Why Art Criticism Doesn't Matter

In this video, I talk about the critics and different criticism I've gotten over the years. It's all so weird.
Support this channel by joining our Rogue Community on Patreon (We REALLY appreciate it): / rafiwashere
We have a bunch of FREE stuff for creative humans on our website (things like resources, a 6 hour Artist Masterclass, free courses, more videos, blogs, downloads, and who knows what else) in case you want more stuff from us: rogueartistcom...
Aaand if you want to know more about Rafi and Klee (That's us) or you want to support us by buying some art, jewelry, or other creation go to our website: rafiandklee.com/
Follow us on the socials, podcasts, and stuffs: rafiandklee.co...

[@miabloomdesigns]

One of my college professors once said that another student and I would never make it as professional artists. I don’t recall her explanation. All I remember is that other student and I looked at each other and smirked. We lost respect for that professor after that comment. After we graduated, both of us started working right away in an art studio for a textile company. We talked about visiting that professor and letting her know that we were working as professional artists, but we decided it wasn’t worth it and didn’t matter.

[@NickLMears]

Discouraging anyone irritates me. Everyone has potential.

[@miabloomdesigns]

@@NickLMears I agree.

[@Melissa-rt3yp]

I was once called out in a college level painting course by the instructor. He told I should find a therapist to help me work through my issues. I thought that’s what made great artists. Working out your issues on the canvas.

[@notbroken4342]

My ex husband used to say 'Oh...interesting...' He also used to tell me he liked my colour test swatches better than my paintings. Note, he is an EX husband.

[@alexisdufault]

At my first craft sale, an old lady walked past my table and said, "Oh, well that's saucy". I wasn't even hurt. Just very confused, lol. I had to Google the definition of saucy later that day. 😆

[@SepulvedaBoulevard]

I used to work an art school gallery where we showed student work. A person came in and said "why are people still painting when we have photography now?" And I was so caught off guard that I didn't really have an articulate answer. So that night I worked out about a dozen good reasons, but no one ever asked that question again😮

[@johnbishopfineart]

I got a comment on Instagram: "Man, I hate to say it, but a 3 year old could paint the way you do." That's when I knew I was doing ok.

[@bluewren65]

Picasso spent a lifetime trying to get back to that place, so yeah, you're killing it! 🤣

[@user-kv4ph4cg6q]

The strangest critique I got was "so, you create like a coloring page (sketch), then trace it to canvas and just fill it with paint?" "Yeah..." "Can you teach me?" I had to have a lityle fn, so I replied she could buy any Disney Princesses coloring book and try to use paint instead of markers😂😂😂. I even said it without any sarcasm. I was so proud of myself😂.

[@ccswelding1599]

"look at that, we're back...OW".... i feel ya brother

[@marcel13091975]

The one I get most is: "You're not contemporary enough" - a lot of gallieries say that to me and when I asked them what they meant, they got rude. After looking up the word, I realized they didn't know what it meant - it was just a term retailers learned to hide the fact that they didn't know much either, that they are just looking for art from established artists that sell easily because they are to lazy to sell anything that soesn't sell itself, and they were just buying and selling stuff, which happened to be art at the time. Some say I try too hard, or put too much into it, which ruins the sponta-blah-blah... Then there are those who get technical: measuring to see if I got the "rule of thirds" right, or the colour right, or the light. I think people who try to turn art into science don't understand it, and try to understand it by quantifying everything, which isn't art. The one I hate most is: "May I see the photo you painted it from?" I use any reference material I can get my hands on, and sometimes it is a photo, and I can save everyone a lot of time by just saying: "it is very different from the photo, whether is be lack of detail, my poor skills, or just me deciding to change the picture, so if you want the exact photo, then go google it, download it, print it, and stick that on your wall". One art store owner (I don't see them as curators of proper galleries) took a painting of mine next door to a hair salon and asked the first hair dresser inside if she'd buy it. She said "no", then he turned to me and said: "see: no one will buy this!" - his "gallery" closed a month later.

[@wmcrash]

I like to do abstract sorta pen drawings when I have dead time, like waiting for my plane at the airport. I have my "kit" in an aluminum case with a clipboard on top. One time at an airport I passed it through the X-ray, but the security agent pulled it off to open it to see what inside, then closed it back. Another agent asked her what was inside. She replied "Oh, just some crap". I mean, I don't take things personal, I just found it funny.

[@MechanicalWhispers]

Such a hard topic for us artists to know how to navigate. I once sent a message to someone who stole one of my photographs, and put their "Watermark" on it claiming it was theirs. I asked them to remove it, and they proceeded to tell me how much my photography sucked. Totally makes sense, right? Criticism by those with an agenda, will never hold value.

[@edwardskinner651]

I took up painting in retirement as something to learn to take up newfound spare time. I have shown my photographic art for more than 40 years, but I wanted a new challenge. One person who I used to work with, and who owns one of my photographic prints, wrote a lengthy diatribe on how my abstract paintings weren't real art and how I should stick to photography. In reply I explained that "real" art isn't just in her word's realism. I pointed out there are quite a few abstractionists, Pollock, Rothko, Mondrian, etc., that seem to have proved her point moot. I also went on to say I'm now at an age where I'm doing this for me, not to please anyone and I really didn't GAF what she thought.

[@robotrabbit5712]

I used to be like that person. Rothko made me particularly angry. "I can do rectangles, no big deal". I tried to make a copy. I failed. Many times. Now I get it. I wish you all the joy that the abstract process can bring! 🖖

[@NickLMears]

As a fan of terrible movies, I'm ok with bad criticism. Rather my art be hated than ignored. That said, self criticism can be a monster.

[@billyliar1614]

I so needed to hear this , thanks for the positive mojo ! You always know someone is coming from a place of toxicity when they can't balance the feedback with anything positive, at all, and they're always like that. They literally grimace if they have to think of something positive to say its so unnatural for them

[@babyblue61549]

I LOVE “if u don’t have paint on every piece of clothing u own…” 😂👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@lisaowen6103]

I have two types of clothing . One is paint covered . The other is soon to be paint covered. 👩‍🎨

[@ilikecontent2327]

When I was a kid in middle school I would sometimes doodle or sketch at lunchtime. I would have snarky kids come up to me and make rude remarks and say it looks like you traced that. You did not do that yourself... I used to argue with them and say no I did not trace ot! Eventually I gave up... Sometimes kids would grab my sketches and throw them in the garbage or rip them up. Pure jealously was all it was. Now as an adult when I do an original piece I still get that once in a while. But I get much more compliments about my work which evens out the idiots comments. I have learned many years ago to ignore critics and create what makes you and others happy... 😊

[@leearcher3912]

Yrs and yrs ago I decided to join an art class with an elderly lady, not too old but when I went back a second time for a class she was correcting her own lines she drew on my paper like I made the mistake. Well, needless to say I never returned after that. Lol😊😊😊

[@Beth-dl6br]

Love that yellow and turquoise, and your art

[@alexlamia9946]

One of my high school art teachers told me that I was doing watercolor wrong. She was wanting or expecting blobs of color to make a picture. But I was creating a lot of detail. Then my senior year, we got a new art teacher, and she told me that she was amazed by my watercolors, because it’s really difficult to get the kind of detail that I put into it.

[@bluewren65]

My favourite response to those really hateful, personal comments is: "thank you, you're too kind". Takes the wind right out of them. I also like Sandi Hester's response to the "a kid could do that" comment (she works hard at achieving a childlike quality to her work). Her go to retort is "yeah, you're right, a kid probably could it, but you couldn't" (buuuurrrrnnn!). The fact is that half of the things Rafi listed don't even qualify as critique, but rather stupid, uneducated and unhelpful and most importantly, unsolicited opinions. Real critique should always be a) solicited and b) constructive. Everything else is just noise.

[@lobstermash]

One thing about the comment "A kid could do that" is that it is almost never true. People often don't really know what children's art looks like. It looks nothing like deliberately simplified art by a sophisticated artist like Picasso. For one thing, children don't fill the middle background unless they are told to do so. They put a strip of blue at the top (the sky is up) and a strip of brown or green at the bottom ( the ground is down) and the people in the middle of the paper generally have no background unless there is something tall like a tree or a building. Children always draw figurative scenes - they won't draw "abstract" images unless they are told to or given an example to follow. I' m referring here to young children who haven't had art lessons - once they've been told what to do all bets are off.

[@drawrobot]

I think there's a reassessment happening with younger creatives, art school closings and excessively high tuitions to attend these schools. What are they getting out of it, art school's attitude regarding the 'career track', what's valid art, etc. Only a very slim margin of artists career's track like Damian Hirst. The rest of us- we do alright but the criticism tied to that Hirst like career track I can see fading away. I don't like or want my work used for tax dodging. I want people to enjoy and see the work in their homes.

[@kerravonsen2810]

"The world is full of people, and people have opinions." Yep.

[@MartinBaldock]

Thanks for this, I'll share it to my artist colleagues at Rooftop Arts, Corby UK. My own favourite criticism of one of my paintings is "I don't understand number 36"....

[@charleholst3881]

“Neither do I, I just paint ‘em.”

[@ltwig476]

I most always do an impressionist landscape along side of my abstract expressionism to keep me balanced. Impressionism is old hat relaxing for me, while abstract is fairly intense study. Folks are quick to make nice comments on liking my impressionists and I get "undecided" from their remarks about my abstracts. I'm always breaking rules and flirting with disaster with my abstract work, picking subjects like "homeless camps" and the "peregrine falcon" that no one really thinks about abstracting. For me, the undecided remarks are a good sign it is working. Folks use previous life experiences and experiences with previous arts in attempts to understand art pieces. Opening their minds to new concepts and new world thinking is very difficult. To stay in old world art thinking is not justifiable. Discovery is what drives artist, not the old adage "creative" Humans love to discover new. Love your new studio look. That is an massive amount of large drain pipes for that size 2story. Ha Ha I'm glad you left them exposed instead of trying to cover them up. They fit right in. Even wearing the color on your wrist bracelet, cool as hell!

[@ltwig476]

Oh wait, those are not drain pipes. those are steel supports for the floor system. Big Duh! I'm a retired custom home builder. LOL

[@DLewis-pc2op]

Artists need to hear this........good stuff. Thanks

[@space.tel-e-grams]

My response to criticism (not critique, there's a difference!) is to quote from the Oracle of Lebowski: "Yeah? Well, you know, that's just like uh, your opinion, man." and leave it at that. All art is subjective.

[@lisaowen6103]

The dude is correct . Bty that rug really pulled the house together 🥃

[@user-jj6xu3qj6w]

Many years ago, early in my career, I wasn't selling any of my work. As I was taking down my displays from my first multi Artists exhibition, one sponser remarked : "Come back when you draw something normal!". I never went back. During the years since that critique, I've received many awards and prizes at competitions (not that it matters, just sayin'). Don't be dismayed. Continue what you love doing! Remember, you are creating SOMETHING from NOTHING!

[@robotrabbit5712]

Thank you so much for this comment! I heard that "do something normal" line many times.

[@mikamariposita]

Recently I decided to lean into being an artist. My style is symbolism surrealism. My butt is squeezed TIGHT with nervousness. I have yet to find people who like my art and i am questioning my sanity. People don't take artist seriously where i come from. I had to delete every art page i was following because i started to viciously compare myself and put myself down. I enjoy making art but i am also worried i won't be able to make a living from it. I don't even care about being in galleries, i just want to be able to make art reflective of me, and earn a decent amount working from home. (Also starting a soap business. Hoping that helps with finances.) My family and friends know i make art and the support is damn near nonexistent. I showed a family friend my work and he immediately started to question what was going on in my mind. 😅

[@HansRickheit]

Deeply familiar with the meaningless comment, "interesting." I try not to be irritated by that one. Looking forward to your house tour video. I know videos take a lot of work, and I hope they do cut in too deep to your creative time. I sure would enjoy more videos of you guys making artwork and jewelry. I would also love to learn more about your "scrappiness". My wife and I are constantly scrounging used junk for repurposing - sometimes for art , sometimes for more "practical" uses. Perhaps you could do a video telling us about your own adventures in "recycling" debris?

[@CJShopland_Art]

Now the repetitive strain injury is improving im just looking at all my art and thinking I only have dusty old art, I have nothing new 7:39 to show! Have three that have never been shown; so going to show those soon! 🥰

[@Diego-Designs]

My first critique was in high school. I presented a drawing of seagulls and a classmate (that was older than me and really good) said "it sucks" It did suck to be honest, but that comment made me try harder and the next one was a portrait of Sandra Bullock (this was around 1993 and she was the "it" girl). I did a really good job and everyone was impressed by my improvement from the seagulls. But yeah, that comment made earlier could've stopped my art career if I listened to it.

[@bluewren65]

At least they said "it sucks" and not "you suck". The first relates to the work, while the second is personal and it is probably why you were able to be fuelled by their disdain rather than crushed by it.

[@NinjaMomtastic]

So I have a few kinda stary night Van Gogh styled pieces of dessert landscapes. One lady at an art fair said "Why does everybody copy Van Gogh, your not Van Gogh." Then she walked away and I kinda just started giggling.

[@scenepunk09]

I find a lot of critics, many not too familiar with the art world just think it is their duty to try and convince artists they think "suck" to stop wasting their time making bad art. Those are the ones I dislike the most.

[@ThisUtopia]

Thank you for the subtitles, I really appreciate it 😊

[@melissabrauenart]

A teenager walked in my booth and said dramatically "this - is - pure - evil". I lost zero sleeps over that. lol

[@robotrabbit5712]

100% agree with the inner critic concept. I would never be so mean to anyone else, it would be considered abuse. I'd get punched a lot. I'm "lucky" that I'm my own harshest critic, outside criticism is never as bad. My favorite dumb criticism: "you should do more feminine paintings, these are too morbid". I took it as a challenge, grabbed pink and white oil pastels and angrily drew ballerinas with severed limbs. Twisted Degas, 'cuz I'm a clever lady. Sugar and spice, and pain and torture. It sold quickly because the person who bought it thought it was so sweet, completely ignoring the mutilation parts. Blinded by pink. Artworks are like Rorschach tests. What people see tells more about themselves than the artwork. The same drawing upset different persons for different reasons: "there are vulvas everywhere! Why??? It's disgusting!", "I don't support drug use, this shouldn't be on a wall",... it was a drawing of Ents coming out of a forest. 😂 Someone saw demons in every single artwork. I don't draw demons. Sometimes a goat hanging out in a field is just a goat hanging out in a field. Goats are cute.

[@merrimcarthur7198]

I am officially in love with you!

[@Rkerrart]

this is less a verbal critique and more physical, but I once did an art fair at a local zoo. The clientele was mostly well to-do people of retirement age, and my paintings are mostly colorful animal portraits that are definitely non-traditional. I had the best time watching certain people meander by my booth, and once they caught a glimpse of my paintings, you could see their butt cheeks clench and they hastened their stride to get past me quickly, as if a wind was pushing their backsides. LOL. I am well aware that my work is not everyone's cuppa tea, and it usually doesn't bother me, and that day had me rolling with laughter.

[@robotrabbit5712]

Butt cheeks never lie

[@shannonmorrison5123]

My most recent critique was interesting. On one of the social sites, someone started ranting about how my artwork-one piece in particular-was not real, not traditional, and AI-generated and needed to be removed immediately. It was airbrushed on canvas, so I was able to prove it was not AI art, and the piece of art was allowed to stay on the site. Unfortunately, this wonderful individual decided that I suck at painting hands and began to let me know on that one as well. I responded that, like most artists, I struggle with painting hands, but I am working on improving that. Interestingly, a day or so later, all the comments magically disappeared. I am a figurative artist - so I expect people to hate or criticize my work simply because everyone kinda knows what people look like and will let me know.

[@kerravonsen2810]

Oh yes, hands are the worst. If I recall correctly, my aunt started painting a portrait of my father, and then couldn't finish it for years because she couldn't get the hands right.

[@colorreyn]

So I painted a shirtless ghost face piece, and I had a young boy yell out loud "eww gross", but then the mom passed by and was like "mmMMMMmm" - clear indication of how critiques don't matter.....and I learned that mothers may be my new demographic. 😂

[@velekai437]

Oh I could paint that! I hear that a lot.

[@charleholst3881]

My standard reply: “…and yet, you didn’t.”

[@merrimcarthur7198]

I've been known to say, "cool! Send me some pics! I'd love to see your work." They tend to slink away.

[@lisaowen6103]

I know that none of us like to do this. A well crafted artist statement is something that is useful. Use artsy flowery language in the statement . Even if it is real a explanation ,hogwash, marlarkey word salad.🥗 Average Art viewers eat that stuff up. I rarely read art statements myself. I like to absorb , translate ,then reflect the artists POV. In my minds eye. Then maybe I'll read the statement. A pet peeve of mine as a artist. Is the art haggler buyer. Pay the artist what they ask for the work. Chances are if someone wants to haggle cheeper. Raise the price. Like auction. Of course you are in charge of what your art is worth. Imo looking at my art is free. Buying is a different issue.👩‍🎨🖼️

[@NoVIcE_Source]

❤

[@petesacco3255]

I will be going through Oil City this weekend and would like to purchase one of your paintings how would I do so I go through Oil City at least once a month towards Tionesta

[@NoVIcE_Source]

sometimes negative critique makes me feel like I and the people who agreed with me should feel embarrassed, idk its weird

[@michelrodriguez8752]

You are so right about this!

[@m532198]

Everyone has an opinion. That’s fine. Critiques are for art schools and workshops i’m not self important enough to give unsolicited advice and opinions. Especially outside of our school.

[@brittpetersen143]

My dad set up a lovely painting event for my cousin and I one night at my Grandmother's stable. The next morning my uncle came in and looked at our work. He said "I don't get it.... You are in a place FILLED with horses, dogs, cats, and all kinds of things... But you painted a large orange fish dancing on a trash can in the middle of an alleyway. What is wrong with you? I said "I'm creative."

[@isabeedemski3635]

Hi , ive been off line for three weeks. Missed a few.

[@saintjamesmodernart]

👍👍 Opinions are like Aholes. Everyone has one and most of them stink. James 😁

[@Metsänen-Artist]

Digest constructive criticism. Laugh at negative criticism. Unfortunately a lot of folks out there really are hardwired to spread misery and no one should let it get to them. Sticks and stones, and all of that.

[@palletcolorato]

real art... so as a former physical media artist who now paints exclusively using corel painter it is not real art.

[@GingahSnapsArt]

Not sure if intentional but your video is pegged for altered/synthetic content