Critique, even if you don't draw well.

Jan 28, 20144 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Jan 28, 2014

1K Views

Even if you don't think you're a good artist yet, you should learn how to critique, and here's why:

By learning how to critique, you become more sensitive to how pieces can look better and be better rendered. That helps you when you look at your own artwork.

You refresh your knowledge of the elements and principles of design. If you don't know what those are, you should google them and study up, because those will help you critique and notice things.

When you talk about someone else's art and what you like and dislike about it, you get more in-touch with what you like and dislike in your own art.

Ultimately, realistically critiquing already awesome pieces will help you objectify what is not awesome in your own art. That way you can fix them one by one.

Here's an example of a very general self-critique of one of my own pieces:

---

The strongest point of this piece is the lighting. The dynamics of the fire is violent and gentle at the same time, creating a powerful elegance that contrasts well with the dainty butterflies. The clash of these two motions brings life to their source: the main figure of the piece, and coordinates with her scarf and her tail.

The shading on the face and hair seem a little weak in comparison. The fire is very detailed and the contrast on the tail matches that detail, but the face is colored very flatly, especially compared to the muscles on the stomach. The same goes for the hair.

Maybe try to bring out the eyes by putting more highlight on them. The background and environment is actually taking a lot of the attention away from the face. By rebalancing that, the image would become more compelling as a whole.

---

Remember to not critique things unless if an opinion is asked for! Thanks! If you want practice, I'll set some of my pieces to critiquable and you can practice. Or you can write critiques for your own art. Good luck. 8D

Edit: hiitan reminded me to tell you that if you're critiquing your own art, do it a while after you finish that piece, not immediately after. That way you can view it with a fresh eye.