Ideas of Criticizing and ‘Cringe’

Honestly, I don’t believe there’s much of an opinion to be had here. People do messed up things, including putting down artists for no reason other than to put them down. It happens in all areas of life and in all groups, so it’s to be expected in any given art form. I’ve experienced it myself with my writing, sending in short stories to publications and anthologies. The kind of brutal non-feedback you experience as a young, beginning writer can be shocking – you’d expect to hear “You really should just stop writing” from some random person on the internet, but not an official representative of a reputable publication company. I never imagined physical art would be any different – if anything, I could only assume it’s infinitely worse.

I think something everyone must keep in mind, is that not everyone is creating art for everyone. Some people create art primarily to entertain themselves, and secondarily to share with a few other people. Sure, they put it up in a public place like the internet, but that’s because that’s pretty much how we do everything nowadays. That doesn’t make it okay to go in and rip apart someone’s artwork under the guise of “I’m trying to help you improve!” What if they aren’t interested in improving the way you want them to? Just because we view someone’s art as cringey doesn’t mean they must change it to fit our preferences. If they ask for feedback, then they’ve opened the floodgates – but otherwise, to go up to someone who’s made art and not asked for feedback and to rip it apart, it’s plainly just being a dick, regardless of how much they claim it was “to help them improve.”

I agree that if you're uploading something onto the internet for the public to see, you should try to be open to accepting critiques. Once it's out there, it's out there for everyone to see. And unfortunately, with helpful critiques also comes the people that are just generally rude. But a great thing you can do is accept the genuine and constructive feedback that you come across. As time goes on and with more experience of receiving critiques, you'll build up some strength and will be able to handle it better.

I have mixed feelings about the "cringe compilation" videos because a lot of the times it includes art of very young people like you said.

It's honestly a lot better, in the long run, to hear the difficult truth than have everything be sugarcoated. In my own experience, the first couple of critiques I got were tough to hear, but they pushed me to learn new things rather than stay at the same skill level for years. Even the unhelpful, mean-spirited remarks can spark motivation in someone (that doesn't justify people being mean for the sake of being mean though). Walking on eggshells around an artist does more harm than good, especially if they're very serious about being an artist.

I'm speaking more to the viewers than the artists themselves.

If an artist does not specifically state that they want criticism, do not give criticism. That's it. The fact that strangers feel so entitled to offer their voice when it is not asked for is baffling.

Personally, if I want criticism, I go to people who I know are educated artists, whose opinions I can trust.

That being said, artists should have times where they do ask for criticisms and seek to educate themselves, especially when they hit roadblocks within their art. But forums and videos where they relentlessly pick apart young artists' work under the guise of "I'm just trying to help you improve" is not helpful, its bullying.

"Artists need to keep their works to themselves", absolutely not. Sharing and creating art is a form of bonding and create communities with common interests. For both serious artists or those who just draw for a hobby, for fun, sharing with their peers is an exciting part of the process.

When I was young, I created tons of OC's and fan art to spread my love for various media.I loved to draw, I did it every single day since before I can ever remember. Honestly, in elementary school I was known as the girl who drew everyone's favorite Pokemon. Passion does not die out with age. I draw original characters, scenes, I like to experiment. Even now, I'll create illustrations without first creating thumbnails, or researching color palettes. Maybe the anatomy was wonky but I liked the flow. I create art for me, and to share it means I am sharing a privilege viewers take for granted. I take my art education very seriously, and you'll know when I'm studying, because that is when I ask for criticism. Everything else? I drew it for my own reason. Personally, criticism doesn't bother me, but I've seen teenagers, even preteens being subject to "bullying" because someone wants to show off how much more they know. This is how passion dies. Criticism should never be only negative. As someone who intends to educate, you must point out the aspects where they were successful, and where they need to improve. A criticism should inspire the artist to move forward, not back down.

Let people draw. Not everything has to be a lesson, and not everyone's critique is wanted, well thought out, or educated. I'd always take my professors word before I'd ever consider going to deviantart.

I don't think this is a new trend. People making fun of things on the internet is as old as the internet!

That said, making fun of children or hobbyists or folks who are still learning is a bad look.

The internet is not a professional gallery, and I don't agree with the idea that you have to be at a certain level of polish before you stick your work up on the internet's refrigerator. Art, for many, is just expression and communication -- someone who posts their art online isn't necessarily saying "I'm great, look at my work!!" but maybe just "hey, is there anyone out there who likes this kind of stuff too?" Especially in fandom circles, a drawing is often not meant to show off skill, but to participate in a conversation about a mutual interest. It would be weird to tell them to stop putting the stuff they do for fun on their personal blogs just because they're not pros.

Now, if an artist goes into a community of professionals who give each other feedback, and shares her work with them in hopes of feedback, then she can't be angry if they are bluntly honest about her work's shortcomings instead of encouraging her first fumbling steps. It's your responsibility to pay attention to the community you're sharing your work with, and whether the sort of feedback that community gives is going to be useful to you.

Ultimately, though, the only thing you can control is how you respond. Sure, if a person goes onto someone's personal blog, or into someone's deviantart gallery, or wherever, and critiques their work without asking if they want critique, then that person is being very rude regardless of whether their critique is valid. But, if you're an artist who puts your work out in public, then you might run into rude people, and it's important to be able to handle rudeness with grace. I wouldn't necessarily say you have to have a "thick skin" -- heaven knows I don't -- but you need to be able to deal with that sort of thing happening without letting it cripple you, and to be able to not take it personally.

It irks me that critics get such a bad rep a lot of the time that many artists are instantly put on the defensive no matter the form the critiques come in, since they are already expecting to be attacked. What ends up happening is the artist attacks right back, or ignores even the good advice because they are afraid of being told that something they are proud of isn't perfect.

Now, not all artists do this of course, but it makes it difficult for someone who genuinely wants to help to be able to do so if the artist is already blocking out any valuable critiques along with the bad ones.

This is entirely because the amount of negative critiques drowns out the few positive ones. It can become daunting and difficult to even separate the good from the bad at times.

That being said, I think that if you are posting anything on the internet, you should expect criticism. If you don't want criticism, then don't post it. I know it sucks to post something you are proud of on a social media platform and getting those comments that point out something that needs improvement. But I also think that's incredibly valuable. The best way to learn is from those around you. The internet has made is so much easier to gain this knowledge and to learn from mistakes.

There's no way to completely get rid of negative criticism, but your reaction to it is what truly matters. Be able to separate the good from the bad. There will always be bad critiques that will get to you, but it's important not to give up and to prove to them that you can improve and grow. Utilize the good critiques and be motivated to prove the bad critiques wrong.

Simple comment critiques are good, but it's also a great idea to seek out professional critics. Some are good, some are bad. Just do your research and find the ones that you believe would help you in prove the most. Sometimes it's wise to suck it up and take the more negative critiques if you think that critic has the most to offer in terms of future growth.

There are positive critics out there though. You just have to dig around and ask others and see who they would recommend.

Hopefully this helped a little. I apologise for the wordy response.

All the best,

Wintre

i really disagree with cringe comps, especially when their sole purpose is to tear down beginning artists work. i'm not saying you should shower them with nothing but gushy positivity but we should be motivating them instead of telling them their art is 'cancer' and saying they have no place.

my problem with this statement is that that whole thing is up to the artist. not the viewer. some of my first drawings and animations i made are ugly as hell but i was so proud and excited to post them when i first joined deviantart. my old speedpaints were 360p made in moviemaker but i was so happy i figured out how to make one. cringe comps didnt really exist when i first started posting so there was also no sense of fear that so many artists have now.

like yes!! critique young artists to help them but cringe culture is just brutal and mean spirited just so people can feel better about themselves. animation? hard as hell and impressive that kids are at least trying to pursue it at a young age!! ocs? im 100% supportive of just going wild and having fun. ocs are SUPPOSED to be fun and self indulgent!! theyre not hurting anyone!! these kids are posting because they are looking for genuine feedback and because theyre proud to have made something even if to you, may not seem like any effort was put into but may have been a hurdle for them.

again, im not saying to shower them with mushy gushy compliments but we should at least be motivating them instead of laughing at them and tearing them down.

When critiquing, a good rule to follow is to compliment it then say where they can improve it further.

yes thats what im saying

Yeah no, you make an excellent point and I agree with the bad advice notion. There's bad advice but it's important to remember that bad advice can come from educated professors and acclaimed art critics just as it can come from deviantart trolls. As some of the others here have said, establishing and reinforcing standards for accepting constructive input is vital to one's art career.

Foundations is critical and I think for anyone starting out, those with an academic background in art are vital contributors for growing artists (especially since everyone is an "amateur" at one point). However, this is a field that draws from many, many sources itself so it can be contradictory and elitist to exclude communities from contributing to the dialogue.

Critique is valuable but ultimately, once established and out on their own, it's up to the artist to gauge what bit of feedback is most valuable. If your intended audience is professors and art critics, then that will be the source of your valuable feedback, bearing in mind this isn't universal since artists have different audiences at which they direct their work/want their work to be acknowledged and successful.

I'm my biggest critic, so whatever people tell me I have already beaten myself over 100 times worse hahaha

Honestly I find those memes hilarious because it reminds me of the "cringe" things I used to do, like drawing HUGE kawaii eyes or having that Maximillian Pegasus hairstyle on all my female characters because I thought that was cool.

Just don't take those things seriously, focus on your things and on improving your skills

Cringe compilations are very rarely actual critique and more harassment than anything else. Critique is supposed to help you improve as an artist - how the hell is "This is terrible lmfao" or any kind of variation of that comment supposed to help? And if the cringe compilation creator or commenter is popular enough, it can lead to people dogpiling on the original artist as well.

Not to mention, the people who make said comments are often also bad at art or not far off from the skill levels of the person they're making fun of. Ofc you don't have to be a chef to tell when the soup is shitty, but it adds on the extra level of "my arts bad but I'm gonna put down other people so I feel better about myself!" I used to enjoy cringe art blogs for a while but as I grew up I just realized I was wasting time I could've spent drawing lol.

There are some cringe blogs or videos or whatever that do at least give some helpful advice, if bad, but it's still better than the people who are just doing it to make fun of others. There was one blog I found where the people were making fun of an oc based off the fact they didn't know that backdrafts were a thing