Art shaming

[Nekrahn]

Artists that are brutally self critical of their works annoy me to no end. Yes, everyone can always strive to improve, but if all I see from you is complaining about how your art is shit, despite the fact that you can make some good pieces, then perhaps that person needs to rethink on why they are drawing in the first place. Why draw art if you will never be happy with what you make?

[Bri Mercedes]

I think the topic title "art shaming" is a little loaded and implies rejecting art as a whole rather than rejecting just bad art.

When someone creates art and shares it with the world, some kind of rejection should be expected. The key is to not try and please everybody (and if you're not having fun creating art for yourself, why create it?). It comes down to the artist's ability to take criticism, constructive or not.

That said, it isn't nice to say "this art is bad, you're a terrible artist", though I have rarely seen that sort of behavior in the online art community.

[spacerogue]

Well I'm no artist, I've been trying for over 15 years but I never got any better so, well I just stopped. So I pretty much support anything keeps going despite their level of skill.

I gather you have been snarked ? Its no big deal, only if you make it out to be a big deal the snarkers will get to you, if you ignore it you'll be forgotten in 24 hours or even less.

I'm a bit perplexed everyone just flies over this;

I've been trying for over 15 years

Alright I'm going to be rude, I don't care much about 'art shaming' topic or whatever, thers always people that don't like a thing you did, but I care more about this sentence, if you don't improve in 4 years tops you're doing something wrong with how you learn drawing. (been there done that) And the only lead I have is your icon. So I'm going to believe that that is yours and your current level of abilities.
Second to that, this isn't personal ,I'm not attacking you and if you don't care about drawing at all anymore then I guess you'll be better of ignoring all I wrote. I just took the time because your icon shows potential.

well I just stopped.

Why ? Obviously you still care to some degree hanging in an art community. There is not 'stop' to a skill level unless you really really believe there is, and then you'll end up boycotting yourself. Witch it seems you are doing. staph ...

With the right learning path, and mindset, you actually can improve. Anyone can, hell I got severe memory problems even I improved over the last 12 years. Yes I'm at least 70% slower then everyone on the internet but its better then noting.
-How to improve; studie fundamentals, do some boring work, try to do a lot more fun work while applying these.
-How not to improve; draw anything without thought and think that drawing it more will get you somewhere.

FZD might be an extreme (these people draw 20 hours a day or something) however, look at Alex and Andrea. In one years time they push about 4 years of hard work on these people. Both of these where way below mediocre. But FZD work primarily with ramming fundamentals down their throat until these students turn purple from sleep deprivation, the result is all there.
http://fzdschool.com/entertainment-d...fore-and-after

Fundamentals is where its at,no mater if you draw still lives,boats,buildings or furries, learn those and you'll improve depending on how much time you are willing to delicate to drawing, but you need to stop believing you 'can't' and believe you 'can', mentality is a factor as well. An hour a week won't do much, an hour a day is much better. Ideal is more but as a working person I can believe that that is hard,lol.

The internet has changed a lot the last recent years, there are enough resources both free and payed that should get you on your way, I have a tutorial page on my website that links to several online 'teachers' with actual helpful tutorials if you're interested (seriously stay away from the 'draw this circle then add another circle' type of tutorials a la Chris Hart 'how to draw' books ) But to anyone I always tell to start out with this video about starting out with an advantage.

[MadMeeper]

Im in agreement with Space up there, one of the biggest reasons I see for people not improving is that they either completely IGNORE fundamentals or they just dont know where to start! People can always improve, its just about knowing how to do it.

I think art shaming is wrong if it's meant to be an attack... if you do it in public to humiliate them in front of an audience or to their face.

Let me give you a bit of perspective, albet a little bit harsh. I go to a community college and interact with a community of artists who believe that they don't have to improve and things should just be handed to them. They get frustrated when they don't improve just because they took a class (which, having been through the classes myself, don't really offer a whole lot) and tend to blame the school for their lack of skill. And/or, they just don't realize how terrible their work really is and start bragging about it like they're ready for commercial work. I can pick out a specific group in my mind among these people who openly brag something along the lines of "lol I was so lazy this weekend I played videogames aaaaaall day hahahah" when they have giant projects due, every week. I despise these people and their mindset, and I also think about 95% of the art they produce is garbage. Do I say this to their faces? Absolutely not.

These are people who want to be art majors, who want to do this for a career. These aren't people who want to do it as a hobby just because they love it. Yaknow what man, if you love creating art, just create it and don't worry about your skill level. If it really does good for you then just truck along and do your thing. I am in full support of that. NEVER stop arting if it's something you love to do regardless of your skill level.

HOWEVER, when we're talking about people who want to get into the industry and make art their living, then we have something wrong. You NEED to be improving. You have to be studying, getting better, working toward a goal. Cuz the harsh reality is that unless you're good people aren't going to hire you. The industry world doesn't really care, theres a million and one talented artists they can hire who will get the job done.

So when I look at other artists work, I might be shaming them in my head. I don't feel guilty about seeing the flaws in other people's work and taking note. Heck sometimes I'll look at people's art who FAR outdo me in skill and see something wrong, and just log it away in my mind for later. Other times I see things that could use some improvement but is actually half decent. Sometimes I just see things that are so bad that I don't even know where to begin. Maybe I'll share the really bad things with friends I trust for a good laugh. But I absolutely do not make it public. If somebody asks for crits, though, I'm going to be honest. I dont want to make them feel like garbage, but I am definitley going to point out the flaws and suggest ways to fix it.

Idk art shaming is a really tough thing because sometimes people get offended over the smallest things (one of my friends unfollowed someone she knew irl without saying why or being rude or anything and the gal started attacking her and her art because of it. Like really?). Like I said though, when it's meant to be a personal attack, it's absolutely an issue. However, there is nothing wrong with seeing the flaws in people's work and either offering help or taking personal note for your own art.