Nona’s critique tutorial
Hello everyone! Today we will be talking about one of the most important things in this community, critiques. You may know MPAR for its beautiful queens and memorable drama, but in the end this community is about improvement. In order to improve, a second opinion is a priority. One of my goals coming here was to help people improve, so I took it upon myself to try to critique others people art for the first time. It has been one of the most fulfilling things that I have done through season one and I would like others to continue this trend during off season, season 2, and even in outside situations! I would like to advice that critiquing is not for everyone, but by the end I hope that I have encouraged some of you to take a step toward trying it out.
Let’s start with some basics. First off, you going to want to take some time to write your critiques. Critiquing in a way is another art form, so you must take time to formulate it. For me I take about 1-2 hours to write my critiques. However, I tend to write alot so the time range may be different for everyone. Now queens, let’s open our writing utensils and get to werk.
Note: I would advise you to use google docs or your computer's writing app, but I have used my phone notepad(however, I would only really recommend it for individual critiques, such as playalong threads and communal fpr)
Today we will be using one of my looks as an example.
The first thing you want to do is examine the look. Your goal in this process is to find things that you believe could help the artist improve in the future. It is ill advised to come into it and make the person feel bad or tell them “you could've done better.” The person you are critiquing has taken the time to draw to make their looks, and in most cases that is their best. Try your best to come in with that mindset.
Normally I like to look at the good attributes in the look that I am examining. Every look has something good about it. However, it is important to remember that you can’t just kiss their ass and then leave it there with no substance. You need to remember that you are doing this to provide a different outlook, not to stroke egos. Some examples of things you can say/point out include “I really like the coloring you used in this look” and “I noticed that you have been focusing more on your anatomy recently, great job!” These examples are just examples, you need to be honest in what you like about a look and what you don’t. Write what you feel in your heart, dont just say “I like it” if you don’t really like it.
Now let’s onto the more “problematic” part. You are going to be tempted to just say “this look is complete shit, it doesn't fit the theme and I feel like a my left hand could’ve done of a better job.” SUCCUMB THOSE DEMONS, MPAR IS A PLACE FOR LEARNING. Now let’s go back to the sample look for this tutorial.
Some critiques that I would most likely give to this piece would be “You don’t have to do this, but I would love if you tried to do thinner line art in your future looks. In my opinion, I feel like thinner lineart would make your looks seem more clean and less weighed down.” You most likely saw that I made sure to include keywords such as “in my opinion” and “you don’t have to do this.” Unless you have talked to person your critiquing and have made sure that they would like your brutal honesty, you shouldn't believe that your words can automatically change them. But it doesn't hurt to try and help them. Just make sure you get consent, because consent is sexy, before you fully go in on a person.
IT IS ALSO EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO TRY TO HOLD BACK YOUR PERSONAL TASTE WHEN CRITIQUING SOMEONE. YOU WANT TO THINK AS OBJECTIVELY AS YOU CAN THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO INCLUDE POINTS THAT MATCH YOUR PERSONAL TASTE, MAKE SURE TO LET THE READER KNOW. DON’T ASSUME THAT THE PERSON THAT IS READING YOUR FEEDBACK WILL ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH YOUR OWN TASTES/ EVERYTHING YOU SAY AND/OR FEEL.
Now that we are finished giving out feedback, it is time to give a closer. Most times I like to give little messages such as “thanks for participating this week” or “these are just my opinions, thanks for making a look this week.” End it off sweet, you want them to text you back right?
Next up, we are going to talk about something that is equally as important.
How to respond back when you receive critiques from someone on your look.
These are my own personal tips, it is not mandatory for everyone. The scary, sub mom won’t come and delete your account while you're sleeping if you don't exactly follow what she says don’t worry XD.
You open up your computer, check your reddit app, or go on your email and see a notification. Someone has left you a comment on your look that you posted in the workshops. You will most likely feel either a sense of extreme dread or hope that you will be praised without any necessary changes or corrections. However, what you see is a several sentences and you don't know how to react. There are several routes you can take:
You can…
A: Get very frustrated that someone dare say our look is shite. Leave a passive aggressive or full aggressive comment to your trespasser.
B. Read it, respond, but still choose to turn it in without changing anything.
C. Take the comments into consideration while leaving a nice reply. Then try out what the critiquer has suggested.
D. Read the comment but don't leave a reply
Now I’m not you, so I can’t make your choices for you. However, from the side of the critiquer, I would say that C is the most recommended.
Most of you are thinking, why is D not the best solution? Well let me tell you why. When you, as the receiver, don’t provide a comment back to the critiquer they don’t know if you even read what they gave you. They may believe that you don’t like the help or you have ill feelings toward them. If you want to grow and get better, you are going to want to get feedback. Take advantage of getting free help from people that actually want to do it. Frequent critiquers want to see you grow and get better, so please let them know that their job is appreciated.
There may be cases in which you believe that you are taking critiques in a good fashion, while still responding back with a defensive attitude. Similar to not responding back to a comment, being defensive can turn a lot of people off. In order to improve, you must allow others to help you. Try not to bite the hand of the charitable feeder if they don’t give you positivity and praise.
There will be times when you do not agree with what is given to you and that is ok. It is ok to tell the critiquer in your reply that you don't totally agree with them. But please, please don’t try to pick a fight. Instead say something like, “I see what you mean/I appreciate your point, but I really like this piece of my look and I think my outfit wouldn't work if I were to remove it. Thank you though/But I really appreciate your feedback.” It is completely normal to disagree, no one thinks exactly the same on everything. But like....don’t be an asshole. Remember that we are all human and we all have feelings. If you wouldnt like someone something to you, don't say it towards someone else.
Note: Always try out the critiquers suggestions before you reply with a “disagreement.” You never know, that one suggestions could help you out in the long run.
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Thank you for reading my tutorial! I hope that you have gained a newfound interest in the critiquing process. If you have any more questions/concerns, please leave them in the comments. If you ever need some samples for critiques as well below I listed some of my mpar season one google docs.
Sorry that I couldn't write a complete novel for yall, there are currently 12 sniper beams aimed toward me right now and I gotta go. Just kidding lol. I hope everyone has been having a fun off season so far and let’s hope for the best during season 2!