Without getting into anything too specific, I follow an artist. Not too long ago they were talking about how they aren't improving fast enough. I do prefer some of their older work. It could be down to shape of their characters eyes. It was more almond shaped, now it's more round.
Should I bring this up?
Back on tumblr, a different artist actually asked for critique. When I said I'm not completely sure why I prefer your older work, but they were more accurate. Their response to that was dismissive.
I am a believer in constructive criticism, so I would. Just be nice about it. While it is helpful, not everyone is going to react to it well, perhaps because of past negative experiences with criticism in general.
It really depends. If they're asking for it, then yes, but if they aren't actually asking I'd advise against it. I don't personally know the artist you're referring to, but the eye shapes are a matter of your preference/taste and not so much their skill level.
If you're basically uploading art on the internet where everyone can see, prepare for critiques.
Critiques especially constructive ones helped in improving further on your work. You can take the option to not to do exactly what the person critiqing asks for, but it helps if you take their advice to heart. Critiques help out especially when you choose art as a career or do art professionally.
Critiques are important in other fields such as business management, game development, engineering, and computer programming. Without criticism, things will never improve. In game development, feedback and critique are the strongest suit to pushing forward and improve the technical terms.
I'm leaning towards "no" on this one, because what you're describing sounds more like a matter of style preference instead of technical skill.
I've seen before/after art comparisons where I absolutely preferred the before—for example, going from semi-realism to cartoony/exaggerated—but voicing that wouldn't be constructive if they weren't going for semi-realism, and instead they were aiming for a Bratz doll-esque look. Constructive critique would be giving them pointers on how they could get closer to achieving the Bratz look, or pointing out a technical anatomy error (like a hand being on backwards or something). But it'd be unhelpful of me to critique the impossibly tiny waist or yassified face when those were deliberate choices on their part.
Now if they're actually saying that they also like their older work better, it may be worth pointing out! Or if they're unsatisfied with how their current eyes look specifically. Because sometimes you can just kinda... forget how to draw something, especially if it's been a while. I've certainly looked at older things I've drawn and thought "oh wow, I did that better back then" and then tried to relearn it from there.
I think the best general rule for critiques is that they should only be given when asked for. I disagree that the act of putting something on the internet is inherently asking for critique. When I post something I’ve spent time on, I am not asking random people for critique. I am sharing something that I am generally pretty proud of, and consider finished, and someone being like “actually I think you should draw the eyes like this” would feel uncalled for and kind of rude. However, if I posted something and said I thought it looked weird to me and wanted help improving it, then I’ve asked for critique and it’s welcome. Or if someone posts in a specific forum/group/etc that is intended for critique. Maybe if this is someone you regularly speak with, and they’re talking about how they want to improve more, you could ask if they’d like critique, but I don’t think I would do this with a stranger even if they said something more vague like that.
always, always ask first of they're open to advice or critiques. I've always found that I really don't like when people give unsolicited advice in any area of my life, not just art. and I'm sure that many people can agree with me. it's just common courtesy.
