Lots of good points made above. It's (kind of) a difficult concept for me to understand people who get upset at constructive criticism. Especially when the gallery has a "tag" on it that solicits helpful comments for improvement. I agree with "Sho". When someone takes a look at something you did and has enough interest in it to spend time making suggestions, it feels good. AND, (possibly) helps. So, what are the reasons people don't offer critiques (very often)? (1) To some degree, critiquers (sp?) are "laying it on the line" and could receive sharp disagreement (as mentioned by dialyn). I guess it's natural to shy away from that. (2) People are probably concerned they don't have the "credentials" to offer suggestion. Either in talent or experience. I feel that way frequently. Accordingly, I couch any suggestions I make as those of a reader (or viewer) and not necessarily a writer (or artist). After all, people are targeting readers and viewers so why NOT see what they felt. (3) Perhaps the piece needs SO much help, one throws up their hands rather than list 20 (as an example) things wrong with a piece. (4) Time. Something that I certainly seem to have less of as I get older. Sometimes, I just don't have the time to spend on really analyzing something and then listing some suggestions. I suspect there are a lot of people in the world like that. In this forum, we seem to like feedback and discussion. I've rarely seen attacks and defensiveness. I think people want to know if a character was "fleshed out" well or if a story or poem made you chuckle, ponder, angry, or sad. Writing is a bit different, IMHO, than art. You know what is in your head and would like to know if it translated to paper. Also, an opportunity to hear suggestions about plots or characters you may never have even thought of. So, when a story gets my interest (or a piece of art), I'll comment on it with any suggestions I feel worthy (time permitting...grin). For example, I really liked _A's poem and offered (hopefully, gently) and took time to offer suggestions. He (she?) discarded all but one. I hope there was no offense taken and I certainly took none. In closing (yeah, I'm almost done), perhaps the art gallery should have that "tag" I referenced removed. Just call it a show gallery. Then people wanting suggestions could just post in WIP and move it when finalized. Lots of times, people are told that if they really want help to post it in the forum. I'm not sure that's ideal either as the forums could be become a jammed-up series of graphics that really belong in a WIP gallery. But, as Dennis Miller would say, "That's just my opinion. I could be wrong."