens to you, so I see no reason to put others through the same.
3. “This piece is so bad, it’s not worth my time.”
This seems like a paradox to me, but anyway… If you think the piece is so bad, you shouldn’t have any problem writing up a critique for it. Keep in mind though this can be done without flaming the person. More on that in a later section. The whole point of critiquing each other in the first place is to help everyone improve as much as possible.
4. “This person is a superior artist to myself, so anything I have to offer won’t be worthwhile.”
Oddly, I’ve seen comments like this more often than I would have figured. The way I see it, we were all beginners at some point (this thought can be applied to the previous paragraph, actually). There’s no reason to think you “aren’t good enough” to critique someone else’s work. Beginner or not, everyone runs into a wall or an ‘art block’ sometimes, and just needs some suggestions on how to get back on track. The worst is when people start thinking certain opinions are worth more than others. If you’ve got something to say, say it. Don’t worry if the piece is something more advanced than what you’re capable of making.
I would also like to add that it’s not as if there’s a “one critique per person” rule. Often times I see people say “Oh, everyone’s been covered…” and then post without critiquing. Just because someone’s already reviewed the piece doesn’t mean you can’t also. In fact, it’s probably a lot better if they get more than one viewpoint. Don’t use “everyone’s been covered” to avoid having to say anything…
Saying Stuff: The Museum Patron
I. What Is This?
Alright, so no excuses left about not giving critique. We on the same page right now?
Now, the next question would be this: “What am I supposed to say?”
Well, that’s actually a good question. This section’s mostly about that, in fact. Again, I’m not an art guru or master critic, and I don’t think there is one specific thing you’re “supposed” to say about what you see, but let’s start with some basic stuff first.
A lot of times in the critique thread, a bunch of terms are thrown around (flow, composition, depth, analogous schemes, Rule of Thirds, etc.) that may be unfamiliar or confusing to some. If you feel like reading up on them yourself, most if not all of the common ones can be found in this thread: The Big Graphics Dictionary. If you’re wondering about something that’s not listed, just ask and it’s highly likely that someone in the AE will know.
You might not be sure what these terms mean, but you see others using them, and as a result, are at a loss as to how you could provide thoughtful critique. Or, maybe you’re looking at something that was done in a medium you’re unfamiliar with. For instance, if you know next to nothing about photography (like myself), you might not know what things to look out for, such as depth of field, rule of thirds, what makes an interesting composition, exposure/contrast, and so forth. Well, in either case, just start out with the basic of basics.
What am I looking at?
It’s that simple. And that goes for all media. Is it a photo of a person? Is it a drawing of a landscape? A typography piece? Admittedly, things can get tricky if it’s something abstract, and you’re only accustomed to looking at actual people or objects. Once you’ve figured out what the heck you’re looking at (or even just find something remotely interesting about it), you can move on to the next step, which is stating your thoughts on the thing. The core of this long winded article, if you will.
II. “You Suck. Read A Tut.”
Ah, yes. My favorite phrase of the olden days.
This used to be the biggest issue I had with critique in this place. Too many people didn’t know how to give advice without just flat out insulting others. It’s gotten a lot better since, but I feel the need to
Let’s say Person A posts a sig (After critiquing someone else’s work first, of course.).
A: “Hey, is this any good?”
B: “Bad flow, bad colors, bad comp, bad render, just… no. You suck, read a tut.”
It might sound ridiculous, but it’s actually not that far off from some of the things that have been posted in the past. There are about a million things I take issue with in posts like these, but I’ll try to keep it concise…
This pretty much tells the person nothing. It sounds more like something you say to scare off people, to be frank. To say “Bad x, bad y, bad z” is meaningless unless you explain how they are bad. If you don’t explain your points, then like I said before… it’s essentially the same as insulting them. A better way to put it would have been something along the lines of:
C: “This piece is too chaotic, and the effects lead the eye in too many separate directions. The colors don’t look good because they don’t follow any sort of logic or color scheme. The composition would look better if you had followed the Rule of Thirds, and removed some of the clutter on the left side.”
Here's another (actual) example of a good one I've seen:
And if the person asks, be sure to explain terms they don’t really understand. Not that you have to use important sounding terms to give critique, though. See? More was said, less people were flamed, everybody happy. And that was only a few lines, so no wall-of-text complaints.
Moving on, “Read a tut.” Yes, this is oh so helpful. Make no mistake, there’s nothing wrong with thinking someone could benefit from a tutorial. But to just say “Yeah, go look for one” doesn’t really do anything. Thing is a lot of people probably don’t even know where to begin looking for them, especially those just starting out. Yes, they could Google “Photoshop Tutorials” and sift through a bunch that may or may not be helpful to them. Or you could take 5 minutes and directly link them to one that would specifically help with the problems in their work. No, I realize it’s not the critic’s responsibility to go hunting down tutorials for someone else. My point is that if you think they could use one specifically, link them to it. If you’re not willing to do that, why bring it up in the first place?
The last thing I have to say about the “You suck, read a tut” template is that there is no trace of positive feedback there. You might be wondering why you should include positive critique at all. If we tell them what’s wrong, they fix it and then the artwork is good, correct? The way I see it, it’s normally a good idea to at least include something you believe was done right. It lets the person know what areas they excel in, and which ones they might want to work on. The good aspects are the ones they want to keep, so let them know what they are before they change something and make it worse. I think a good critique includes the good and the bad. Can’t find anything you like about it? Well… try a little harder. There’s got to be something there that looks nice.
III. “Wow, That’s Really Good!”
Now, somewhat on a similar note to the last paragraph. It’s no good to just say “Bad x, bad y, bad z”. But now let’s look at this.
A: “What do you guys think of this?”
D: “That’s amazing! That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen on here! It’s perfect!”
Before I go on, important disclaimer. By no means am I trying to say you should nitpick and go hunting for the slightest flaw in someone’s art.
What I wanted to say in this section is just that, while comments like these are nice, they don’t tell the person what needs to be edited. There may be a glaring flaw in there that needs to be fixed, but the artist won’t know if you just tell them it’s perfect. Improvement comes from correcting old mistakes, whether it’s in art, sports, or anything. Don't hesitate to point out a mistake for fear of hurting the person's feelings. Just be sure to do so tactfully.
Maybe something more along the lines of this:
C: “The color harmony is really good in this. It’s most likely because you used blues to represent shadows and yellow oranges for highlights, which makes a complementary color scheme in those areas. I think you could go even farther and add some blue violets to the darker tones. Although the linework is choppy in some places, it really gives it a hand drawn feel which matches the scene perfectly. Kudos.”
Good and bad points were included, without flaming or coddling the person.
IV. Too Long, Did Not Read.
Alright. So you know what you’re looking at, and you’ve figured out what you want to say. And we’ve established that one-liners like “You suck” and “It’s great” aren’t the best. But what’s this? Your summary is longer than the Declaration of Independence. If you take too long to say what you want to say there’s a chance the person won’t feel like reading the essay you’ve so kindly prepared. Try to be as concise as possible and don’t use big words needlessly (I’m one to talk). Personally I don’t think there really is such a thing as too much critique, but it might be something to keep in mind.
Closing Thoughts
That’s about the extent of what I wanted to say. There will always be times when you just draw a blank—it happens. Don’t stress too much if you can think of nothing to say. But critique can be a really useful thing if you know what to look for and how to say it. For anyone who actually read through the entire thing, hoorah! Writing this was actually helpful to at least one person. Hope you learned a few things along the way.
Go forth and crit.
TO LONG DON'T READ 