maggie touches grease with her hands

how to comment on art when you're not an artist

1) Comment.
I've seen a lot of people beg off on leaving comments or excusing their one-word "Nice!" comment by saying, "But I'm not an artist! I wouldn't know where to begin or what to say!" Okay, so maybe you don't draw or paint or vid or whatever, and you can't offer detailed critique in that particular jargon. But you have feelings, yes? And thoughts about those feelings? That's all an artist wants, most of the time -- just to know that their art connected with you somehow, made you feel and think and think and feel. Explain to them what their art stirred in you.

If you're a writer, this excuse is even more silly. Don't expect to be patted on the head when you tell an artist, "It's easier for me to comment on fanfic, because I AM A WRITER." If you can't manage to shore up a couple of sentences about a piece of artwork that's right there in front of you, you're not really much of a writer at all.

ETA: Okay, one-word feedback ... *I* don't like getting or leaving them. Many people would disagree with me, and that's fine. The overarching point regarding one-word feedback is that you shouldn't feel that's all you're allowed or qualified to say if you're not an artist, y'know?

2) Respect the artist's boundaries.
If the artist has specifically mentioned that they don't want critique, don't take it upon yourself to give them any to "teach them a lesson". It won't kill you to either curtail your comment to only positive encouragement or not comment at all. Just like in fanfic, some people really consider this a hobby for fun and not an avenue for work and (relative) improvement.

And that said ....

3) Know the difference between "critique" and "nitpicking".
I understand that many people want to offer helpful suggestions as to what they feel worked or didn't work. This is fantastic! Unless an artist is an Arteeest (much like the dreaded writer or WRI-TOR), if they've asked for crit they're usually happy to hear your viewpoint.

What is NOT helpful or even warranted is for you to say, "I liked this drawing, but I always imagined that demon!Sam would have fiery red eyes and not yellow ones like you drew." Announcing your own personal preferences has nothing to do with the actual art you're commenting on, and it'll only piss the artist off. It's like reading a fic and saying, "Oh, that was a great story, but I like fics better when JC is with Lance and not Chris." This is not useful. Unless you paid them for it, the artist isn't drawing to your specifications.

4) Don't feel like your comment is unimportant or irrelevant.
The entire point of art is communication. Personally, I don't think that art is something that should only be enjoyed by other artists who understand the techniques of its creation, any more than writers are the only people who can adequately comprehend, critique, or enjoy a book.

You are the audience for this art, especially when it's posted on lj with exhortations for passers-by to leave comments about it. Your opinion on it is not only valid, it's crucial for the entire purpose of the art, which is to convey some meaning or image or emotion. Therefore, even if you can't talk about use of chiaroscuro or the brush technique or Photoshop tools, your comments are pretty damn important.

5) Shrug off the idiots.
Of course, there will be some artists who want to argue with you about any suggestions/observations you have about their work, and might sniff that you (being a mere plebe) simply cannot understand the genius of their photomanips or the fine subtleties of their pencil-crayon portraiture.

These people should be let severely alone.