How to Critique Art for Beginners: RISD Art Professor & Art Students Explain

[@artprof]

Watch our Portfolio Critique Marathon, 9 hours of critique!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWa0nWmsj7mkqJo

[@one_two_three_Cheese]

It drives me nuts how underrated this KZbin channel is.

[@artprof]

Us too 😂

[@JeanneBook]

I know, I can't wrap my head around it. So many valuable content but so underated.

[@enochhku]

I love this channel so much. I hadn't done much visual art this past year, but after I started watching this channel more regularly I started up a couple new projects which I'm really enjoying... Thanks for the inspiration 🙏🙏🙏

[@artprof]

So glad you can be part of the Art Prof family! ❤ -Prof Lieu

[@Brandon75689]

But if you say that their art is " a load of crap" or "You haven't done any work this week". you're critiquing their work ethic not their artwork.

[@FederalBureausOfInvestigation]

thank you for this, I've had trouble on critiquing in my classes and this video gave me so much comfort for my future critiques.

[@artprof]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Renfairlady2678]

I just graduated with my art Ed degree and I’ve been feeling a little lost. I’ve had a difficult time circling back to what I gained from my beginner classes that could really support my students in my classroom. This was such a great and condensed over view of the purpose of critique and HOW to best guide students through it. Thank you for making this content!

[@rynjeff1073]

I shared your video with a first year professor at my college because you really address a wide range of possible issues that may come up during crits, and I appreciate your suggestions on how you handled those situations.

[@artprof]

That's great to hear, young teachers really don't get much guidance early on unless they reach out to someone, which can be hard to do! -Prof Lieu

[@haroldsalita1873]

I had a professor who told me my art was trash and I should change my course. She works for me now

[@artprof]

WOAH! That's crazy-- at least now she can't deny your talent, haha - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@paulathistleton1339]

Congratulations! to you and your teacher !

[@mickeymorgan]

This is helpful . . . just like in college and univ. . . . every quarter was a poetry workshop where the whole class would pull apart your poem. Toughened me up. Made me consider others.

[@jbspiszer908]

This is such a great video! Critiques are much harder than people think. And there's a difference between critique and straight up criticism.

[@artprof]

For sure, you need to practice giving and receiving critique in order to get good at it! - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@inali_illustrates9142]

love the bloopers at the end!

[@pikkuoo]

Congratulations for getting a sponsorship! I loved this 360 view on giving and receiving critique. Your channel is such a well of inspiration!

[@artprof]

Thank you so much!

[@nursemain3174]

Honestly as someone who’s been creating art most of my life, ur channel is amazing

[@melaniereeder2349]

to tack onto the point about listening to the critique for your peers - this channel is such a gem for providing critiques to watch online. I've learned so much from them. thank you guys!

[@artprof]

Glad you enjoy it! Thank you so much for watching :) - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@MikeS]

this is my current favorite youtube channel

[@artprof]

Thank you for the support!

[@ciaoalejandra7514]

I’m don’t paint. I’m not an artist. Never been to art school.... yet I sat here and watched all 34 minutes of this video and wow. I didn’t even know critique was a thing in art. Cool. Thanks for the info?? Lol

[@artprof]

Critique is so weird at first, but it quickly becomes a norm in artistic environments! We're so glad you watched :) You might also like this video about art school vs being self taught: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWeym4Zvpbl3rdk - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@ntokozotshabalala2583]

Yoh prof do you still have the art portfolio that got you into art school??

[@artprof]

I do! I should do a stream on it, would be entertaining. -Prof Lieu

[@androandro7179]

@@artprof you did the portfolio video?

[@Super7Kevin]

nobody: almost nobody: Professor Lieu: 27:04 “Guys, you see that church over there? Go run around it 3 times. GO!! RUN!! RUN NOW!!!” ART BOOTCAMP! haha love it!!

[@artprof]

Worked every time too! 😆 -Prof Lieu

[@simmi6348]

I didn't get to learn as much as i wanted to on how to critic in my class even if we did it in every class so i search on yt after school ended and sooo many points were hit on point with what i experience in my class and i took notes on things i didnt know and needed more elaboration on. with that said, i plan to suggest my prof to make every student in his class to watch this video bc it was just so on point n helpful! tysm!

[@artprof]

Wow, we're so happy to hear that this critique video was so impactful on you! I hope it serves your teacher and his students well! ❤️ -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist

[@Kaalokalawaia]

You are such great teachers.

[@tilt0matic2]

Superlatively interesting advice! 😁 Thank You. I love how you bring this back to remembering the person. Takes me back to Virgina Shea!

[@msmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsm]

Prof Lieu pushed me to change it up with my artwork. Not just made a photo copy of something else. To put my own spin on things!

[@artprof]

Originality brings so much depth into an artwork! We would love for you to join our Discord Server, we have tons of conversations everyday about art, and you can post your work for critiques from our staff and other people too! Here is the invite link: discord.gg/g5XQRpT -Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@msmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsm]

Art Prof: Create & Critique that is such a good idea! Thank you so much 🥰 I’m joining right now!

[@CrimsonStigmata]

Our Art Teacher took notes during crits. Such as what was successful and what wasn't. They wrote down Names of other Artist that related to the students Art works. They also wrote down on things that we could work on or pay more attention to. I still have the notes from my Art teacher and I really enjoyed that painting class. I do find that a lot of things mentioned are very true in almost every crit I've ever gotten. Most have been always positive and then there are the ones where I get no comments and I feel ashamed and lost so I get it. It's always nice to get crit but I think it's worst sometimes when you don't get any.

[@artprof]

That's so generous of your teacher to take notes! My prof would have us each choose two people in the class to do notes for us during crit. One could be a friend, and the other had to be someone we didn't know very well. The contrast in what was picked up during the crit in the notes was really useful. Art Prof has a number of portfolio critiques here: artprof.org/library/art-school/portfolio-critiques/ -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist

[@kaylavail1162]

Such a wonderful helpful channel, so happy to find it!

[@Atreyfabian]

I made sure all my friends who make art know about this channel!

[@artprof]

Tysm!!!

[@lahonnarampton7873]

Something just clicked for me, re-watching this a year later - I took a University art course by correspondence. I got extremely good marks and insipid feedback. I had nowhere to go! Now I know what to ASK for!!

[@artprof]

Yes!! That's amazing! - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@gisellescheeks2389]

WHY THE FUCK IS THIS CHANNEL SO FUCKING UNDERRATED. Other denseless vids have way more views.

[@EvermoreisTimeless]

Wait so is it ok to call someone’s work straight up bad? Cause this professional teacher art teacher said that about someone’s work and when they heard they felt very disheartened. Is it normal/ok for that to happen?

[@artprof]

I don't know the specifics of the situation you're describing, so I can't give you an accurate answer. I think every artwork requires it's own custom response. In the case that I explain in this video where a student said "that's a load of crap," it was more of the student putting in no effort whatsoever as opposed to the artwork being "bad." IMO there isn't really such a thing as a "bad" artwork, it's much more nuanced and that and I think labeling an artwork "bad" isn't a critique of the artwork, it's just someone labeling the artwork. -Prof Lieu

[@tiffanysullivan5370]

Probably for some people feel disheartened. I feel the video showed how the class grew through critiquing and even the students didn’t know exactly how to critique . This videos in my opinion shows how they grew while receiving criticism while also dishing the criticism and finding ways to critique over time.

[@gemmawhite8723]

I love this channel!!! So glad I found it.

[@artprof]

So glad you found us, welcome to the Art Prof family! ❤ -Prof Lieu

[@森下典樹]

It triggers me a lot of the memory in architecture college, some of them quite bitter. I wish threre had been critiques about critiques.

[@WackDoctor]

Just wanted to let you know that the link in description has a "w" at the end that causes a 404 page to pop up

[@artprof]

Oops, thank you for telling me!!!! -Prof Lieu

[@kaholee3756]

You draw/paint what you like and how you like it. No one needs critique for their art. It is not like we are doing an exam.

[@genericname8727]

A critique is basically just feedback. You don’t necessarily need to follow the advice said in a critique, and people usually only get critiqued if they’ve requested to be, but a critique gives you an idea of how audiences may be responding to your artwork. Maybe you wanted to communicate an idea but the critique made it clear you didn’t communicate it as well as you could’ve. Maybe there’s some technical mistakes that you’d not realised you’d made. Like, maybe you drew a person but you made an arm a bit shorter than you intended. A critique can alert you to this so you can correct it or be more cautious of proportions in future. Maybe you wanted the arm to be short for whatever reason and you don’t want to change that in response to the critique. Maybe the critique let’s you know it’s successfully drawn the viewer’s attention, if that’s what you were going for. If you’re just doing art for yourself and don’t care what others think then I doubt you’d find yourself in a situation where you’re being critiqued anyway tbh.

[@user-nv9vn8fm1d]

Fantastic insight!!! Thanks for sharing

[@seanfaherty]

What I do is see if I can’t stop looking at it . If I like it or not a good piece of art is mesmerizing or it’s not art.

[@mchenard1]

love this video !! I would love to share it with my students! Would it be possible to set subtitles in french? I am an artist and instructor in the french part of Canada. thank you this is fantastic work

[@artprof]

Sadly we don't have the budget to do that ourselves, but try the instructions on this link!! It might be of help: support.google.com/youtube/answer/100078?hl=en-GB&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop - Mia, Art Prof Staff

[@madelinerupard2511]

Thank you!! Super helpful

[@artprof]

You're welcome! - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@gingercel4]

You know this just reminded me of when I was in a critique for a wire toucan I made. The critique was going well everyone was giving me feedback and then my teacher told me that my toucan needed more movement. She was right he was looking a little stiff but she got up and bent my toucan forward. I was not expecting her to touch my project so I immediately said do not touch my toucan. Everyone in the class looked at me like I was insane for questioning her and telling her something. I also was very quiet so even though I didn’t yell at her I just said not to touch it but I swear everyone in the room looked so shocked. I always felt bad for doing it but she did just bend my toucan out of shape. Is it normal for a teacher to just mess with your work during a critique?

[@artprof]

Ugh, I'm sorry you went through that experience. Teachers should not be touching the artwork, that's rude. Or they should at least ask before touching. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist

[@marianthipapastergiadis7744]

Great video! Sorry, was that a terrible critique?

[@studiosherlen]

i cant believe i just discovered this channel.... i'm interested in submitting/purchasing an art critique but so far i only see 2D visual art (painting, illustration, animation). my work is mostly craft design (ceramics, jewelry), are you open to criticize that type of art? thank you!

[@artprof]

We do critique ceramics and jewelry (and pretty much everything else!) you can purchase a critique here: artprof.org/purchase-a-portfolio-critique/ or if you want to submit for a free live critique here: artprof.org/youtube-live-critique-submission-form/ -Prof Lieu

[@studiosherlen]

@@artprof thank you!

[@Moe-zo4fm]

How do I get a professional critique of my art on line? I’ve been painting over 25yrs. I couldn’t afford art at University I became an x-ray technician. Painting and learning at night weekends. I studied took classes, and sold my art in a small centre. I had a stroke and then started painting again. I didn’t show my work. I’ve heart problems and bad health but I’m determined to do well. I finally went on instagram and I’m and other sites but I want to know what is good and what is bad, I’m an abstract painter. Sorry for the long story.

[@artprof]

Hi! We do have services for portfolio critiques: artprof.org/art-school/purchase-a-portfolio-critique/ -Prof Lieu

[@Moe-zo4fm]

@@artprof Thank you 😊

[@iputthemeinmediocre]

At 7:51 made question whether we had the same drawing professor... Probably not, but I was sure I witnessed something similar in my drawing foundations class.

[@artprof]

Haha, I think unfortunately there are more than a few professors out there that act like that. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist

[@sankyunotmuch]

this is as good as free college education if not better

[@artprof]

We're glad you think so!! - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@catsinpajamas]

Who did the colorful portrait at 10:12?

[@artprof]

Cat Huang, one of our Teaching Artists! artprof.org/emerging-artists/catherine-huang/ -Prof Lieu

[@catsinpajamas]

@@artprof Thanks! I really liked it.

[@georginajovanovic]

Wonderful

[@artprof]

Thank you :) - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@lucidmoth1023]

Question, what if you're not very good at art and you draw anime? What if your art just isn't good. How do you grow tough skin. Because I'm sensitive so I'm scared of going to art school and getting harsh criticism. Things like, "Your art is trash." Or "Stop drawing anime." Any advice?

[@artprof]

Thank you so much for watching! I think that you should hold your head high and be confident in your work. TONS of people learn how to draw through anime (I did!) and it doesn't mean that you're an inferior artist. Range is important in a portfolio, though, so don't be afraid to branch out. Here's a video about artists comparing themselves to other artists you might enjoy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX7Tp4GNnNGfmpI - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@lucidmoth1023]

@@artprof Thank you so much, I'm just going to keep working hard and try to get more confidence!

[@drawslashplay7384]

My teacher had a laser pointer to use on the work. When we had class crit she would pass the laser around. He who held the laser held the audience.

[@artprof]

That's a great idea! - Mia, Art Prof Staff

[@andrewwalkerpatterson3843]

Hi, thanks for another great video. I'd like to use it for my community college drawing class, only there seems to be an accessibility issue. The subtitles are really off, KZbin's autogenerate seems to have missed the mark on this one. Can I volunteer to help transcribe? Contact me if you're interested.

[@artprof]

Thanks so much for your generous offer, but it’s more work than it sounds like to get something like that going, and we just don’t have the staffing and budget to be able to do that right now. Thank you though! -Prof Lieu

[@andrewwalkerpatterson3843]

@@artprof ok, no problem.

[@jazw4649]

But how does a person actually give a good critique? What are the talking points you should bring up when giving feedback on art? The critique sandwich was sort of glossed over, is that how you should phrase your feedback? This seems more an instructional video for how a professor should crit.

[@artprof]

Critique can be sort of hard to grasp at first, but it's easy to get the hang of! I love the critique sandwich-- an example would be starting out with something you like about the work ("I love your use of colors in this piece") following with constructive feedback ("It might help if you added some darker colors as shadows, that way it would make the light sources pop") and finishing with another positive ("Overall, I feel like you created a really interesting composition"). I hope this helped-- here's a link to a video where Prof Lieu and Alex Rowe critique an illustration portfolio: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lamuiISXnt-tpZI It can provide better, real life examples! - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@simplyme135]

And again, comment after the action. I have a complex relationship with Critique in general. It was always a fascinating topic for me from a psychological standpoint, so I read some material in the past and listened to NPR. IMHO, constructive criticism does not exist, there is only criticism. Period. Unless you are the most tactful person on the planet or teacher or have been asked to- do not criticize. Simple. That's in general. Regarding Art critics ( some rules still apply: read above). I was ok with it till last semester. Live Drawing Prof asked for the final critic to bring two drawings: the best and the worst as we see them. Long story short, I was the only one who followed the instruction. Meaning I did bring the worst ( was not difficult to find one) and the best. Everybody brought: best and even better.. I know this as I was present in the class the whole semester. And, besides, Prof was asking all the time my classmates to point out which drawing out of two they think is the worst. The bottom line, not going into details of the event ( there is more of this story) I will be smarter next time....

[@artprof]

Thanks for sharing your perspective on critique, I applaud you on your commitment to the assignment! -Marc Stier, Art Prof Staff

[@wop130]

Casey Roonan doeeee! 😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@captin-ds6xj]

I want to pursue art but I feel like my skills and work are not nearly enough to do so... I don't know what I'm gonna do

[@artprof]

It's never too late to start practicing! If you're truly passionate about it, I say go for it. This artist curriculum video might help you out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXqoiYhnqbVrqKs - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff

[@andrewduan8059]

"You have no artistic skills, how did you get into RISD?" "What is this? Tell me more? Why? Why?" "There's so little to observe here, why did you draw this?" (Why ask this question as a professor if you just told me to draw whatever comes to mind?) Particularly Drawing at RISD: There will only be two case for me, 1. No one speaks, complete silence and the professor criticizes hard 2. Some start to quote "I think this not your real skill, you can do better than this!" or either asking me why I draw too similar or too different, or even ask about my background in the field of art My question is, if Critique is meant to help people improve and by being helpful without being too rude, why would I have to experience such during the first semester and specifically Drawing? Why do I have to be forced to be weak when I have the rights to choose I want to be? Why when I am the one who paid for the tuition get such result of learning nothing out of this Drawing class instead, comes out of the class with inner scars and wounds?

[@artprof]

I went to RISD and I completely agree-- my friends and I often talk about how detrimental an environment like that can be. Despite all of the good parts, it has lasting effects I struggle with even now - Mia, Art Prof Staff

[@AriesArtist8]

My professor was the worst...always critizing...not criticting

[@oatsthedog]

critique the art not the artist.

[@ElCrimsonMoon]

I find some students are not accepting what teachers need to express and too much negative emotion.. They are taking it too personal it's annoying. Guess younger students only care about how they feel how and not taking criticism for improvement. Dislike this video a lot as an art student.. It's disappointing that these kids still kids.

[@parthsavyasachi9348]

So if you are feminist then others have to follow your nonesense. What does objectifying women means btw? Its an art piece , if you do not like it its fine. Why stop others and make them follow what you think is right.

[@w4r7]

And the illustrations they showed were awesome! Why can't it be about celebrating the female form?

[@christopherlyonas6523]

To be honest i don't enjoy hearing foul language from any source online or in person. It may be there choice to communicate in the way they choose. Although It is my choice to watch another channel and to walk away, even as an artist. thank you