Why should I share a painting and what do I expect if I do so

Tom0779

Well I would like to start a discussion (maybe some people join it) about sharing pictures here. No matter if they are Bob Ross related or any other stuff.
I think it is nice to get some positive feedback and this really motivates me, but I personally expect a bit more than this. I also expect that people tell me things which could be improved. This means I expect that others also tell me why several things aren't as expected and what they think how I can improve them. Everyone sees things differently and suggestions for improvement are always welcome. I know it isn't always easy for non native English speakers to write a text. My native language is German and I also find it often hard to really express what I mean and sometimes I think the opposite might misunderstand what I try to say. So I often prefer to say nothing.
Currently the community seems to be quite moving forward, i.e. there are a lot of people joining conversations etc.. And of course it is more easy to get cheers with a pastel colored sunset done in oils (I personally prefer more monochromatic paintings and the sky to me is in most of my pictures really not important) than with a monochromatic drawing.
So what I want to say is that I expect also some improvement hints for my technique, even in a painting that doesn't fit the mainstream. That doesn't mean that I am not happy about any positive feedback at all because they already give me a lot of motivation.
P.S. Hopefully my English is good enough to express what I want to say 🙂

Mgiese84

Tom0779 to answer your tag why should I share a painting and what do I expect if I do so, my answer would be to have everyone else in the 2" brush community enjoy what I've created. I get to enjoy my works anytime I want but I'm really glad we have this website so I can get these out into the world. I do post them on facebook too but this is a special site as we're all artists here.

I do appreciate any and all tips though too. Next one I do with evergreens I will be using the tip you gave me just the other day. A lot of times I have my spouse look at my piece when I think it's done and get his opinion. While not an artist he gives me a lot of good criticism at times. Then it's up to me what I do with that criticism.

wybnormal

Useful advice is just that. Useful But I would add that in painting, it's such a personal endeavor that a technique I might use, you may not because it doesn't work for you, doesn't fit your vision or you just don't like it 🙂 The same goes for any art criticism. I remember when I took my first photography class in college ( we won't discuss how long ago but it was film and digital wasn't not even a thought) we had to present our work to the rest of the class. I used to hate that.. still do actually. I was always experimenting with lighting, film, paper type, home made developers and so on so my prints were always 'different" and not always appreciated for what they were. An experiment. I had two very different instructors my time there.. one was "I don't care how you got the image so on long as it's cool and exciting".. the other was "it doesn't count unless you can reproduce it on demand". So no happy accidents with #2. I find my oil and other media to be following the same pattern. I'm always experimenting with different materials, different brands, different mediums, techniques etc. Some are more successful than others. So my art may not be "art" per say but in my mind an experiment of some degree of success and I'm sharing that knowledge in the idea that someone else may be encouraged to experiment. To criticize /judge an experiment is somewhat unfair to the artist. To judge any art is somewhat unfair to the artist actually. I would propose that if you want an opinion/advice then lets have a tag to use which makes it clear what you as the artist are hoping for. If it's experiment, tag that way and give the details of the experiment ( type, brand, why, etc) And so on.. If you have an experiment AND you want advice then use both tags.. 😃

wybnormal

I should add that in my view, any professional artist can reproduce their art on demand. What that means is they know their media of choice and have mastered it to a large degree. Hence I while I consider myself a professional photographer, my painting/sketching/pastels are by no means professional 😃 way too many happy accidents !!

Felix

Great topic for a discussion Tom!

To go on a small tangent here: I started learning piano two years ago without a teacher. While playing for non-musicians or just for myself is fun and a sure way to get compliments, I noticed that the learning process is quite slow, since there is nobody to point out non-obvious mistakes or other parts I can improve on. So I decided last week to get a teacher to advance my playing more quickly.

I think the same can be said about painting. The fastest way to get better is input from better painters. I know that it is a very subjective question to decide what's "good" art, but I also think that there are technical aspects where this is much more objective. Like perspective, brushwork, composition...

While I greatly enjoy the positive and friendly atmosphere we have here (someone once described TwoInchBrush.com as the friendliest place on the internet), I am not sure this atmosphere is the best for individual painters' improvement.
I guess a lot of us don't want to give out criticism for fear of going against the grain here.

The question is, how can we keep the friendly vibe while also providing valuable input? Tom, since you've mentioned a while ago that you'll stop posting watercolors since there is nobody here to help you get better I have had this topic in the back of my head.

One solution I had would be to be able to tag paintings with something like "Criticism Wanted". This would set the painting and all discussion to an anonymous mode, where everyone commenting (including the original poster) would have their names hidden. The painting would then also not be visible on the uploaders page. Maybe I could also generate codenames that are shown instead of the usernames, so the discussion would not get too confusing.
Everyone would then be free to give (and receive) criticism, without being "identified". Of course, for some signature styles (like your watercolors) it would still be clear who uploaded the painting.

What do you (and of course everyone else) think?

Mgiese84

Felix I think that's a great idea Felix! And I certainly have no problem giving feedback to anyone who asks for it. I think with a "criticism wanted" tag I would know that the particular artist does really want tips/criticism on their works. It also helps if people actually put in their upload description something like "criticism wanted/appreciated."

Tom0779

Felix I think this is really a good opportunity to do so. I just want to add, that criticism does not need to be seen as unfriendly if it is objective. See I think if somebody gives me a hint to improve then he has really looked at my painting and I feel honored due to this. I know I am no professional artist and I do not need to make living out of it. This makes it easier to see things objective.
What I feel is that most people only "judge" paintings which kind of fit into a mainstream scheme (e.g. I don't like Nic Hankins riverbend sunset which is quite popular recently, but I would give any hints or comments though). And this isn't objective. I always try to look at technique, composition and how the picture is built up (e.g. no strait lines, less symmetry etc..) But as said, sometimes I don't write it...

Tom0779

Felix BTW: Felix: Due to the serious interest of member @LJMpaintings to learn the ink and wash technique, I have started to share watercolors again.

wybnormal

Maybe two different "halls".. one for display and CCs ( claps and cheers) and one for advice. And I would propose in the HALL ( Hall of Advice, Lore and Learning ) goes everything people want help/opinions on.

Felix

A separate space is a great idea!

wybnormal

I also have gone back to watercolors to dabble again 🙂 I still like my oils but it's a nice change of pace

Tom0779

wybnormal To me it is no go back to watercolors, I love them more as any other medium. 3 out of 4 from my paintings are done with watercolors.

wybnormal

Oils work the way I think.. always changing my mind 😃 But I love the look and textures of watercolors.

Sunnylady

When we post a painting there is these two tick marks if one wants feedback or not. I was thinking that may be by default option we need to highlight one in red and select do not want feedback. And one in green welcoming for feedback. May be color of the name to adjust when in a view mode depending on a selected tick mark red/green. Maybe red is too aggressive. So let’s say blue/gray. But green one for feedback and criticism.
@Tom- I agree with you. I suffer because of English sometimes when I want to explain something about how to improve certain thing in a painting. But my main concern that I cannot comment much about media I do not use or have little experience with. Please don’t be offended by this. I think you raised a great discussion here. Next step would be to try to digest that criticism and accept people spend time on sharing feedback about painting and see what one will want to do with that info.

Tom0779

Sunnylady you could never offend me, I got so much information from you all the time and I remember some great discussions we had.

LJMpaintings

For me , I am not a professional artist, so I don't feel that I should give advise. Giving criticism without the help to fix, doesn't seem helpful. Maybe I am wrong in thinking this?

I can and have given tips that have been shared with me. But I don't think this is the same idea.

I remember once that @Sunnylady asked for help from community about how our eyes wandered on her painting and I enjoyed seeing everyones response. And I think (I hope) we helped her.

Tom0779

LJMpaintings I think almost all of us aren‘t professionell artists, in fact I know only Nil Rocha. Maybe advice isn’t the correct word, sometimes I just would be glad about several hints. 😀

Mgiese84

LJMpaintings I agree with ya. The more I think about this I also think it's up to the individual artist who uploads to ask for help/criticism. What I mean by that is in the piece's description saying something along the lines of, "the sky turned out ok but I'm not happy with my clouds. If anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it." Then the rest of us know that person is actively looking for help.

Sunnylady

Tom0779 thank you Tom! You are so kind!

Tom0779

Mgiese84 everything you say is true. On the other hand there is already an option to let others know that you wish feedback. Everytime you upload a painting you can choose between two options. Maybe this is overlooked often but in every painting I have seen yet I can read: „This painter appreciates constructive criticism and tips.“…