Haven't done a painting for a long time, so here is Emily - painted entirely in Gimp.



IMPROVEMENTS

Very good Erisian - only thing I will say critically is it looks too symmetrical - unless it is supposed to. Otherwise it is good

Thank you Sallyanne. I used symmetry to paint it. I did try to make it less symmetrical afterwards but perhaps it's not obvious and needs to be more prominent. My criticism of it having looked at it after a break is that the cheekbones are too harsh and need softening.

I hate being critical - alwys looked at it as being 'not nice'. love your work - Thought you may have used some help there - I did notice where you had tried to make it less but even clothes don't always sit on a person straight - Although we would like them to.

If there is no criticism/critique, ever, and everything produced by an artist is always cheered upon, and you're always "nice" about it, how is the artist going to grow as an artist?

Depends entirely on the artist. Some want it and some don't really. Then it's about navigating the waters of knowing which person is A or B.

Difficult to do when there are only cheers posted for everything.

I made some improvements (See first post) and I kept the original up for comparison.

Personally, I am happy with critique and I actually feel mean when I disagree with somebody's criticism. It can be more helpful and less like a slap if you also say what you think is good about it at the same time but I think the most important thing is not to jump in with a simple "X is wrong" statement and not say anything else about it. Sallyanne first said it was very good so her criticism feels constructive and not just critical. It's not something that hurts me about my own paintings but if somebody is new to painting and a whole bunch of people jump on them with criticisms, it can be off-putting. I, personally would want to encourage their painting, so I make a point of saying what I like about it and I only point out difficulties if I believe that it is within the boundaries of their skill to change it, and I always phrase it carefully, so that instead of saying something is wrong, I say something like "you could try doing something this way" and try to give them some positive direction.

Thank you sallyanne for your helpful comments.

Usually I only comment on things I like.
I don't think I'm qualified enough myself to comment things I don't like.
In fact, mostly I don't even know why I like something or not.
It's just a feeling.

But let it be clear, on my own work I appriciate constructive criticism/critique.
I'm always willing to learn new things and improve my outcomes.
And ... some humour is also welcome

For me constructive criticism is always appreciated and yes it does help to get things right the next time. In the past Dinasset really helped me with 'perspective' issues based on the position of viewing an object.

I also agree with Ella's sentiments of not feeling technically qualified myself to be critical, after all I am just an old guy having fun with Gimp.

But sure, in most cases feedback of either kind, critical or complementary, is better than none at all.

I'm not sure you always need to be technically qualified. We can all observe reality, and even if an artist's observation might be more likely to be accurate, s/he can still get things wrong. We can also be so fooled by the "rules" of painting that a layperson's observation becomes very welcome.