The Artistic Inner Critic

[Chiyocities]

Have you guys ever done something, whether it was work on an art piece or play a musical performance, that you thought wasn't going to receive well, but turned out to be terrific in the end? It's weird, the more I think my own artwork stinks (even though it looks decent on the outside) the more I find that people actually admire it later on.

I don't know, I suppose everyone has that "inner-critic" inside of them that keeps telling them that nobody will like the work. The fact that you are aware of your artistic abilities might also neglect the fact that you know more than your audience really cares to observe. Especially in music, if one played a couple of notes sharp in a five minute piece and the person freaks out, the audience won't know it.

[TurkishMonky]

i constantly think my drawings are junk, and notice thousands of flaws, but all my friends say that i'm a good artist.

[RefractedAhav]

I know what your talking about, I have the same problem, only sometimes it reverses itself. For instance have you ever though you did well on a test only to find out you barely passed it?

As for the artistic part, I have encounterd this phenoma many a time. For me it is with art and writting that my "inner critic' telles me that someting I wrote, painted, or drew stinks, while otehr people tell me about how good it was.

One of my best grades in my painting class was a peice I only spent 5 hours on, while a peice I spent over a week on turned out not so good. I thought that the peice I did in 5 hours was going to be terrible, but it turned out to be better than most of my work that semester.

[ShiroiHikari]

Well, I think my writing is crap most of the time, but in the Livejournal writing community I participate in, I only get minor criticisms and a lot of praise. o_O

I don't draw anymore because there's this voice inside of me that says it's just a waste of time anyway. I don't even enjoy drawing because I can never get what I want on the paper. With writing, I can at least somewhat convey what I'm seeing.

[Chiyocities]

I know what your talking about, I have the same problem, only sometimes it reverses itself. For instance have you ever though you did well on a test only to find out you barely passed it?

It definately has the opposite effect for me as well, especially on tests. But as far as artwork goes, in some occasions, the more I feel that my artwork is 'great' or 'perfect,' it has resulted in minor responses and a few criticisms. So often I try to lower my own critique and just create art for art's sake.

I suppose it can depend on the type of audience as well.

[RefractedAhav]

Fellow artist can be your best freinds or your worst nightmares when it comes to critiqing. They can either help you improve, or bash you until you no longer want to pick up a brush (or pencil). While this may or may not be true for you, I still belive that the idea that "you are your own worst enemy" is true for most people. It is certantly true for me.

[Tarnish]

I suppose I'm my own critic. People tell me I'm good with art, but I don't find most of them (my drawings) very good. It is due mostly to the fact I can only draw people facing foward.
Yet no matter how horrible I think one of my drawings are, there's always someone telling me they like it.
I know some other people who are just like this, it's odd.

[TheMelodyMaker]

I'm sure I've heard a saying somewhere that goes along the lines of "You're your own worst critic." I believe it to be generally true.

[Chiyocities]

Yeah, I totally agree with the saying of "being your own worst critic." It sometimes bothers me because it's hard to be satisfied with what I have, even though it may look good to someone else.

[Kaori]

Especially in music, if one played a couple of notes sharp in a five minute piece and the person freaks out, the audience won't know it.

I've been involved in art, music, and writing, and the worst one for assessing yourself is definitely music. In other media, you can at least look over what you have made, but you can only do that with music if you are able to listen to a recording, which does not necessarily happen very often.

As far as being your own worst critic goes, I don't think it's really true of me. Despite frequent dissatisfaction with my work, I find it harder to receive a blanket rejection (particularly if I'm not told what I did wrong) than to face my own personal dissatisfactions.