Critic of the Moment: Jehanne!

Critic of the Moment



Monkeys as Judges of Art, 1889, Gabriel von Max.

We honor artists, designers, and writers. But we overlook the other, equally important half of our art community—the critics, aficionados, and other members of our appreciative audience. Whether they are artists themselves, or just like to look at the work of others, they encourage, inspire, and advise, providing an invaluable service to our artists.

So to give these unsung heroes their due, I'm starting the Critic of the Moment—for the member who stands out for their constructive criticism, meaningful praise, and effective encouragement.

To choose the first CotM, I polled our CC mods, and the consensus was clear. So without further ado, our first Critic of the Moment is...
Holden
Here's what his fellow artsy mods said about him:

Originally Posted by EzloSpirit

He's very good at critiquing many different kinds of works. He is quick to point out the positives of a piece of writing, but he also usually takes the time to offer suggestions for improvement.

Originally Posted by Gamzee

When Holden gives feedback, he'll point out anything that he feels could be improved. He doesn't just just give praise after praise, he'll offer help and ideas on how to change up a line in a poem, or recommend changing some things in a story to give it more of a kick.

Originally Posted by Liah

Holden's honest in how he judges work, but also in knowing where his limits are. He never tries to pretend to know more than he does, though he does know a fair bit when it comes to writing. He's never condescending or mean, but direct in his critique, honest in his words. I admire that about him!

In praise, he can be awfully funny and witty in giving out nice stuff, but it's not without substance. His humour though, maaannn, that ♥♥♥♥'s good.

So congratulations, Holden! Keep it up! And if any of you know a member whose constructive criticism, praise, and inspiration deserves this award, send me a PM!

So this was what you had up your sleeves. Pretty cool idea. Feel free to pool nominations or blurbs from me in the future, if needed.

This is a really cool idea! I'm definitely an aficionado of different forms of art even though i'm not an artist myself. holden was perfect as an example!

interesting choice of art in the first post, hahaha.

Originally Posted by Kuden

interesting choice of art in the first post, hahaha.

I thought it fit pretty well.

I'll be posting #2 soon—so if you have any nominations, get them in now!

Time for the next Critic of the Moment!

This week we're highlighting a member who stands out for her excellent career advice in the Artist's Café. I'm speaking of none other than...

DekuQueen
Here's what's been said in praise of DekuQueen:

Originally Posted by Liah

DQ is pretty good at dishing out honest advice in regards to proportion and colour, and she's fantastic at taking critique too which, as far as I've seen, she's generally pretty open with. She has a great understanding of both traditional and digital artwork, so it's well-worth hearing her out when she's got something constructive to say.

Originally Posted by Vynrah

DekuQueen is an incredibly talented illustrator who has a bit of knowledge and experience with the industry and art-centric careers. Best of all though, she's always willing to share this information with anyone who asks! She's been an incredible help to a number of artists on this forum looking for answers about the professional art world and breaking into the industry.

Well done, DekuQueen! And as always, if any of you would like to nominate someone for Critic of the Moment, just send me a private message with your nomination!

Drumroll, please!

Jehanne

Said in praise of the well-deserving Jinny:

Originally Posted by Caleb

Jehanne has been around for a long time, waaaay longer than me. I have no idea how long she`s been a part of the art community here, but from what I`ve seen she`s one of the biggest organizers of fun projects and activities to get the forum going.

She does something that definitely makes her deserving of the award, and that`s the fact that she posts in nearly every thread and gives constructive criticism or praise to the artists. That impresses me, so I definitely think she deserves it.

Originally Posted by Gamzee

My favorite thing about Jehanne is how she has a very nurturing personality. Whenever I see her posting, it always has a very encouraging tone to it. I believe she's been an artist for quite awhile and has had the time to develop her own style, and she uses her knowledge and experience to help guide those who are new at art, or praise, or even collaborate with the more seasoned artists. Her presence in the Creativity Corner is invaluable.

Originally Posted by Holden

Jinny's always quick to offer a friendly comment on works of art and writing. I often see her giving pointers and helping artists around the board.

Originally Posted by Vynrah

Jehanne is involved in a lot of projects around the artwork section...running the new Monthly Collaborative series and participating in several others, but she's also always set aside time to give people her honest opinion. She's always supportive and very sharp, if one of your pieces catches her eye be sure to listen to what she has to say. In addition to giving advice and praise, she's also incredibly receptive to critique of her own work, a quality I find essential in a good critic.

Congratuatuatulations, Jinny!

Hey, no, it's not time for the next Critic of the Moment yet. Instead, I'd like some feedback on this entire project. The user participation in the whole thing has been rather disheartening—obviously, our winners aren't getting many comments in this thread, and I've yet to receive a single unsolicited nomination.

So, what do you think of the project? What would make you more likely to participate?

I'll give you some feedback. Let me think about it, and then send you a PM.