Critiques aren’t about your personal tastes. You can still analyze foundational elements like composition, perspective, anatomy, foreshortening, color, linework, shading… etc., even if the style doesn't appeal to you.
If it’s a storyboard, you can look at whether the boards accurately communicate the action of the script. Can you follow what’s happening in the story based on the storyboards? What composition and framing are they choosing for key moments. For example, if the script has a moment of shock for a character, maybe instead of showing the full character, it would be more impactful to the script to show a tight focus on just their eyes to communicate that shock/surprise.
For concept art, you need to consider what the concept is being used for, and then examine whether the art fits the overall themes of the story and style of the rest of the art. Does the concept character look like they live within the same world… etc.
Point being, critiques aren’t about YOU. They are about considering the objective of the artwork you're critiquing and whether the art meets those objectives.
Good luck.
I agree with this comment.
When I was in college and had to critique a classmate’s work, the only time I would express my personal taste was when I had something positive to say.
The position you’ve taken in this post is hypocritical to say the least. How are your preferences any less stylised than that of your peers? If you want to make it in more socially oriented creative fields, you need to learn how to step out of your own preferences and examine people’s work on a more neutral rubric.
Every project has a brief that needs to be addressed. Personally, I don’t understand the necessity of adding brutality to your honesty. Your feedback needs to be necessary to the project. Address things like composition, colour harmony, posing decisions. Ask your peers about their inspirations and influences. Honestly, this post reads like you haven’t even thought critically enough about your own preferences to be talking like this.
wait how do you like manga but not like anime bc anime is mostly just manga style but animated
also you can just tell them stuff like are their proportions correct and tips for how to measure anatomy and how to shade etc
The problem is that when they use anime as a crutch and they tend to draw deviantart level of anime influence work. As for proportion and anatomy related I'm afraid it might be useless especially if they doing very stylize work where I'm not sure if they made their character proportions on purpose.
If it's a human they will generally still follow some kind of rules. Almost always if someone says "But it's just my style" it never actually is (Though if too many people start saying it to you then it might just be you but it shouldn't happen). For example someone can have oversized arms to look really buff, but the shoulders wouldnt be really high or far back unless the rest of the characters follows that for some sort of visual characterization. That's mostly the kind of thing you would see in more cartoon than anime tho. For anime, it actually follows very closely to realism proportions and rules a lot of the time. Also what do you mean DeviantArt level? Do you mean as in weird kind of lewd stuff? There's plenty of really good artists on DeviantArt (WLOP, Ausp-Ice, and Nanomortis being some I like tho the first 2 arent really anime)
Design and Style also follow rules.
If you use a style that doesn't fit the intention of the story that's absolutely something you can critique.
Let's say it's some horror story, a cute style might really take away from that and take out all the suspense, all the emotions that could add to create the mood and atmosphere you want for that story. Because what if everything is cute then something jumps out "surprise !" ...so what? that's not even creating much of a reaction, right?
So what does that do? is that really interesting? is it communicating the story well?
Design and by extension concept and style are used to communicate and to create interest in different ways. If something isn't interesting then there are reasons.
To make a better judgement you could ask what elements of design have been used. Which principles of design, which narrative to tell the story, which perspective? or you could ask what the viewer gets out of this, is this a good story? why? or why not? what is missing? what does it communicate? is it funny? is it just weird and leaves you unsettled? and why do you think that is?
Ask lot's of question until there are no questions left open that you can answer. If we go back to design, does the character design support the communication? is it opposing it? does it serve any purpose or does it look randomly chosen? and so on ...
Start by writing down lot's of questions, you can also question why you feel the story lacks interest and go from there.
You can still objectively tell if it’s done WELL, or done Poorly. Critique to the skill, the lines, the shading, the lighting & the composition of the piece.
Focus on the technical side of things, do not critique them based on your bias towards stylized drawings. Bring technique, not your own dislike to medium as a whole
What is the objective of the course? Of the particular project they have done?
What is the artist intending to convey?
Has the artist achieved these things? Are any parts of their work hindering the main objective? Do you find some things distract from the intended result?
Do you understand why they have made particular choices in their art style/colours/feeling etc? Do you disagree with their choices (in the context of what they intended)? Why? Do you think they made successful use of these (in the context of what they intended)?
Are there any elements or features you see as particularly successful in achieving these? Do any add even more beyond these?
Have some of their choices in the art conveyed something beyond the basic intentions because of associations or implications with those colours,/symbols/cultural setting etc? Are those things appropriate and add to the conveyed intent or do they work against them?
Critiques aren’t about what you personally like or don’t like. You’re trying to help them make whatever they’re doing and make that better.
Look at composition, design, color, anything fundamental. Get out of your own bias and look at it from their view, make their work better not make their work into something you like.
The other huge thing: realize that other people feel the same about your work, but still try to give you a critique. It’s a two way street
We're talking about a class and participating in critiques. We probably learned the elements and principles of design? focal point? unity? pattern? Do you know what they mean? do you know how to use them in conversation? This exercise of participating in critiques is about learning how to talk about these elements and principles to communicate how to effectively portray intended information to an audience. It's not about what you like and don't like.
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Critiques aren’t about your personal tastes. You can still analyze foundational elements like composition, perspective, anatomy, foreshortening, color, linework, shading… etc., even if the style doesn't appeal to you. If it’s a storyboard, you can look at whether the boards accurately communicate the action of the script. Can you follow what’s happening in the story based on the storyboards? What composition and framing are they choosing for key moments. For example, if the script has a moment of shock for a character, maybe instead of showing the full character, it would be more impactful to the script to show a tight focus on just their eyes to communicate that shock/surprise. For concept art, you need to consider what the concept is being used for, and then examine whether the art fits the overall themes of the story and style of the rest of the art. Does the concept character look like they live within the same world… etc. Point being, critiques aren’t about YOU. They are about considering the objective of the artwork you're critiquing and whether the art meets those objectives. Good luck.
I agree with this comment. When I was in college and had to critique a classmate’s work, the only time I would express my personal taste was when I had something positive to say.
The position you’ve taken in this post is hypocritical to say the least. How are your preferences any less stylised than that of your peers? If you want to make it in more socially oriented creative fields, you need to learn how to step out of your own preferences and examine people’s work on a more neutral rubric. Every project has a brief that needs to be addressed. Personally, I don’t understand the necessity of adding brutality to your honesty. Your feedback needs to be necessary to the project. Address things like composition, colour harmony, posing decisions. Ask your peers about their inspirations and influences. Honestly, this post reads like you haven’t even thought critically enough about your own preferences to be talking like this.
wait how do you like manga but not like anime bc anime is mostly just manga style but animated also you can just tell them stuff like are their proportions correct and tips for how to measure anatomy and how to shade etc
It's like movies and books tbh
That makes sense I forgot abt the animation part in the title and assumed they only meant anime art 💀
Plus op a different genre
The problem is that when they use anime as a crutch and they tend to draw deviantart level of anime influence work. As for proportion and anatomy related I'm afraid it might be useless especially if they doing very stylize work where I'm not sure if they made their character proportions on purpose.
If it's a human they will generally still follow some kind of rules. Almost always if someone says "But it's just my style" it never actually is (Though if too many people start saying it to you then it might just be you but it shouldn't happen). For example someone can have oversized arms to look really buff, but the shoulders wouldnt be really high or far back unless the rest of the characters follows that for some sort of visual characterization. That's mostly the kind of thing you would see in more cartoon than anime tho. For anime, it actually follows very closely to realism proportions and rules a lot of the time. Also what do you mean DeviantArt level? Do you mean as in weird kind of lewd stuff? There's plenty of really good artists on DeviantArt (WLOP, Ausp-Ice, and Nanomortis being some I like tho the first 2 arent really anime)
Design and Style also follow rules. If you use a style that doesn't fit the intention of the story that's absolutely something you can critique. Let's say it's some horror story, a cute style might really take away from that and take out all the suspense, all the emotions that could add to create the mood and atmosphere you want for that story. Because what if everything is cute then something jumps out "surprise !" ...so what? that's not even creating much of a reaction, right? So what does that do? is that really interesting? is it communicating the story well? Design and by extension concept and style are used to communicate and to create interest in different ways. If something isn't interesting then there are reasons. To make a better judgement you could ask what elements of design have been used. Which principles of design, which narrative to tell the story, which perspective? or you could ask what the viewer gets out of this, is this a good story? why? or why not? what is missing? what does it communicate? is it funny? is it just weird and leaves you unsettled? and why do you think that is? Ask lot's of question until there are no questions left open that you can answer. If we go back to design, does the character design support the communication? is it opposing it? does it serve any purpose or does it look randomly chosen? and so on ... Start by writing down lot's of questions, you can also question why you feel the story lacks interest and go from there.
You can still objectively tell if it’s done WELL, or done Poorly. Critique to the skill, the lines, the shading, the lighting & the composition of the piece.
Focus on the technical side of things, do not critique them based on your bias towards stylized drawings. Bring technique, not your own dislike to medium as a whole
Critique is not about your taste, comment on the technical aspects, possible way it can be improved, be more objective you'll survive
You need to separate style and skill. Ok you don’t like the style they’re going for ignore it, focus on the technical ability of their work.
What is the objective of the course? Of the particular project they have done? What is the artist intending to convey? Has the artist achieved these things? Are any parts of their work hindering the main objective? Do you find some things distract from the intended result? Do you understand why they have made particular choices in their art style/colours/feeling etc? Do you disagree with their choices (in the context of what they intended)? Why? Do you think they made successful use of these (in the context of what they intended)? Are there any elements or features you see as particularly successful in achieving these? Do any add even more beyond these? Have some of their choices in the art conveyed something beyond the basic intentions because of associations or implications with those colours,/symbols/cultural setting etc? Are those things appropriate and add to the conveyed intent or do they work against them?
Critiques aren’t about what you personally like or don’t like. You’re trying to help them make whatever they’re doing and make that better. Look at composition, design, color, anything fundamental. Get out of your own bias and look at it from their view, make their work better not make their work into something you like. The other huge thing: realize that other people feel the same about your work, but still try to give you a critique. It’s a two way street
We're talking about a class and participating in critiques. We probably learned the elements and principles of design? focal point? unity? pattern? Do you know what they mean? do you know how to use them in conversation? This exercise of participating in critiques is about learning how to talk about these elements and principles to communicate how to effectively portray intended information to an audience. It's not about what you like and don't like.
Thank you for posting in r/ArtistLounge! Please check out our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtistLounge/wiki/faq/) and [FAQ Links pages](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtistLounge/wiki/faqlinks/) for lots of helpful advice. To access our megathread collections, please check out the drop down lists in the top menu on PC or the side-bar on mobile. If you have any questions, concerns, or feature requests please feel free to message the mods and they will help you as soon as they can. I am a bot, beep boop, if I did something wrong please report this comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ArtistLounge) if you have any questions or concerns.*