How to paint and draw: a blog about art.
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Keeping a Painting Creativity Journal
By Marion Boddy-Evans A painting creativity journal is a collection of the ideas you have and things that inspire you. It’s a place to record ideas that you can’t use immediately — you may think you’ll remember them, but one can’t remember everything, so it’s better to make a quick note and put it into your […]
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How to Keep an Art Learning Log
By Marion Boddy-Evans An art learning log is a record of what you have done and learned in an art course, together with your thoughts on what you did. It should record not only what you created, but also include your analysis and opinion of your work, of the process of creating it, and what you […]
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Dealing with Criticism: Killer of Creativity
By Marion Boddy-Evans Tony emailed again, saying: “In my last class, the teacher announced that ‘unasked-for criticism is the biggest killer of creativity.’ “In this class, the people who saw my clown-in-a-cemetery painting laughed at it, not with it. I don’t think they were jealous, I think they were puzzled, and maybe it was nervous laughter.” […]
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Dealing with Criticism: Stay True to Your Vision
By Marion Boddy-Evans Twilitemgk said: “An artist’s responsibility is to stay true to his/her vision and develop his/her skill in the medium — it is not how others receive the finished product. As long as you are creating the art that his mind and soul longs to create, it really doesn’t matter what your classmates think […]
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Dealing with Criticism: A Fertile Imagination is a Boon to an Artist
Cass said: “A fertile imagination is a boon to artists. Especially in surrealism where, at least right now, there seems to be more collectors than painters, a very good thing. With all the best artists are handed about being artists — ‘you’ll never make a living at that,’ etc. — I tend to think of artists in […]
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How to Deal with Criticism About Your Art
By Marion Boddy-Evans Sheri said: “I was also in art school and attacked for not painting ‘pretty art’. I thought it was ridiculous for the other students to make these remarks and to judge me in this way. It bothered me for a long time, but finally I just told them, if you don’t like it, […]
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Dealing with Criticism: Subject Matter Isn’t Legitimate
By Marion Boddy-Evans Starrpoint said: “We are always being told we have to ‘think outside of the box’ but only in the way the other person sees it. If we don’t see the world their way, we are often criticized. We must be free-thinkers — their way.” “A clown in a cemetery. I would like to […]
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What to Do If Someone Laughs at Your Paintings
By Marion Boddy-Evans The start of this article came from a disturbing email sent to me by a guy called Tony, who was at art school in San Francisco. He said he has a vivid imagination and sometimes paints “odd things”. The problem was the responses of fellow students, who have laughed at his paintings (most […]
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10 Worst Painting Critiques
It can be tough knowing what to say when a friend asks you what you think about their latest painting or to give a critique. But there are some things you should never say if you value your friendship. 1. What is it? (You’re supposed to know and if you can’t tell, keep it to yourself as […]
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Four Steps in Dealing with Criticism of Your Art
Destructive criticism is not really an issue about the content of the artwork, it’s about deciding what you won’t tolerate from others. This occurs in all kinds of ways, not just art criticism. It comes up anytime someone is being rude or mean, or crossing a boundary. I’m happy to say I figured out a […]
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