There are a lot of people who really dislike to have their work criticized. They’re proud of their stuff and the time, skill, and thought they put into it– and that’s great. After all, the work probably is just as great as they think it is. But could it be better? Absolutely. And it’s also possible that your peers can help to identify the flaws in your work, and lead you down a path to an even better final piece.
Being critiqued is absolutely essential to creative development. Not only does it help you hone your skills by offering up varying opinions of what works and what doesn’t, but it also does something even greater– It helps you to change your perspective from being someone who seeks validation and praise, to seeking knowledge and advancement. Sure, you can enjoy compliments while seeking to better your work, but pride has a funny way of obscuring execution-based weaknesses.
Keep an open mind and an open ear to your peers, critics, friends, and coworkers. Ask for opinions, and ask them to be brutally honest. The more you can understand what is wrong with your work, the more you can do to identify it, learn from it, correct it, and improve yourself.
4 Responses to “All Criticism is Good Criticism”
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John, are there any specific examples of projects during which someone offered you criticism, and though you may have found it hard to take at first, you later appreciated it?
I was lucky to have been raised by an artist. My mother, Hilda, is a very skilled painter and was my biggest influence growing up. She taught me a lot through her criticism of my work. So, critique was something I grew up with- and because it was always present when I was young, It was never anything beyond something I could learn from. I really can’t remember a time when I couldn’t take criticism of my work.
I think it is most valuable to get critiques from people whose work you respect, professionals in your chosen industry. In my case I sought this kind of critiques at comic book conventions. Some will give you supportive encouragement (Steve Rude comes to mind) and some will give you simple, solid advice (John Romita Jr.) and some will give you detailed, specific criticism (writer Jo Duffy did this for me) and in every case I got something valuable out of it. Unfortunately there are also some people in the industry and outside of the industry who will give you nothing but needless discouragement. Ignore them. When I was trying to hustle and get coloring work in the comics industry there was this hippie guy who tried to discourage me, making me feel like I wasn’t going to get anywhere showing color samples and handing out business cards… except I had already been offered jobs doing indications before he started laying his “head trip” on me. Being persistent, figuring out whose criticism to listen to, and practicing without fail are essential.
It’s unfortunate that some pros will try and dissuade amateurs from pursuing their dreams. Granted, there may be instances where someone just isn’t up to par yet, but like anything else, practice and hunger go a long way. He should have recognized that someone driven enough to seek out professional feedback is exactly the type of person who would eventually be competing with him for gigs.
Heh… maybe the prospect of that competition is why he tried to discourage you.