Commenting is one of the finest things here on deviantArt, and is one of the many effective ways to get recognized among the tens of millions of art enthusiasts around the world. Sadly, it can also be a cause of discord among artists and unnecessary flame wars that follow herewith.

Like what's written in some saying, it is that little learning is a dangerous thing, thus, it is this opportunity to write this material to give you an idea of what's going on in the world of art evaluation. Furthermore, this will come in handy especially to those people who are unfamiliar with the netiquettes of on-line art interpretation. Though I'm no expert or an old master in visual arts yet, I've decided for a long while to voice out and work out any problem and tensions that erupt from reckless commenting, and might as well help you identify what's a good and effective critique or not.


First of all, let us cite this excerpt from the Brittanica Encyclopedia about art criticism:

"Art criticism is the description, interpretation, and evaluation of works of art. It is concerned in judging the aesthetic value or the quality of art objects in such field of visual arts like painting, drawing, art deco, sculpture or photography"


Ergo, art criticism is meant to examine certain artwork based on the criteria of aesthetics and what feelings the viewer experiences upon seeing the artist's work. It really doesn't mean that we should slander one's work by pointing out every single minute flaw, pass judgment on what is "art" or not, and disregarding the criteria of aesthetics involved.


Now, these are what is called "The Four Mortal Sins of Commenting", and should be avoided at all costs:

1. Imposing/comparing your work into someone else's artwork to assess and pass judgment on the "validity" of expression: " Take a look at my own work and see what I mean", or " The eyes should be like this, the face should be like that", etc. Each one of us has our own way of expressing something through art.

2. Tactlessness and recklessness in commenting. Read first your comment several times before hitting the Send button.

3. Caustic words that do nothing but to hurt the feelings and mortify the artist: words like "Your art SUCKS!!"; "Stop drawing that shit; you are worthless!!"; or "Hahaha!!! He drew the head way too large!! What an f'in idiot HAHAHA!!! lol".

4. Anything involving sexist, racist, or derogatory remarks.


Let's find out why some people get annoyed -- and defensive -- when being criticized upon their work. There are four reasons for that:

1. There are a few people who had become emotionally attached to their work. In other words, they fell "in love" with it. It usually happens when a particular piece they have finished reminds them of something special in their lives. And understandably, if someone blurted out "Your work is not that good" without the artist's full consent of a critique, then that's sufficient ground to get hurt and angry at that person's remark. Or, one could be so straightforward, and though his/her comments are being honest and truthful enough, they never asked for his/her opinion anyway.

2. Someone had misinterpreted the artwork's message and theme. The viewer had failed to realize the artist's truest intention in pointing out something in his artwork. For example, a person viewing a nude drawing/picture quickly and recklessly commented that his work is nothing more than a pornographic material, without even considering what the artist really wanted to express.

3. Someone had said harsh words about the artist's work, yet can't provide any kind of encouragement or moral support to help her improve. And that's pure insult to the artist, nothing else.

4. There are people, mostly young people, who think they are good enough and had the mistaken idea that by gaining praises and favorites upon their work ensures them of affection, and will usually take any criticism an attack to their persona.


With these items mentioned, you are now aware of what could offend the other artist. Several people just don't know how to begin with their critique, and aren't careful enough in what they were saying thus an exchange of unpleasant plethora of profanities will start to fly.


Before evaluating any artwork, one should know what to look for, and with that in mind, it would be better for you to consider the basic criteria of aesthetics and elements/principles of art before leaving any comments on one's page:

1) THEME
The unifying or dominant idea or motif behind the artwork; also, the subject content in it. What the image is all about? Pop Art? Abstract expressionism? Cartoons? About AIDS Awareness Week?

2) EXPRESSION
Does the overall look of the work convey the message provided by the theme? Do you like the way how it looked?

3) LINE
Lines -- those created by pencil, brush or the like to define contour of a shape or forms hatching -- are rendered in such a way that it creates form and focus.

4) FOCUS
The clear and sharply defined condition of an image. The "central point of attraction" of the piece. How did the artist draw your attention to where exactly the subject was.

5) FORM
The organization, placement, or relationship of basic elements, as lines and colors in a painting or volumes and voids in a sculpture, so as to produce a coherent image.

6) COLOR
In what color schemes did the artist use to give a specific mood to the picture? Sepia tones give the image the "vintage look"; dark red and black shades and hues a somewhat sinister mood, and intense, stylized colors as being vibrant and sophisticated. Also, did the colors clash to each other or not?

7) CONTRAST/VALUES
Opposition or juxtaposition of different forms, lines, shades, and colors in a work of art, and the relative difference between light and dark areas in the image

8) COMPOSITION
The different forms were arranged in such a way to give the picture a sense of harmony and balance.

9) BALANCE
The harmonious integration of components in an artistic work. Does the picture feel balanced to the eye or not? Are there things or elements that seem out of place? Are the proportions accurate enough?

10) EMOTION
The emotion it evokes upon the viewer. Did it made you smile, agitated or inspired by looking at it?

11) DEPTH PERCEPTION
The technique of giving the picture the sense of three-dimensionality using the rules of perspective, spatial relationships, aperture values and chiaroscuro (the distribution of light and shade in the picture).

12) SYMBOLISM
Elements beyond their physical appearance. How does the viewer interpret the implied message behind the artwork.


Now, with these in mind, you can now be able to discern several elements that would help you understand and evaluate any artwork. But another problem arises: How were you able to say these ideas without offending the artist? Well, these are several pointers that could help both of you and the artist, and leave each other in peace (or even being watched in the end!) So, read further on:

1) First of all, see to it whether the artist had indicated the following: CRITIQUES NOT DESIRED, YOUR COMMENT or ADVANCED CRITIQUES ENCOURAGED. These are oftenly overlooked in the deviation viewing page, and most people take these for granted. You can see these indications on the upper left of the "Devious Thoughts" box beneath your username. If you see CRITIQUES NOT DESIRED, then that speaks for itself, though you can still leave sweet comments about the artist's work. YOUR COMMENT is deviantArt's default setting. Again, you can sing praises on the work, and when possible, give a mild suggestion about it. Now, with the ADVANCED CRITIQUES ENCOURAGED option, you can spend some time providing a close in-depth analysis on the subject, while exercising discretion and try to keep an open mind by leaving your personal tastes behind.*

*The deviantArt Critiques System had been changed as of early 2009. For an artist to receive a "more advanced critique" on his/her work, he/she has to subscribe to a "premium" devArt account and be able to have his/her artwork available for an advanced critique. In all fairness, that's all but nice indeed, but this feature is inaccessible to non-subscribers(as identified by the tilde [~] symbol); therefore, members can never be able to specify whether they wanted constructive criticism on their work or not, unlike on what is in the old system. Nevertheless, you can still write your interpretations and evaluative report on the artwork inside the comment box, but you have to consider whether the artist asks for an advanced critique on his/her work or not.

2)As you are to give analysis on the artwork, start with the good points first, like why do you like his/her work, how do you feel about it, and what several elements you see that were executed perfectly. This will give the artist a sense of accomplishment about his/her work on what he/she would be hearing from you.

3)After mentioning the good points, and if necessary, go for those elements that need a little bit of tweaking. Again, the rule is to be constructive and specific in your comments. Never say anything that will leave the artist guessing in what you had said. If you see something out of place, say for example, in the picture the girl's hand holding a flower is awkwardly drawn, then, instead of saying the vague comment "The girl's hand is a bit off", write it as "Maybe you'd like to check out the girl's hand. It's good, except that it looked a bit awkward in that angle. Try to look at your own hand the same pose as that of the girl's and you will have an idea of how it actually looked". Or instead of "The background is irritating", say "Maybe you could just turn the background colors down to make the foreground stand out again". Thus being said, you have stated your opinion in a very specific and constructive manner helping the artist see where to make some necessary changes.

4)Familiarity upon the artwork you are commenting to can be very helpful, and it's better that you know about the processes that happen thereof. This shows that your suggestion is 100% accurate enough to say it confidently to the other artist. Why waste time giving critique on photography when in fact you never knew anything about the technicalities involved?

5)Expect that the artist may not agree with your suggestion. It doesn't really mean that he turned down your suggestion and don't want to hear any more criticism, however. He had taken it gratefully, and had weighed several options to help him decide to go with your opinion or stick with his own. Remember, art is a very subjective matter, and you might find that certain element as erroneous or weird, but never knew that the artist really did that on purpose to express his ideas, or decided that a minor flaw is so negligible so as not to ruin his artwork at all.

6)It will also help to read the artist's descriptions first before commenting. This will avoid petty annoyances from the artist having to re-type the whole description to answer a particular question again, and might help you in giving comments about what the artist's intentions are.

7)Having trouble finding out what they would feel in what you'll be saying? Put yourself in their shoes, and try to visualize somebody will comment upon your work with the exact words in your mind and see what you will feel.

8)Comments like "Great job", "Awesome", or even "OMG it's so KAWAII!!! (Japanese for cute)" is OK, but altogether these comments lack substance, and in the long run it can be pretty annoying to the artist receiving it. Do your best to express why you find her work "kawaii"; it's a lot better mentioning to the artist the element you find "kawaii" than leaving her clueless on what's "kawaii" on her work. Moreover, this will leave an impression to the artist that her artwork is well-appreciated by the viewer. Don't just say "I love the colors"; you are just stating the obvious. It would sound much more better with: "I liked the colors you have used here because it gives the viewer a sense of calmness and you have captured the right look this image portrays to us". Doesn't it sound more meaningful compared to the "This is soooo~~~awesome!!! FAV+++!!" comments we usually get?

9)Using standard (don't worry if it is not perfect) grammar and punctuation is optional, but if you look closely, the more you will sound professional (i.e. not to sound noobish) with correct usage than those messages laden with Internet chat/SMS shortcut letters/leetspeak and tons of emoticons in every nook and cranny in the message. It looks and reads much better with "I like the way you draw your character" rather than "OMG!!!!^__^ The cuteness!!!! Hee-hee!!! ROFL" or "8 luks gr8. I lyk ur clr n xprsn". Just use them sparingly and when necessary.

10)If you were to fave someone's work, you can choose to say the good comments before fav'ing, or if you really liked the piece but cannot comment because all the good things had been said by the people's comments before you, then that's perfectly fine. After all, what matters most is that the artist's work has been faved and liked by someone else.

11)Though it's not really a necessity each time you give comments, it sounds lovely if you could somehow start a little conversation with the artist you commented to. Subjects like for example you use the same media the artist is using and maybe you can talk about it, or what inspires him to create the work, and et cetera. You can talk about almost anything, as long as it is art-related, of course.


As an afterthought: Critiques should never be considered as a negative thought that upset most artists. One should be responsible in expressing his/her thoughts in a very specific and helpful manner, and not to humiliate nor insult another artist's work. It should serve as a means of looking one's work through another set of eyes and to help the artist see what art elements he/she and the viewer both agree as being well-done and what other things he/she had overlooked that might enhance the work further.


That's all well said. These were the thoughts which I beleive might help you on how to give genuine, constructive and thoughtful comments, wherein you and the artist exchange thoughts and feedback and at the same time stand out among the "kawaii desu" and other three-word comments prevailing here on deviantArt. Nevertheless, it's all up to you to find out what works whenever you give comments, and feel free whenever you have some additional thoughts of your own and would be happy to hear them from you.

So, I hoped you enjoyed reading it, and let's hope that you'll make more friends here rather than enemies and animosities