Critique Arena: Special Critique Session

[Blitz55]

I guess I should consider myself "Lucky" for having my image not only critiqued but first one on the board! O.o Which was kind of crazy.

That was really cool, and though it was a fairly short critique, it's been a long time since I've had any sort of teacher critique my work so I really enjoyed that and really just the whole process, even if there was a curve ball thrown in the format haha.

[Lee White]

@Valerie-Light @Asyas_illos I'll try to further clarify if I can.

We are sorry that the prompt description was loose, but even using much looser terms, many of the pieces were vague and/or confusing OR un-relatable. Then some had a clever idea, but then didn't push the art side of it enough.

The real take away from this should be that we are looking for a relatable concept that has a unique/clever twist. Combine that unique and clever twist with all the art techniques that support it and you will do VERY well.

That said, at the end of the day there will ALWAYS be a X-factor in a contest. Just like there will be in a job situation where one person gets it over another.

We tried to show process of coming up with an image and also what the snags were in the pieces. Our hope was to give you a general idea of what to THINK about when making the piece. We could never solve each illustration problem completely on it's own in this format in a real way. For example, Will showed a drawing of a guy who narrowly escaping a falling piano to emphasis the thoughts/action of a character in a scene. If you turned in that exact drawing he did, it would not have won because he was just demoing the thoughts behind why an image worked or doesn't work. That image would have been too set up and obvious to actually do well. We just thought it was a great teaching opportunity here.

So even if you didn't totally agree with or get some of the things we said, it's okay because as long as you are asking yourself the questions when making a piece, then we did our job. If making the next illustration you try out all kinds of ideas in writing, then thumbnail a bunch of shots and pick one that is clever and uses all the best in art elements (composition, color, value, etc), then you are moving in the right direction. Our ultimate goal is to give you the process to make better images, as opposed to "do these things to win a contest."

Hope that makes sense! Let me know if you have any questions. : )

Cheers,
Lee

[Valerie Light]

@Lee-White Thanks, Lee, that's a good summary.

[Asyas_illos]

@Lee-White thanks for going over it again, like you said I may not have agreed with some of it but I definitely took things away from it, a great learning experience that I’m definitely applying to my next entry for the next prompt!

[Asyas_illos]

Thanks @Blitz55 @Griffin @Jeremiahbrown @Valerie-Light for posting your opinions too I’m glad I wasn’t the only one a tiny bit perplexed by the whole thing, I was feeling argumentative and wanted to voice my frustration lol blame it on will

[Johanna Kim]

Hi Guys, although I'm grateful to have had my piece be one of the winners of the March "Luck" prompt, I was as surprised as some of you. Creating work that communicates a concept in a powerful and clear way is something I struggle with, and I think it shows in my piece. Many times, I overthink a concept and make the story too complicated. Ironically, I feel that I was truly lucky to get this win, so my feelings are mixed.

Like all of you, with the monthly prompts, I spend a lot of time on my submissions, and hope that my pieces will resonate in some way with others, even if it has issues. Each month, I see the flaws in my work, and try harder to keep improving. Hopefully, if I'm lucky to be a finalist again, or by some stroke of luck, a winner, I'll feel more deserving.

Lastly and more importantly, I'm so appreciative of the time that @Will-Terry and @Lee-White spent on the lesson. They shared so many valuable insights and advice. It's clear they really care about teaching us and I plan on rewatching that part again.

[Blitz55]

@Johanna-Kim For what it's worth, yours was very well done and very beautiful to look at.

[Kim Rosenlof]

@Johanna-Kim I really love yours and I think you should do the whole story, if you haven't already done it. Very beautiful!

[Kim Rosenlof]

@Johanna-Kim I was surprised to see mine in the top four, but not yours. I definitely agree with the critique they gave me even though it is hard to hear. It was a bittersweet moment to say the least. Especially when others don't agree with their picks.

[Johanna Kim]

@Blitz55 Thanks so much:)

[Johanna Kim]

@Kim-Rosenlof I feel exactly the same about your piece--it's really wonderful!--and I totally empathize with how you're feeling. Thank you for your kind words. We artists are all very sensitive, which is helpful for making expressive and deeply emotional work, but also challenging when we get less-than-stellar notes. But I have to keep reminding myself to not take feedback and opinions personally, and instead, learn from them and try to do better next time. Easier said than done, though.

[Lisa Clark]

I read a book with my kids tonight about the Easter Bunny and I was thinking a lot about what was taught today. While the Easter Bunny book did have pretty illustrations, it did not have a clear interesting story throughout the illustrations. I am grateful for the time spent on this lesson today, Will, Lee, and Jake. I appreciate that you don't merely want us to be good at illustration, but also have that WOW factor.

@Asyas_illos My favorite was the bird one of yours! I would have liked to hear what they had to say about that one.

@Johanna-Kim My 9 year old son is totally in love with yours. I thought it was so beautiful! You should be very proud of what you accomplished!

[AngelinaKizz]

@Lisa-Clark I agree, I’ve read stories to my kids, that I can see the issues in the illustrations. I’m still really new to illustration, and I strive to absorb everything I possibly can. I don’t want to just be an ok illustrator… I want to have the wow factor. I’m grateful for these classes, and for all of the insight from Will, Lee, Jake, and David. You can’t grow and get better if you’re only shown your strengths. We grow more from confronting our weaknesses.

[Pamela Fraley]

@Johanna-Kim said in Critique Arena: Special Critique Session:. Hopefully, if I'm lucky to be a finalist again, or by some stroke of luck, a winner, I'll feel more deserving.
This happened to me a few years ago with the Mermay contest. I got picked as a winner and then everyone chimed in that you “couldn’t even tell they were mermaids” because you couldn’t see the tails. It kinda takes the fun out of the win. I didn’t know how to feel about that. It kinda sucked actually. But I do want to reiterate what Lee said. Sometimes there’s just something about a piece that catches the eye and pulls you in. You totally accomplished that! Your work was beautiful and professional quality. And, that’s the real win. The point of SVS is to help us become pro level illustrators, not to win contests. Even the contests are about highlighting the pro level work. I would say all the top 4 were there this month.

[Jeremiahbrown]

I feel bad that this has taken a little bit of the shine off of the winners. I think we're all eager go-getters and when we saw the episode was about improving our pieces we came with pen and paper in hand ready to make our lists. When we got to the episode, however, we were writing things down, crossing them out, writing them down again, modifying them, erasing them, etc. Then when the top four were shown we looked down at our semblance of a list and just scratched our heads.

I think this is the reason for all of the discourse around March's Critique Arena and not whether or not the winners should've been the winners. (Personally, I would've bet money that Johanna's would've been a winner and I would've pegged Kim's as top 8 if it were traditional Critique Arena.)

After rewatching some of the episode again I think at the end Will summed it up well by saying (paraphrasing as best as I can), "Never start an image by just drawing. You need to have a plan and story in place before you even start." The winners absolutely did this and @Johanna-Kim and @Kim-Rosenlof should definitely feel proud!

[Kim Rosenlof]

@Jeremiahbrown Thanks. I really liked yours, a lot and think it would be a fun to expand the story a bit.

Now that a little more time has passed, I have been able to look at it with a less emotional view. I will take what Will, Lee, and Jake have said and improve my piece, and try to improve the others that didn't make it in the critique part. The best part about yesterday was learning how I can improve.

I think one of the hard parts about critique arena is that I don't always agree with the choices in the top 16, not that the illustrations are not great, I just may have a different preference. And I don't always know the reasoning behind why the top 16 are chosen. There are definitely times that I am surprised by the winners too because I think that something else would have won, and that is not because I think the top illustrations are not good, just not what I would have chosen. When we submit illustrations in the art world, we don't usually have this front row seat to what the art directors are thinking, so it can be hard, but good to see this side of it. It would be hard to pick the top 16 (or four) because there will always be someone saying, "What?" or "Why?".

Thanks @Will-Terry @Lee-White @Jake-Parker for taking the time to do this special session. It was insightful and will help with future prompts. I like the one-word prompts, but they definitely stretch my brain sometimes . I have to admit that the prompt was a bit more tricky for me than usual because I had to really think of how I would illustrate and convey it as lucky. I had some of the problems that you guys were talking about, especially ambiguity and not going for the cliche. I liked how you showed examples of how you could do it, but in a simple way.

Thanks to everyone for their insights.

[Johanna Kim]

@Pamela-Fraley Aw, thanks Pamela. Your comment means so much, and I'm sorry you also felt bad when you won the Mermay contest. I remember your piece and how it totally captivated me. I hope you've since come to feel good about the win because you definitely deserved it.

[Johanna Kim]

@Lisa-Clark Thanks so much:)

[Johanna Kim]

@Jeremiahbrown Thanks:)

[Pamela Fraley]

@Johanna-Kim I do feel better about it. But, I also redid it and added a tail.