Comments on our Paintings

[Alan Brain]

What are folks thoughts on comments on paintings?
Do you appreciate having them but does it depend on what the viewer says?
Are you reluctant to give comment for not knowing what to say or fear of offending?

I would like to see us commenting on each other's work much more but maybe i am in a minority - whaddaya all think?

Alan

[Stephany Nickel]

I would appreciate comments that have some meat to them...ie "too much red" or " the painting has a 50% value or color dominance and needs 80/20" etc. Comments such as "your work is great" are nice to hear; but why is it great? Did it make you feel something? Did you hate it; but still felt something? Or comments like "have you thought about placing the figure(pot, plant, shape) to the left, right, upside down" etc. are wonderful suggestions. So please as far as my work goes....shout out what you feel. It's up to me to decide to use the comment, ignore the comment or store it.

That's it from California!!!! Oh, yes, we are finally able to breathe the air again out here.

Stephany

[Alan Brain]

Stephany,
" Did it make you feel something? Did you hate it; but still felt something," your words from above Steph and for me the heart of the matter Not so sure about "too much red etc" Anything that addresses the "how" without reference to the feeling is a bit dodgy in my view. One good question if we decide to do rules, is "How could the artist deepen the feeling in the painting?" This would lead to suggestions on form maybe

[Fran Larsen]

I think it may be time to start a Critique Group on My Art Buddies. What do you all think? We would need good ground rules so that crits offered would be really helpful.

Fran Larsen

[Wm. Kelly Bailey]

Fran, I like the criteria you explained to me once at ISS... it was similar to what you said you want to hear about your work. I have taught some of my artist friends here in Houston that same way of responding, which helps the painter know how others see the work.

Things like: Where do your eyes go first? Where do they jump to next? (And so on...) Where do they keep going back to? And then I have also sometimes asked my friends: Is there a place that seems to bother you? Is there a spot you particularly like? (and add Why? to both of those...) I also like to ask if they get an overall dominant feeling or mood from the piece and what that feeling is. This way, I get feedback about their response to the painting, not someone else's opinion and personal preferences as to how they would have done it. If I try to do it the way they would do it, then it is no longer my painting.

If there's anything I remember from ISS it was that we should not play painting doctor for another artist's work (unless perhaps we are specifically requested to.) Often the above information (garnered from answering those types of questions) tells us if we have accomplished what we thought we were striving for or in conveying what we ourselves felt when doing the piece.

I guess what I might be driving at is that I think if anyone could come up with some good ground rules and guidelines, it would be you, Fran, with all your experience and expertise in doing crits... you are certainly light years ahead of me in that regard.

[Jacqui Beck]

I like the idea of offering ideas to each other about our work. One thought I have is that maybe there could be a way of letting others know that we would like their thoughts about any/ all/ one of our paintings.
I think that it may be best to be able to opt in and out of this, especially for challenging/constructive criticism. We could just have a note on our page about whether we're open to criticism on our work or not.
I really like what Stephanie said about getting deeper into the why of what we are saying about a painting.
I'm also interested in finding ways of having my work become more meaningful to me and hopefully more impactful to those who view my paintings. This goes beyond focal point and good design, though good composition, color, values, etc. are a necessary foundation.
So: I think we should have a way of letting others know if we would like feedback, and I think feedback should be given with a mind to what it would be like to receive it.

[Alan Brain]

I agree Jacqui!
Hope you are doing well, Alan xx

[Fran Larsen]

Alan, I am creating an ISS Critique group under the Groups tab. You all should be able to add new art in your regular method, then broadcast to the whole Critique Group the name of the pieces on which you wish comment / critique. You could also establish your own parameters to get the information from others that tells you what you want to know.

Fran

[Alice Belford]

I think this is a great idea and I welcome it. I have found it very helpful to have group critiques. Thanks for doing this Fran, it will develop into something very good. I am out in our wilderness camp until November so beyond sketching and making notes, won't be painting, but I can read what everyone is talking about and I appreciate that. Thanks again.

[Wm. Kelly Bailey]

Hi Fran...

Pardon me, but my little ol' gray cells just aren't what they used to be. I'm in one of those "aggie" loops... you know, like the aggie that stares at one side of the coin that says "see other side" and he turns it over and it says, "see other side" and he turns it over.... etc.

This is my quandry: on this (the Forum) tab, you tell us to 'see the Groups Tab', and on the Groups tab you say 'see the Forum tab'. (Huh?) The only thing I can find that resembles the crit group you are talking about seems to be this thread of discussion under Alan's topic "Comments on Our Paintings". Please rescue me out of my "aggie" loop... I'm getting dizzy. :-0

Meanwhile, I'll go back to the group tab...

-Kelly-