A little disturbed
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My thought on why the judges went with more negative takes (and also the reason I didn't enter the contest) lies in the etymology of the word "isolation". I know that there was some talk that isolation doesn't have to be negative but if you look at the origin of the word, there is some negative sentiment there that may be why some brighter takes missed the mark:
"to set or place apart, to detach so as to make alone, from the latin word insulatus, meaning 'made into an island.'"
The nuance of this word implies an involuntary divide. It is not a state that one can freely enter and exit, it is forced aloneness, it has permanence. Since the word implies that the subject being isolated doesn't have control over that state of being, it would naturally come with uncomfortable or negative feelings.
In my opinion, if they wanted to leave room for more positive takes, they could have chosen a word like "alone" which doesn't have as much weight behind it. One can choose to, and may enjoy being alone. They can end their alone-ness at any time by seeking company. Alone is a more temporary state of being, it is visiting an island as opposed to being made into one.
For contests like this the prompt word needs to be easily derived from your illustration, even from someone unfamiliar with the prompt and for people trying to do a positive spin, the judges couldn't get there.
Taylor Woolley
(Formerly Taylor Ackerman / StudioLooong)
Website: www.woolleystories.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woolleystories/ -
@carolinebautista beautiful! Respect!
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The humility and sincerity of this thread impresses me. What valuable insights, guys... thank you for such great discussions on this forum. I am learning so much thanks to you all.
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@TessaW I’m glad you all didn’t take it negative. I was working so hard to voice with breeding hate you know? Thank you for your positivity.
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@Coreyartus respect! Thank you for your time and insight. What you communicated has allowed me to reconstruct my perspective. Thank you for a much valuable 2¢.
Much love. One!
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@StudioLooong respect! Thank you for your insight. I don’t have an issue with isolation if [1] lee didn’t communicate the inverse and [2] the two winning were actually negative since that was the amended criteria.
Clarification: this is not about the winners artwork. Their work is fantastic.
The context of my post lies with the consistency of the judging. The last two live critiques they emphasize content however some pieces get pushed out for what the selected ones also do!
Much love. One!
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@dafoota Thanks for the kind words! I really appreciate both the positive and negative points brought up. I'm not salty, but you are correct that the interpretation is a tough one and it's frustrating when told it didn't match. I know I'm not the only one that tries to find a new take on the prompts to show originality (most of you do too ;). Maybe mine (and others) just slipped past that threshold for the judges. In the real world, you won't win over every art director and that's part of the point of these.
Also, it honestly made me super happy to see all the positive comments in the chat- made my day!
Big congrats to all the winners this month! There were way more than 16 awesome pieces when I went through the slideshow.
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Hi! I’m new to the forum and I really enjoyed watching the competition last night! I just wanted to say I really loved your piece and think it looked really professional. I also liked quite a few that didn't get through to the final such as the penguin one, maybe this is because I look at things with a picture book mindset! Most of the ones I voted for didn't win also! I was thinking about doing the June brief but I'm really unsure as it isn't something I would generally think to draw for a picture book portfolio. It's a difficult one, I might try to do something that feels more comfortable to me that is loosely related but then that means not meeting the brief…
Is anyone else a little stuck on the next one? Maybe it is partly being from the Uk, as I wouldn't expect to see a picture book like that here?! 
How you used the word 'disturbed' made me think of the brief! -
Just to add one more voice
my preference on how the contests are held is the critique format rather than voting. It’s lots of fun to watch the voting, but as a student I learn MUCH more from the critiques, even if my piece isn’t included.Maybe a combination-critiques, then participants vote on the winner.
Regardless, this is still a great platform to connect and learn, and I appreciate the work that SVS does to keep the forums and challenges going for us all.
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@Ryan-Ehr Respect. Thank you for your positivity and humility. It was a concern of mine that me voicing my opinion would be a spring board of negativity, which is not my intention. I just believe that accountability should not be something that is unreachable. I do not want to force the judges to take a specific piece or be punish. I am simply looking to plead for more structure and more guidance. Thank you for your time and patience. Much love. One!
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HI everyone - this is a really interesting discussion! I thought I'd add my two pennies worth even though everyone's already made so many good points that I'm just going to repeat! I think to improve and grow as an artist you have to distance yourself a little from the work you produce and be prepared to hear negative feedback - you can choose to take or leave that feedback but it's important to remember where it's coming from and I think everyone here agrees that Will, Lee and Jake are very well placed to give constructive criticism. At the end of the day, if the work is technically solid then surely the rest is down to personal taste and you can't do anything about that. I'm personally really grateful for the time and energy all the people behind the scenes put into SVS and I think the critiques are a great way to grow.
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Echoing what's been said already in this great thread, I think the 'prompt' and the deadline (for those of us who are motivated by deadlines, for me they're essential!) are just catalysts - the possibilities are always wide open and the reward is the work. I also think it's really hard to give constructive feedback rapid-fire, and I felt Will and Aaron were really under pressure in that respect last night, and seemed to express a lot of 'gut feeling' which they might have refined with more time. Still I appreciated seeing all the wonderful work (big WOW!) and the generous time and effort on the part of the judges, and all the comments from participants.
It could be and probably should be its own thread, but @TessaW I'm with you on the desire for SVS to present more diverse voices - SVS instructors, featured artists, shout outs on the podcast, referenced artists and so on are overwhelmingly white guys. Sometimes when I'm listening to the podcasts I find myself laughing/shouting out 'oh come on, that is such a dude's experience!!'...or similar sentiment. Obviously we all have to be ourselves and I'm hugely appreciative of the podcasts for being genuine and candid. In fact the podcasts have been an invaluable resource and lifeline for me, accompanying me through my first book process last year. Still, looking at all the good that SVS offers - educational platform, resource, place for community-building - I do miss, want, and honestly at some point will lose interest without hearing more from and about creators who are not white guys. Let's continue talking about this!
http://luckyplatt.com/
@imluckyplatt -
@hannahmarie Respect! Thank you for your kind words and insight. What my initial comment doesn’t speak on is how wonderful the community is. It doesn’t speak on the extra that @Will-Terry, @Lee-White, or @Jake-Parker provide for the students here. It also doesn’t speak on the awesome amount of content from the courses or the behind the scenes people that make this a awesome place to learn the craft. Being new to the site, I would like you to understand that my frustration is on something specific and i hope this doesn’t cloud anyone’s judgement on matters outside of this context.
Thank you for your positively and patience. Much love. One!
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@Kat Respect! Thank you for your insight as well. I am in total agreement. I too appreciate the work that SVS doers to keep the forums and challenges going. I too learn a lot from all the critiques. Which is why I think I get frustrated when I hear mixed messages that pass some and hold back others.
Thank you for your time and patience. Much Love. ONE!
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@Rachel-Horne Respect! Thank you for you insight. I agree that there is a level of distancing and ability to hear negative feedback that artist need to have. Personally the feedback is what I am searching for. In the context with the thread, the frustration lies with the miscommunication and or disconnect with the the prompt to the judging. I do not question their ability or professionalism.
My question would be does their credibility and or professionalism omit them from critiques of their own contest and judging methods?
Much love. ONE!
Much love and God bless!
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@Lucky-Platt Respect. Thank you for your insight and inspiration. I too am appreciative for this site and for the podcast. I hope that is not questioned in my frustration. As a leader in other aspects of life I just don’t think leaders should be above communication with the community. I also don’t believe in using my credibility or experience to deflect someone’s concerns with my process. As a leader I do not believe in deflecting someone’s concerns with their inabilities to avoid accountability of my mistakes. In addition, as much as i love this site and the podcast I do not believe in deflecting my voice in fear of losing the good aspects of svs. I believe in a healthy community communication can enhance and create more of the good, in this case, the svs community. Hope this makes sense. I also hope this doesn’t sound abbrasive.
Much love. ONE!
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@Ryan-Ehr Just wanted to give you a shout-out that yours was probably my favorite piece this month, and my money was on you being one of the winners.
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@Braxton Co-sign
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Just as a point of clarification... my frustration is not about not winning contests. It is more about desiring feedback in hopes of improvement.
The recent critique format is a lot more competition oriented and much less than they used to be about advice for improvement. The current criticism is purposefully short to be able to fit all of the entries chosen. They have been “ say one thing about...this round and one thing the next”. The previous format included draw overs and a solid critique of each of the selected pieces. There were fewer pieces chosen, but those pieces got a thorough going over. That was always helpful to me. I learned a great deal from the draw overs no matter the image.
I realize I am in the minority for not preferring the current format. I remember a poll when the format first began that had a super high approval rating and a really minuscule disapproval percentage. I want to say it was like 2%“no.” I would love to see a few draw over critiques or significant feedback on anyone’s work. It would not matter if it was related to a contest or not.
Anyway...that’s my 2 cents. Again, not trying to be a “hater” because I am truly not. I love SVS and the forums. I value Will, Jake, and Lee’s opinions as well as those given by my fellow artists. When I had the choice to make about school, I chose from fear and got a useless degree. But now I’m choosing my passion without the ability to GO back to school. Trying to learn, level up, and make up for 20 years of lost time.
