Discuss: Negative art criticism = Bully? Submitted by bsherwin at 7/13/2012 8:13:56 AM CST

bsherwin: I read two articles today that explored art criticism and social networking. One article implied that negative art criticism can potentially be a form of bullying. I think that depends on the context. If the critic is relentlessly bombarding the artist with negative criticism... sure... he or she may be a 'bully' depending on the approach. That said, the act of pointing out problems with the image does not automatically mean that the person is a bully.

We should not expect art criticism to be 'rainbows and sunshine' 100% of the time. I'm not suggesting that mean-spirited comments are acceptable. That said, art criticism does not translate to 'fan club'. This is the truth: the "your artwork sucks" comments are no more helpful than the "your artwork is awesome" comments. I, for one, think that artists should be content if someone takes the time to point out basic problems with their images. If the critic happens to be another artist... you may want to pay attention to what he or she is saying. That is art criticism... and it is worth more than a 1,000 'Likes' on Facebook.

	justicia vargas via faso.com	10 months ago
	I agree. Respectful criticism is good and can help one improve as an artist. However, mean spirited comments do not inspire. It just tears one down.

	George S Servais via faso.com	10 months ago
	I can't think of anything worse than never hearing a criticism and having a bunch of "how pretties" thrown at me. Nasty negative comments are easy to brush off (at least for me) but never hearing what may be wrong will do something worse, inflate the ego and impede progress. I see it all the time, well meaning folks saying "How wonderful" and people posting the same mistakes over and over. I really have to dare people to critique. I resolved a long time ago that if I am to dare to put myself on the line and publicly show what I do then I need to grow some Rhino hyde. There will always be those who will not like my work and if I were to cave in when negative comments are made I may as well burn my brushes and go play video games.