As I expose my art and my thoughts in what to me is a new format, I remember how critique can be positive as well as negative. When I was in undergrad, I had a critique with someone who essentially told me that I was showing off in my paintings, that I relied too much on my skill of painting the figure and that I should try to paint without including the figure. I took this to heart and for five years following this critique I excluded the figure from my work. For these five years I felt absolutely lost in my painting. I did not feel like I was coming into my own again until I returned to painting the figure. Now I am much more careful about whom I ask to critique my work and how much I let the advice of others affect my work. The Commandments below are an intention I am setting for myself as I move forward.
Ten Commandments of Critique
(Giving the Critique)
1) Thou shalt not give a critique unless you are specifically asked to.
2) Thou shalt begin with what is working before you talk about what is not working.
3) Thou shalt do your best to try to understand where the artist is coming from and where they want to go with their art before you make suggestions.
4) Thou shalt not try to change the artist’s style or concept just for the sake of making it more like your own artwork or your own esthetic.
5) Thou shalt try your best to build the artist up as opposed to knock the artist down.
(Both Giving and Receiving the Critique)
6) Thou shalt be tactful.
(Receiving the Critique)
7) Thou shalt ask for a critique only from a person whose opinion you respect and who’s esthetic you admire.
8) Thou shalt ask for a critique only when you feel the work is done and can stand on its own.
9) Thou shalt respect the critic’s opinion but know in your heart that it is just an opinion or a suggestion not a command.
10) Thou shalt acknowledge that a critique is not a debate.
