Should we always critique art in comics?

[OneArtsyBeaver]

I'm definitely in the minority when I say that most tapas comics blend together. As long as the comic has a coherent art style I think it's perfectly serviceable. People who put out "Falling in love with my villain boss" with these near perfect art styles really kill my vibe. They feel soulless, without passion. I honestly prefer watching people try new things, whether that be new styles or interesting poses.

Critique is one of those things that I leave for the author, if they ask for feedback I'll let them know what I think. But for the most part I say let people enjoy what they like. Because in the end we're all just making our comics for ourselves.

[river121693]

In general, I think people shouldn't be critiqued on the art they create unless its harmful or unless it's transparently from a "marketability" pov. Our aesthetic sensibility is rooted in a typically Western standard and people should break away from the traditional and express things in whatever way they want. I have a degree in Fine Arts and Art History so Ive seen so many wild and unique ways of telling a story which typically lack the support, so I try to support those things over the "traditional" in general. For comic, the only thing that typically matters to me is whether I understand the sequential storytelling and the feeling/message is conveyed.

Realistically though, I also grew up under this Western standard so there's still a level of traditional aesthetic that I gravitate to.

I don't critique people's art unless they asked me.

[Avonguardian]

THIS

I always find myself drawn to the unconventional styles in comics! The rough lines or when backgrounds seems like a second thought, but you put out the work and its so... human.

[Avonguardian]

Its interesting that you bring up the western standard actually! I am very inspired by the sailor moon manga, and the art is of course amazing but sometimes it really doesnt make any sense where a character physically is but that is because its about the feeling of the character themselves,

I also remember reading about how different western comics are compared to mangas as well, and that different intentions in art can affect how the art is percieved.

And of course unwaranted critique is never good, I think a good critique comes from a person who understands the intention of the art and the artform of the author.

[Avonguardian]

Theres a ton of interesting comics that started out as merely stick figures before developing further.

Personally I find that looking at a comic creators first chapter vs their latest is amazing to see the growth that they go through. You see their confidence build up and their art "settle" it's like a journey not just from reading the story but to also observe the authors evolution!

[AmazementComics]

No. We shouldn’t always be criticizing Art. Especially for many indie creators on this platform who are just getting their footing in the comics space. Art criticism feels like an art itself. It’s subjective and means different things to many people. And not everyone is going to take criticism seriously. You, like many people have the right to dismiss art criticism.

When I first started on this platform, my art was known for hand drawn styles. It still is to an extent. I knew all of the problems with it before others did, and still posted it online anyway.

You don’t need to be so hard on yourself if you’re a novice. Art is a continual learning process for everyone.

[igneriss]

For me, both art and story are important, however if the art is bad I will most likely click of the series and never find out if the story was good.
But 'bad' for comics usually mean that's it's not clear- the text is not readable, I can't tell what's going on in the panel, or can't tell characters apart, stuff like that. Different criteria than they would be for a single illustration
Sometimes I'd also stop reading if art is too stiff (even if it's very pretty as an illustration) or the style is just not my cup of tea, but it's all a personal taste and a lot of comics that fall into this category in my book are actually very popular.

As for critiquing art in others' comics, I would only do that if someone asked me to do it. And still I'd pay attention more to how readable it is and if the characters emotions/actions are clear.

As for getting critique on my own art, well, I sometimes like getting those but not for my comics I usually see my mistakes after about a week or two, and then try to practice and fix it in my next drawings. Sometimes when I feel stuck with a drawing and know that SOMETHING is wrong but don't know what, I'd send a wip over to my artists friends for a critique. But most of the times I know what I want to achieve in my illustrations and try to improve it without the critique

[Avonguardian]

I went to art school and often we had to describe the process of getting the art done more than the art itself.

This led me to find the process and the behind the scenes of comic making to be so interesting, its fascinating to watch an author develop their artstyle and see how far theyve gone, as well as seeing how they go about making their comic.

You are so right on the subjectiveness of art critique though, I think some people forget that its an artform too, to know how and where to put a good critique on a williing participant.

[Avonguardian]

Oh yes!
I mentioned to another where I brought up the question of
"would you rather have a comic with good art but bad story or a bad art with good story"

But you bring up something I hadnt considered, that for comic art it might not be about the art itself but rather the format, that its unreadable or hard to understand. Now thats something I'm very vary of, I do not ever want people to be confused when reading my comic, I pride myself on being clear and often sacrifice "interesting poses" for clarity in story.
A comic with "bad" art can still be technically proficient, but then of course it can all come down to a matter of taste.

I do also approach my comic with if something is wrong or looked "bad" in earlier chapters that its fine I've learned my lesson and instead on dwelling on it or even redrawing the whole thing I just keep going, keep posting.

I only ever redraw or go back to earlier chapters to make things more clear if I feel like I failed in the clarity department XD

(had to resend this comment, new to forum formats haha)

[IndigoShirtProd]

I prefer not to separate story from art. It's not a good story or good art. A good story can be hampered by poor visuals, and I don’t just mean quality, I mean clarity as well. Your art more than "looking good" and other than looking polished, should be working too elevate the story and give a visual aspect to better illustrate plot details. If the story's "bad" but the art is "good," I'm leaving. If the story's "good" and the art's "bad," I'm still leaving.

[cherrystark]

I don't think so unless the creator is explicitly asking for critiques. You are entitled to your personal opinions about the quality of the artwork but posting art of any kind online takes a lot of courage. They could be so proud of what they accomplished and one negative comment or a misunderstood comment can halt their progress.

[Avonguardian]

This comment gave me a good chuckle haha, yeah sometimes it isnt that simple really. It has to do a lot with subjective opinions and I suppose taste haha.

I agree that a comic is a medium that utilises both art and story to convey a tale to readers, and that clarity is integral.

Which is why one of my favourite joke is "A Bad artist and a Bad writer becomes a great comic artist" I dont know where I heard it but it resonated with me. Its a mix of both, that you can use text to convey what you can't draw and draw to convey what you can't write.
As someone whos terrible at writing enviromental stuff and descriptions, being able to just draw it does save a few headaches.

[Avonguardian]

I 100% believe in positive reinforcement before any critique, I think I saw another forum post talking about it, that you bring up stuff you like about the given piece and then bring up things to elevate the art!
(Of course if the person want the critique to begin with lol)

[cherrystark]

I think I saw another forum post talking about it, that you bring up stuff you like about the given piece and then bring up things to elevate the art!

Yeah! I've learned that across the board when you do art - you tell them things that you liked or appreciated about the work and then give them realistic things that they can improve upon.

[Kelheor]

It's all right
Yeah, can't disagree that comics and novels are very different things.
And honestly, it's hard to say which one I would rather read. I dropped some beautiful comics because they had bad story, I continued reading plotless comics for the sake of nice art to learn from it, I dropped comics with a good plot because I couldn't put up with the style (looking at you, Fables)... Hell I even dropped some awesome looking comics because somehow my brain decided it's not what we need, it's very unpredictable xD

In the end I do try to find good parts in every art style, but I am a very very visual person. That's why if the comic art doesn't work for me, I will prefer a good novel, I will prefer just imagining the novel as a movie while reading than trying to get through art I don't like

[Avonguardian]

That is a very fair point

I am very picky about certain things and story elements in comics and stuff, and visuals can have a big role with that. Sometimes I find myself not reading a comic with good art and good story because my brain decided to be a hipster and go "can't read them anymore, theyve gone... commercial" even if they havent and I'm just being weird xDD

I still subscribe to alot of comics that i dont read abut i check them out once in a while, I dont think I've ever unfollowed anyone unless the author is a legitimate bad person lol. But that's also because I always get sad when someone unsubs so I never want to inflict that sadness on anyone else, Im that dramatic.

[BoomerZ]

My opinion is it's not the art. It's the use of the comic panel to tell a story that can be critiqued. Your set up of a story through storytelling, the "acting" of the characters, and layout of the shot. Is all your panels medium shots from the side. Are all the background shots 1 point perspective. Are you more interested in making cute people or telling a story. I look at most of the professional comics on tapas and other sites. Most of the artist/creators are more worried about there characters looking good, hence all the males look dead eye into space and all the girls look pretty no matter the situation. Very little emotion. This medium is a visual storytelling medium, not a slide show with dialogue.

The skill to draw comes with time. But for comics that skill has to come with the ability to tell a story. Mixing up shots, moving the reader through your story is far more important than being about to make pretty pictures. That is fine art or cover art. We are making comics. Being only good at art isn't enough. Telling the story is more important so that is what should be critiqued.

[bulgariansumo]

Depends on a lot of factors, but I think the most important thing in comic art is being able to tell what's going on / the mood of the situation. To paraphrase a friend of mine, ONE, (One Punch Man, Mob Psycho 100) isn't up to par with other mangaka when it comes to things like anatomy and linework, but is really good at things like composition and pacing. Plus he's a good storyteller. I don't know if I'll trust anyone else to write an overpowered MC in a compelling way.

However, its always struck me as something that maybe I need to improve on on myself, that maybe I am resistent to getting art critiqued because I don't wanna "Face the truth" Or whatever.

I feel this big time. I'm very proud of what I have, but there's things I want to go back and fiddle with because I don't want someone else to point it out first (or worse, lose readers!) I also just want to get on with the story. It's a constant tug-of-war. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's unlikely that I'll make the best series of all time, so there's probably going to be some missteps.

The only thing I ever and will ever care about in regards to my stories is-"But do you like the story?"

Yeah, that's my main thing too. I'm a little antsy knowing that some of my chapters don't have illustrations yet (or the illustrations they do have are old art that I'm unhappy with), but the only reason I'm concerned with that at all is because I want people to keep reading the story.

[Avonguardian]

This is such a good reply, been starring at it thinking of thoughts I could put in but you really nailed it!

I think I've had a bit of a crisis lately about my own art and the concept of criticism, should one suck up and ask for it and then be disappointed in what will be said, or perhaps will it reveal something you actually didn't think about.

I think texting is something thats super important, and a lot of people forget that, heck I forgot it. But when someone pointed it out (when I did ask for a critique a while back) It dawned on me. Sometimes You get tunnel vision in your own art, and you are convinced that you know everything and wont need it, heck I thought the font I was using made me look more "mature" until I caved and got a more "comic sans" looking font. Oh yeah it looks so much better now hahah.

[Avonguardian]

Yeah I was thinking of ONE and how the art is very simple yet also successful.

That being said I dont think people should strive for success, draw what makes you happy and if you wanna improve you can ask for advice. I think what I was after with this whole thread was what advice is more warranted based on the medium of comics, since personally I dont think just purely the art matters.

To me I know I can't draw good perspective and houses that make sense... But I can make it look kinda cute and add a bunch of cool colours so people will be too distracted by the speech bubbles and pretty colours to notice the glaring flaws. Making something intentionally bad looks nice, or as is a good saying
"fake it til ya make it"