There seems to be an attitude prevalent on deviantART not to comment except to give praise in an unconstructive manner. A few people – probably in reaction - take the opposite tack and either flame or only say what’s wrong with a picture without any positive notes whatsoever.

Now I don’t really mind the unconstructive praise within reason. I do it myself about half the time – possibly more. Sometimes a picture is just so good that you’re left speechless. There are some truly great artists on dA.. But when you can see a multitude of problems with a picture and people are still telling you it’s great it sounds a little hollow. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t get the feeling that some – may be most - people avoid giving negative feedback because they think you should never be negative. To me this seems silly. People learn from their mistakes but sometimes they need them pointing out to them.

However, don’t go to other extreme and tell them their work is useless or whatever. (I’ve seen people say some horrible things on here) That’s not constructive either. That’s plain cruel and soul-destroying.

Also no matter how constructive you are trying to be don’t just list what’s wrong with a picture. A lot of beginning artists have very fragile egos and will come to the conclusion that nothing is right with the picture if you just hand them a laundry list.

So how do you give constructive criticism? Well this is just my opinion but it’s how I do it and I’ve never had anyone accuse me of flaming them or take my comments as a diss so I guess it works.

Guideline One: Look at everything. Full View the picture and study it. Read the artist’s comments (my personal bugaboo is people who don’t read the artist’s comments and then say something that makes it obvious they haven’t). Check they even want criticism – if they’ve set it to critique discouraged respect their wishes and don’t go beyond guideline three.

Guideline Two: Keep the tone of your comment encouraging. This is important. Constructive Criticism builds people up rather than knocking them down.

Guideline Three: Say what’s right with the deviation first. If you like the colours or the shading or the line work or the composition say so. If the person doesn’t want a critique you can still say what you like about a picture so you can still do this. And even if you can’t find anything wrong with a picture knowing why people like it can still help the artist because they know what they are doing right.

And if you can’t see anything right with the deviation? If you really hate it? Look at it again. If you really can’t see anything to praise then question if you’re objective enough to give a truly constructive comment. If you still think you can then praise them for trying and for their hard work or something similar. They’ve probably broken their back to create the picture you hate, so acknowledge that at least.

Guideline Four: Pick one or maybe two things (if you had a lot of positives it’s fair to list 2 negatives if not stick to one) that are wrong with the picture even if there’s more than that wrong. It’s easier to improve slowly than cope with correcting an entire list of faults. And be careful how you phrase the criticism. Try to phrase it as “issue” -> “suggestion” -> “encouragement”. Example paraphrasing something several people have said to me about my art.

“I think your shading looks a bit off for the light source. Try drawing an arrow pointing in the direction of the light while you’re working on shading. But well done it was a strong effort.”

Of course it’s not always possible to give advice. You may not know how to solve the problem. In that case try to explain the problem in as positive a way as possible.

If the person noted a flaw in their artist’s comments and you agree with them and have a suggestion to help them to correct the problem in future artworks you can do that as well following much the same pattern – but acknowledging they did it themselves.

Guideline five: No matter what you should never flame a deviant. If it’s really bad (though that’s a value judgement) or you think its art theft report it to relevant authorities on dA (with evidence in the case of art theft) and let them decide if it needs moving to scraps in the former case or deleting and the user banning in the latter. Flaming isn’t big and it isn’t clever and it’s never right no matter what the target may or may not have done.

Guideline Six: (Note I’ve never had opportunity to do this but I’ve heard from people who have) If you see a deviant who isn’t great but shows potential and the ability to take criticism then – if you feel up to it – watch them and continue to give constructive advice. Seeing them improve will give you a sense of accomplishment because you’ve helped them.

To sum up if you want to give constructive critiques – and I’m not saying you have to, it’s completely up to you – the most important thing is to keep your tone encouraging find at least one thing due praise and offer advice on the problem if you can..

I will close with one thought that may help you decide to try this. Helping people improve their art will help you improve your own because it will make it easier to see and understand your own mistakes.