I'll take criticism when it tells me how to improve the image but what I've been wondering is who is qualified to give advice on it? This is gonna sound self-aggrandizing as all hell, and it's not meant to. But think about it: some of us have been working in the visual arts for over two decades. I may not be able to change the brake pads on my truck, but I can look at an image and tell you in a second what can improve it: it comes with cultivating an eye, just as some folks know how to create a Baked Alaska from scratch and some folks can take a bolt of cloth and create an outfit without even looking at a pattern and some people can convert a pile of raw lumber into a gorgeous piece of furniture. But you have to work to get to that point, and I mean seriously work. And because most of us are hobbyists, that seems a bit of an antithesis with something you do just as a hobby -- or at least that's what folks will say. And my response to that is, nonsense. I know folks who are active participants in competitive country-western dancing, and these folks work their little tails off to give the best presentation they know how. And they're doing it for fun, not as a profession. But the fact that they're doing it for fun doesn't stop them from working on a single step combination for hours on end, so that when they're on the dance floor, and the judges are watching, that combo is gonna twinkle and shine. Now, yeah, there are a lot more who just go out there on the floor and dance to have a good time and nothing more. I'm one of them: I love to two-step and West Coast Swing and triple-step, and I know I'm far from good enough to get into the competitive level in any of these. But I've been watching the competitors, and I have some idea of what makes a good dancer -- and now it's started to filter into my own dancing: I'm a better lead, with better control, and more assurance to guide my partner through some tricky yet fun combinations. It adds to the enjoyment without making it into a big deal. So if you want to raise the bar on your own work, you look for people whose opinions you trust and whose work sets the standard you want for your own, and then you ask for their opionion on your stuff and go from there. You'll find real quick that most people are happy to work with you if you want, but unfortunately you have to take the first step in this community and cultivate those kinds of relationships. And you'll find it's a slightly different world than the usual Poser galleries: right now, I have a circle of about six I mentor, and I in turn am mentored by someone whose work I admire so much it's almost disgusting. The day she agreed to start working with me was a major step up for me as a Poser artist. But you have to look for that compatable style. Mine tends to be almost graphic in its simplicity, but it has a ton and a half of stuff underneath the hood: subtle lighting effects, subtle body positioning, subtle facial expressions. There's not a lot of background, in the main, because I put emphasis on the character, not the situation. It's a lot of work, but (hopefully) it shows without drawing too much attention to itself. And when you get that kind of result... man, you have no idea what a rush it can be. But you have to be willing to push the envelope a bit.

docandraider.com -- the collected cartoons of Doc and Raider