Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel
This video is going to be a little different than usual because some recent and reoccurring events happening here on YouTube and Twitter have
inspired me to make a video addressing the idea of "What is Critique" and some etiquettes to keep in mind
As a college graduate of two bachelor art degrees
I can tell you critique is an extremely important and vital aspect to any form of art
Not only in giving it to fellow artists but simultaneously in considering your own personal artwork through the received critique
During college the most common line
I would hear from my professors at the start of critique sessions, is you
cannot only say "I like this" or "I don't like" this, as a form of critique
because it's not, it's your opinion and a generalized one at that. To simply like or not
like something is extremely subjective, and while your opinions are valid,
they are not considered actual critique. They're considered opinions
The point of critique is to look at a piece of art and see what bits of it are
successful and what parts of it are not, and while this may sound very similar to an opinion. It's actually based upon specific
"rules" of that field of art, as well as the experience of the critique-r
with said rules and said field of art: a professional, for example
Well,
they're not quite rules, so much as techniques that should be acknowledged, and considered, and...and sometimes maybe broken.
These are rules that I've had drilled over and over into my head by art teachers and professors
since art level 1 back in high school. The Elements and Principles of design.
THESE are the rules considered when examining a piece of artwork,
but I don't have the time or energy to discuss them in depth here. So when in doubt
Google it
Deeper still, many fields of art have further rules or common laws within their own field
Graphic design can have suggestions on kerning or grouping information
Sequential arts has rules on hand-lettering and panel form
Film has many different camera movements, placements, and angles that do and suggest different things
Animation???? Heck. Yeah. We've got those Principles of Animation.
Which I imagine many of you watching this video, would love to learn about and should learn about
TennelleFlowers has done a couple videos
addressing some of these principles if you're interested. And I believe Chiibe is working on a video that explains the principles as well,
so... keep an eye out for that. Or heck even
read the Wikipedia page on them. The Internet is
phenomenal! And of course with these rules and principles,
there are also some moments where it's okay to break or bend them. A fantastic example of this is in cinematography,
there is such a thing known as the 180-degree rule
it boils down to
always have the same subject on and facing the same side of the screen. It aids in the readability of what's happening in a scene
and prevents a viewer from becoming disoriented and breaking immersion. And to do this the camera must stay on one side of the subject,
but can move anywhere within those 180 degrees. Hence the name.
However. There are some select moments where breaking this rule actually aids in creating the emotion for a scene. Is your
character on a long, high-tension, action-packed run from some baddies and eventually falls into a stack of boxes and becomes
disoriented? Have a shot or two or the camera is suddenly on the opposite side of the main character.
This subtly changes how the movement is perceived and gives the viewer the same jarring sensation, the character is experiencing.
It's minor and sometimes it doesn't always work, but it's something to be considered.
So that's the general idea of what's needed to craft a helpful and useful critique.
But what about actually saying or writing the critique? Well, the basic format
I've always been taught and abided by was to first say what bits of the work you think are successful and strong.
This starts the conversation off well and with good feelings.
It shows you have intentions to only see the artists do well and become better
Then you move on to the areas that you think could use some revisiting, improvement, or just something about them feels off to you,
but you can't quite put your finger on it--possibly a good moment to flip the canvas.
I'm the type of person that always learns best through examples. So let's do one! We'll use this piece
I did for the three-hour Warriors MAP back in 2015
The first thing that should be noted are the circumstances,
this piece and its sibling piece had to be done within a three hour time limit
Which means it won't have the same polish as a MAP part done in a four month time frame
It also had a limited color palette, meaning some lighting elements can be hard to capture. Now, let's break it down further:
Areas that work well
-the variety of shapes in the ground cats, which adds interest and keeps it from looking copy-pasted
-using silhouettes for the ground cats versus the defined patterns and colors of the four leader cats
which makes those leaders stand out from the rest
-similarly, the simplicity of the surrounding area versus the detail of Four Trees works to draw the eye to the middle
-the sense of depth with the blurred foreground trees, the middle ground cats, and the distant background
houses and mountains, creates interest and eye movement giving a fuller sense of 3D space
-the curved horizon line is interesting and helps add eye flow, giving the sense of a wide-angle lens
Areas that could have been done differently or a little better
-that curved horizon line might be a little overdone
-the overall shapes of the leaders could have been pushed even further
to make them stand out from one another instead of just from the ground cats
-the shading on the treetops feels a bit off
-the areas surrounding Four Trees could have been made even more simplified so as to take less time away from the rest of the piece
-while the brown of the far distant objects works to balance out the brown of the hollow, it kind of draws the attention
too much and doesn't technically follow the rules of atmospheric perspective
-it could have been considered to bend the trees a bit more to lend the eye flow to the leaders again
Now that's not everything about this piece that could be changed and it partially depends on the artists styles and intentions for their work
as to how much of that critique would be used
If I were to redo this piece now
I would primarily change the leaders forms, edit the colors of the far distant objects, and tweak some minor things with the treetop shading
but for the most part it would stay the same
Because the rest of the critique aren't things that I'm really interested in focusing on right now
Which begs the question is the artist even interested in hearing your critique?
Never give an unprompted critique, as you just come off as smarmy and a know-it-all
Consent is sexy. Just a simple, "do you mind if I give a critique" and if the artist says no, that's fine!
Some people post to the internet just because they want to have fun and they might not be pursuing a career in that field, and
it's just for them or their friends. Or they might not want to be judged for someone they don't know
The reason doesn't matter, just move on with your life, go watch another video,
look at a different picture. Because in the end it's not your artwork and it doesn't really affect you
Unless it's a commission then that's a whole different situation
So, has any of this been sounding absolutely outrageous? That critique should not require this much thought and effort? Well,
then I have no idea how you made it this far into the video and I'm vaguely impressed by your determination?
But no critique doesn't require paragraphs and paragraphs of wordage
Just a comment of "I absolutely love the different movements and characterization you have for each of these characters,
they really feel like they have such weight to them! If you wanted to push it just a bit further, a
subtle huffing animation or eye squinting on Tigerstar would give a
smidgen more liveliness to the scene"
Sidenote,
But I understand that frequently MAP parts are done in your free time outside your daily life,
they already take so much time, rarely have reason to be tweaked or redone outside of major issues, and thank you for what you do!!!!!
So, quick, to the point,
addresses both things I think worked and some minor things that could maybe be considered if the artist wanted to redo
Or maybe just something for them to keep in mind for their next piece
But if you think that still, still requires to much thought or
isn't worth the effort, then just don't give a critique
Just give your opinion that you enjoyed watching it and thank the artist for providing you a service at no expense to you!
To go out of your way to badger an artist for the next episode or to say that you hate how they drew
something, doesn't help anyone and makes the situation worse
So don't.
A last point, knowing your preferred tastes in everyday non-high-end cuisine and
critiquing art, are two totally different fields
It's apples and oranges
You taste make and indulge in food on the daily. And you know when your steak wasn't cooked to the industry standards of medium-well
You don't, however,
necessarily know all the ins-and-outs of what it takes to make a successful
five-star Béarnaise sauce with a perfectly pink medium sirloin. And just like at a restaurant,
you can't be surprised when a chef that paid x-amount to attend culinary school while you did not, doesn't take your opinion
You're free to give it and others are free to refuse it
Ultimately, all art is subjective
Yet in today's world if you want to be strong in the industry
it's good to know the technical side of things and know how to use them to your advantage
If you don't want to go into the industry?
If you just want to post online things you did because you simply enjoy them? Do that!
Heck yea! Do that!! But understand, the everyday citizen
rarely knows how to cook better than the chef of 20 years who's built themselves to where they are
The citizen? Simply knows their opinion.
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